Some Implications of Apartheid Legacies in South African Correctional Centres

Abstract

I conducted critical research into the apparently unrelenting culture of violation in South Africa generally, and specifically in correctional centres. In defining violation, I slightly modify Fanon's definition of violence to encompass “any relation, process or condition by which an individual, organisation or group violates the physical, social and/or psychological integrity of [the self and] another person or group”. I show that the authoritarian ideology underlying apartheid left structural legacies that undermine rehabilitation and transformation to a culture of mutual respect at interpersonal and institutional levels. I do so by contrasting some extant authoritarian indicators: top-down discipline and militarism, with indicators of mutual recognition and respect to show that both safety and rehabilitation are compromised by unnecessary perpetuation of authoritarian ideology in correctional centres. Critically questioning the traditional top-down structure and substituting mutuality as crucial to rehabilitation necessarily called for the application of theoretical assumptions consistent with intersubjectivity. I use a person-in-practice method whereby I juxtapose my own voice with those of clients, academics, society (as represented in the news media) and staff in the correctional system. This method streamlines as a coherent process, and an effective means to demonstrate my thesis.

Understanding Violations in a Relational Context and Learning Respectful Alternatives

“…In managing crime, these changes consisted of budget shifts, alterations in the racial and gender profiles of those in positions of power, and name changes (such as prisons being referred to as "correctional centers"). However, the dynamics underlying crime management continue to be reactive and to use many of the same methods as those employed during apartheid (Hoffman, 2009;Sarkin, 2008). A highly publicized, expensive, but reactive "war on crime" was launched in 1996 (Dixon, 2004, p. 172).…”

“…The structure of institutional management continues to be authoritarian and militaristic, which hampers rehabilitation and novel ways of working with crime. Psychology in South Africa prisons is traditionally practiced from positivist precepts, accompanied by a marked lack of a coherent theoretical framework for professional prison practice (Hoffman, 2009(Hoffman, , 2010. South Africa's prisons insist that professional psychologists use the "model of intervention" that emphasizes diagnosis, evaluation, and quantitative reports.…”