Dysfunctional Social Systems, Experiential Traits and Sheer Wickedness: Interrogating the Vicissitudes of Criminal Violence in South Africa

Abstract

The daily incidents of violent crimes are rampant in South Africa. This incident of violent attacks has placed the country in a bad light in the global ranking of violent countries. Not only has this fact not changed, but it has worsened with recent incidents occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown. From its description as the world’s ‘murder capital’ and rape capital due to the prevalence of criminal activities, criminal violence in South Africa has grown in intensity. This paper argued that the scourge of criminal violence in South Africa is, partly, a manifestation of a dysfunctional social system that has entrenched the culture of violence as an instrument of interaction in a society characterised by individualistic instinct and consciousness. Exacerbated by the lived experiential traits imbued with wickedness, violent criminal activities have created a society living in fear of instant death and degradation. The research used an interpretivism method from several South African studies, including the culture of violence, criminal violence, and the justice system, to discuss the criminal justice system. This paper submits that a deliberate and conscientious approach, through a reformed criminal justice system as well as societal re-orientation, would be necessary to recalibrate the subconsciousness of citizens to be attuned to the appropriate social order stimulated by responsive and responsible governance structures.

Keywords

• criminal violence
• culture of violence
• dysfunctional social system
• criminal justice system