Police Culture and Personal Identity in South Africa

South Africa promulgated the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Act No. 13 of 2013, which criminalises the use of torture by law enforcers. The Act also criminalises cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment of citizens by law enforcers. However, the implementation of this law is derisory as the torture and physical abuse of civilians by the police reportedly continue unabated. This phenomenon seems part of police culture that is entrenched in South African policing practices. Prior to the study, the literature review underscored the unabated prevalence of police violence. Against this background, this article seeks to highlight specific incidences of police officers’ use of unconstitutional and abusive acts of torture involving civilians. Using a qualitative research approach, ten officers of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) were interviewed to generate the required data. Thematic analysis was used and the findings revealed that civilians suspected of criminal behaviour were often exposed to inhumane forms of torture, which ranged from food and water deprivation to being strangled, suffocated, and electrocuted. These forms of torture involving suspects were reportedly prompted by the urgency for eliciting information, ‘proving’ the presumption of guilt, proactively preventing crime in communities, and coercing suspect compliance. The findings thus urge the need for a blanket ban on the torture of suspects, the effective investigation by the IPID of cases of torture, and the successful trial and conviction of police perpetrators of this crime.

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AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF A SPECIAL KIND: Recent writings by and on the police in South Africa

South African Crime Quarterly ◽

10.17159/2413-3108/2013/v0i46a808 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Elrena Van der Spuy

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Special Kind ◽

Police Culture ◽

Occupational Culture ◽

Detailed Consideration ◽

Police Perceptions ◽

Anglo American

The occupational culture of police organisations has long fascinated policing scholars. In the Anglo- American world ethnographic enquiries have contributed much to our understanding of police perceptions, beliefs and actions. This article takes a closer look at efforts to describe and analyse police culture in South Africa. Three genres of writings are considered. Structural accounts of police culture and ethnographic accounts of the police are briefly discussed before turning to a more detailed consideration of a third and emerging genre: police autobiographies. Two recent autobiographies written by former policemen are explored in some detail with the view to considering the contribution of the autobiography to our understanding of the complex occupational dynamics of police and policing in South Africa.

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When There Are Only Minorities

Emerging Adulthood ◽

10.1177/2167696817752755 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 7-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Byron G. Adams ◽

Luzelle Naudé ◽

J. Alewyn Nel ◽

Fons J. R. van de Vijver ◽

Sumaya Laher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Personal Identity ◽

Intergroup Relations ◽

Cultural Groups ◽

Intergroup Relation ◽

Group Boundaries ◽

Group Orientation ◽

Official Languages ◽

The Relationship

Intergroup relation perspectives stem from research in Western contexts with clear distinctions between the dominant and nondominant groups. In South Africa, with at least 13 different cultural groups and 11 official languages, no group is dominant in all life spheres. We examine the relationship between identity and in-/out-group orientation across Black-Zulu, Coloured (mixed racial ancestry), Indian, and White-Afrikaans emerging adults ( N = 390; 75% females, Mage = 19.97 years, SD = 2.44). Results indicate that personal identity for all groups and ethnic identity for Black-Zulu, Indian, and White-Afrikaans emerging adults were important for intergroup relations. Black-Zulu, Coloured, and Indian emerging adults distinguish themselves less from others, whereas White-Afrikaans emerging adults are less open to others. Ultimately, the complexity of intergroup relations in South Africa has implications for the effective transformation interventions needed to counter experiences of threat and make group boundaries more flexible for emerging adults.

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Taking Responsibility for the Pasts

Pólemos ◽

10.1515/pol-2021-2013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 191-206

Author(s):

Svend Erik Larsen

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Nineteenth Century ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Collective Memory ◽

Personal Identity ◽

Nation Building ◽

Forensic Evidence ◽

Personal Power ◽

Personal Lives ◽

The Past

Abstract One of the most significant connections between power and responsibility occurs in relation to the past. The post-revolutionary political powers of the new nations in the nineteenth century reinterpreted or, less politely formulated, invented their past to fit the process of nation building and only then take responsibility for future development of the nations. And they were not alone: pre-nineteenth century periods and the 20th and 21st centuries abound with examples. In our personal lives, self-empowerment often depends on the capacity to take responsibility for one’s past, including all its happy and traumatic moments. In a court room the forensic evidence of past events alone gives the judges the power to decide the fate of the defendant. In neither of the cases power and responsibility can work together without activating individual and collective memory and without finding a language to express responsibility as a manifestation of political, formal and personal power in a process of political legitimization, legal affirmation of justice and personal identity formation. With literary examples from South Africa this article discusses power and responsibility in their relation to a troubled political, legal and personal past.

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Time and Latitude in South Africa

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100026816 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 27-38

Author(s):

J. Hers

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Cape Town ◽

Astronomical Observations ◽

Royal Observatory ◽

The Republic ◽

Astronomical Determination ◽

Limited Accuracy ◽

Better Than

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

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Indirect Rule in South Africa

10.1017/upo9781580467421 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

J. C. Myers

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Indirect Rule

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Combining Professional Interests and Travel: People to People Citizen Ambassador Program

Perspectives on Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders ◽

10.1044/gics1.2.47 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 47-54

Author(s):

Alex Johnson ◽

Amanda Hitchins

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Education ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Exchange Program

Abstract This article summarizes a series of trips sponsored by People to People, a professional exchange program. The trips described in this report were led by the first author of this article and include trips to South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Israel. Each of these trips included delegations of 25 to 50 speech-language pathologists and audiologists who participated in professional visits to learn of the health, education, and social conditions in each country. Additionally, opportunities to meet with communication disorders professionals, students, and persons with speech, language, or hearing disabilities were included. People to People, partnered with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), provides a meaningful and interesting way to learn and travel with colleagues.

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