An exploratory study on crime prevention initiatives at a selected rural University in South Africa
Ensuring safety on university campuses is a matter of utmost importance, with the need for effective crime prevention measures becoming increasingly evident. Studies indicate that the surge in campus crime is a complex issue, influenced by a combination of social, environmental, and institutional factors. Universities, often serving as microcosms of society, are susceptible to the impact of societal norms on crime rates and responses. Therefore, collaboration among stakeholders emerges as a crucial element in addressing this issue, alongside implementing comprehensive campus safety measures such as visible police and security cameras. The adopted Situational Crime Prevention framework stresses opportunity-reducing measures that are directed at highly specific forms of crime by manipulating the environment to make crime more difficult to commit. If these preventative measures are ineffective, they create an unsettling campus atmosphere. This research aimed to explore crime prevention initiatives at the University of Zululand to identify best practices that can be adopted to improve the situation. The research employed a qualitative methodology, utilising semi-structured interviews to collect data from 12 key informant participants who were selected employing a purposive sample technique. To obtain additional perspectives from the viewpoint of the students regarding current prevention initiatives and their effectiveness at the University of Zululand, the snowballing sample technique was employed as well in selecting participants for two focus-group discussions. Data analysis was conducted utilising thematic analysis. The main findings of the study indicated that among other crimes, theft; rape; physical and verbal assaults, and abuse of alcohol and drugs were identified as the most common crimes at the University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa campus. The research indicates that there are currently implemented crime prevention initiatives; however, several challenges impede their successful implementation, such as inadequate security personnel training, security infrastructure shortcomings, staff involvement in criminal activities, ineffective security measures, and miscommunication between departments. In light of these findings, it was recommended that current crime prevention initiatives be evaluated to identify areas of improvement and generate a holistic approach that will address the institution's unique needs.
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