Softening the ‘Iron Hand’: Re-Thinking Punitive Approaches to Addressing Gang Subcultures in South Africa

Dublin Core

Title

Softening the ‘Iron Hand’: Re-Thinking Punitive Approaches to Addressing Gang Subcultures in South Africa

Subject

Gang subcultures
gang-related crime
South Africa
gangsterism
Port Elizabeth
Covid-19

Description

Shortly after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the South African government instituted a nationwide lockdown, in an effort to curb the spread of the disease. However, a critical part of this process was the policing of communities under lockdown. In various communities throughout South Africa afflicted by gang-related crime, while the lockdown initially had an impact on gang activities, this did not last long. Gang subcultures continued despite the lockdown measures, as well as the joint military and police operations to maintain order. This article focuses on the relevance of punitive approaches to addressing gang subcultures in South Africa, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 environment. It is based on research conducted by the authors in a gang-affected community in the city of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha), located in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The main argument is that punitive approaches are no longer effective (assuming they never were), and are certainly no longer relevant for addressing gang subcultures in the Covid-19 era.

Creator

Petrus, Theodore
Uwah, Chijioke
Davids, Desira
Jonas, Branton

Source

Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 21 No. 2 (2022): Artha Journal of Social Sciences
0000-0000
0975-329X

Publisher

Centre for Publications, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore

Date

2022-10-31

Rights

Copyright (c) 2022 Artha Journal of Social Sciences
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Relation

Format

application/pdf

Language

eng

Type

info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
Text

Identifier

Citation

Theodore Petrus et al., Softening the ‘Iron Hand’: Re-Thinking Punitive Approaches to Addressing Gang Subcultures in South Africa, Centre for Publications, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 2022, accessed November 7, 2024, https://igi.indrastra.com/items/show/554

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