NCJ Number
246475
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 54 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2014 Pages: 244-259
Date Published
March 2014
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article examines the rise of Jewish security in Johannesburg, South Africa following the country's move to majority rule and the paradox that ensued with the Jewish community's efforts to share their security methods with other South Africans.
Abstract
In the years following the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Jewish community in that country felt the need to develop a security apparatus to protect and insulate them from the surrounding society. While these efforts were short lived, they led to the development of a paradox, that of a small, insular group of individuals seeking to protect themselves from the society around them while at the same time seeking to share their efforts with others to help them protect themselves. This article presents a brief overview of the political and social situation in South Africa following the fall of apartheid in that country. Using interviews with prominent leaders from the Jewish security movement, the article traces the rise of the movement and its eventual shift to policing. The financial success of the movement also led to a desire by Jewish leaders to show others how to use their security model. In so doing, the authors believe that the leaders of the Jewish security movement in South Africa created a paradox, one in which their need to develop a system for protecting themselves led them to want to share this system with their fellow countrymen through feelings of patriotism and national identity. References