‘Jail and prayer help ex-gangsters break deadly cycle’
|Published
While gangs are found all over the world, including in South Africa, gangsterism in Cape Town is a critical problem that needs urgent intervention. Pictures: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA) While gangs are found all over the world, including in South Africa, gangsterism in Cape Town is a critical problem that needs urgent intervention. Pictures: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA)
Time in jail and prayer seem to be the answer to successfully quitting a life of gangsterism on the Cape Flats, according to a new study.
As Cape Flats residents continue to be terrorised by crime and violence despite several interventions, a paper by Jane Kelly, a University of Cape Town PhD graduate in psychology, examines how former gang members understand and make sense of ending their involvement in gangsterism.
The study showed that participants had transformed from a hard, stoic and typically masculine gangster identity to a reformed, pro-social man with a desire to care for their family and be a role model in the community. This transformation was marked by key turning points such as incarceration and religious experiences.
“I was interested in not only the process of exiting the gang but how they maintained that because there’s often a risk of rejoining, particularly in the context of poverty and unemployment,” said Kelly.
Kelly conducted two rounds of life-history interviews with 12 former gang members, ranging in age from their early 20s to their 60s.
“One of the major threats to maintaining a reformed lifestyle is whether former gang members can secure employment. In the international literature, finding employment and a meaningful job is a way one can exit a gang," said Kelly.
"With South Africa’s worsening unemployment rates, the challenge for former gang members is amplified. Returning to the same community in which their former gang operates holds the potential for recidivism.”
The Department of Community Safety, from December 6 until January 14, is hosting 150092 young people at its youth holiday programmes through its Youth Safety and Religious Partnership (YSRP) programme.
One of the goals is to involve youth in constructive activities to divert them away from crime, gangsterism, drug abuse and anti-social behaviour.
Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz urged citizens of the province to support their local programme.
“The YSRP is a religious holiday programme which promotes safety by keeping young people off the streets and out of harm’s way during the holidays. A budget of R5.78million has been allocated for implementation of the YSRP in the 2018/19 financial period,” said Fritz.