Crimes that Matter the Most?:

Perceptions on the Seriousness of Crimes

Often an individual’s perceptions of the seriousness of crime, whether accurate or not, inform responses, thinking and behaviour at both the individual and societal level. Perceptions of the seriousness of crime not only provide a guideline for sentencing offenders but also help to understand and interpret the manifestation of different crime patterns in different types of areas.

A survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in four Greater Midrand communities (Rabie Ridge, Olifantsfontein, Midrand and Ivory Park (an informal area)) asked a sample of respondents to rate the seriousness of 41 criminal offences. A four-point scale was used for the ratings and the crimes ranged from petty crimes such as disturbing the peace, to crimes with more serious consequences such as cruelty towards animals, child abuse, housebreaking, assault, robbery, rape, murder and manslaughter.

As can be seen in Figure 1, violent crimes (such as murder, attempted murder and robbery) are regarded as the most serious crimes, supporting findings of other studies. However contrary to these studies, the Greater Midrand respondents did not regard all violent crimes as equally serious. For example, they did not regard the killing of a policeman as very serious. This may indicate, among other things, that the Greater Midrand respondents, especially those living in Rabie Ridge, have less respect for officers of the law.



Figure 1 Perceptions of seriousness of violent crimes

The violent crime of necklacing was considered the least serious of crimes relating to murder or attempted murder with a rating in Greater Midrand of 3.49 out of 4. Ivory Park respondents viewed necklacing in an even less serious light (3.42). Other crimes associated with robbery and attempted murder were also seen as being less serious (for example, a person injuring someone in the course of a robbery). This could indicate an increased tolerance among residents of vastly different backgrounds towards people who take the law into their own hands.



Figure 2 Selected violent crimes by area

The perceptions of the seriousness of crimes differ according to area. Rabie Ridge respondents generally regarded violent crimes in a less serious light than respondents in the other three areas. Of all the respondents, Olifantsfontein respondents attributed the greatest seriousness to violent crimes (Figure 2). Property crimes, fraud, corruption, bribery and economic crimes were overall seen as less serious than violent crimes, with some exceptions. For example, hijacking a vehicle with valuable cargo (3.64) was ranked higher than attempted murder (3.55). Overall rankings for property crimes and crimes involving corruption, bribery and fraud are shown in Figures 3 and 4.



Figure 3 Property crimes



Figure 4 Corruption, bribery and fraud

Generally, crimes that involve corruption, bribery and fraud are seen as being less serious than property and violent crime, as would be expected. However some crimes associated with child and woman abuse are considered less serious than corruption and fraud. For example, hitting a child and spousal abuse (both husband hitting wife and wife hitting husband) rank lower than both tax and insurance fraud (Figure 4 and 5).



Figure 5 Child and woman abuse

This trend confirms that found in the HSRC’s 1995 national study, in which crimes such as child abuse and woman abuse (including domestic abuse) were rated significantly lower compared to ratings by respondents in other countries.

Drug-related crimes showed differing levels of perceived seriousness. Smuggling hard drugs (e.g. cocaine) into the country was seen as a more serious offence than dealing in dagga (marijuana) (3.51 versus 3.19). Comparative studies also have found the selling of dagga to be of decreasing seriousness to respondents. By contrast, driving under the influence of alcohol was regarded significantly less seriously by the Greater Midrand respondents than by those in other countries.

Another significant difference in this study compared to international studies was that in Greater Midrand some property crimes (e.g. the hijacking of a truck with valuable cargo) were considered to be more serious than violent crimes. Crimes that had the same low ratings as those of international studies were prostitution (3.09) and pornography (3.04).

Evanthe Schurink,
Human Sciences Research Council