Selected Questions in Relation to Victimological Research in French "Schwarz" Afrika (From Victims and Criminal Justice, P 207-217, 1991, Gunther Kaiser, Helmut Kury, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-132477)

• NCJ Number: 132485
• Author(s): S G Conde
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Max-Planck-Institute Fur Auslandisches und Internationales Strafrecht
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Germany (Unified)

Annotation

This review of victimology in Africa considers crime and the concept of the victim in pre-colonial Black Africa, characteristics of various types of crime, and urban and rural crime and its victims.

Abstract

Theoretical victimological research is limited in Black Africa, but it is clear that crime and attendant victimization has risen in the last 20 years. The confusing aspect of criminal victimization in Black Africa is that victimization has taken on new dimensions under "modernization" and the establishment of formal legislative and criminal justice systems. Two particularly confusing forms of crime are crimes against the customs and traditions of African tribes and clans and the criminalization of many traditional tribal practices such as witchery and fetischism. Although the official justice system recognizes definitions of victimization in accordance with the formal system of laws, many Africans do not accept such systems. Traditional legal systems in Black Africa sought to resolve conflicts between persons and families by identifying and compensating victims. All parties to the conflict were involved in its resolution. Also, victimization not only involved the person directly affected by the offense of another but also the victim's family. This paper considers the characteristics of crime and offenses against people, offenses against customs and traditions, and offenses against property. A discussion of urban and rural crime and its victims precedes a listing of factors that determine whether a victim reports a crime to the authorities.