NAME: NONKANYISO MKHIZE

STUDENT NUMBER: 10613277

MODULE CODE: PEN1502
UNIQUE NUMBER: 581935
ASSIGNMENT NO: 02

STUDENT’S STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING AN UNDERSTANDING OF

PLAGIARISM AND THE CONSEQUENCES THEREOF
This is to state that I have read all the documentation about plagiarism that I have
received. I also fully understand what plagiarism is. I also accept that if I commit
plagiarism, I will be severely penalized.
NAME: Nonkanyiso
SURNAME: Mkhize
STUDENT NO. 10613277
MODULE: PEN1502
SIGNATURE: N. Mkhize
DATE: 3/08/2021

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QUESTION 1
The responsibilities of the following role players in the 0criminal justice system in
South Africa
1.1. The South African Police Services (SAPS) - The process of the criminal justice
system starts when a crime is reported to the police. The police will investigate
any suspected transgression and make an arrest. Police have powers to carry
out searches and to arrest and question suspects in the process of their
investigation. For most people, their initial contact with the criminal justice system
begins with the police. The police may witness the crime or someone reports the
crime to the police. This is followed by arrest or investigation by police
(Schmalleger, 2001:16). Besides arresting suspects, police play a crucial role in
the community. While police involvement in communities may differ from country
to country, the common objective globally is crime prevention. Muthaphuli
(2008:28) describes police involvement in the community in the form of
prevention programmes. These programmes may include activities such as
delinquency prevention programmes, which reduce the likelihood of youth
involvement in criminal activities. Police are also involved in educational
programmes to equip citizens with skills to protect themselves from the
perpetrators of crime. The main role played by the police is to protect the
community from perpetrators of crime (Muthaphuli, 2008:28). Although people
are expected to feel safe and protected when police are around, sometimes the
opposite occurs owing to previous unpleasant experiences with the police.
Champion (2007:244) encourages the police to focus on youth issues as an
indication of creative solutions in the fight against crime. It is every country’s
dream to experience police working together with the people in order to improve
the quality of life in the community. It is also comforting for the community to see
the police not only as law enforcers, but also as advisors and supporters.
However, Anderson and Newman (1998:90) state that the criminal justice
process begins as soon as the police receive information that a crime has been
committed. The police at this stage have to determine whether a crime has been
committed. Once the police conclude that a crime has been committed and
sufficient evidence is gathered, this will lead to the arrest of the accused. The
gathered information is submitted the court for prosecution.
1.2. Courts- The courtroom is the most orderly and formal environment in the
criminal justice system. People are compelled to visit the court as either accused
persons, victims, or witnesses in crime. Senna and Siegel (2002:274) describe
the court as a complex social agency with many independent but interrelated
subsystems. Each of these subsystems has a role in the manner in which the
court operates. These active role players are the police, prosecutors, defence
attorneys, judges, and probation officers. Anderson and Newman (1998:22) state
that because the court system is independently operated, its process differs from

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 country to country. Muthaphuli (2012:29) outlines the four significant functions of
the court as follows:
 Firstly, to protect the rights of the accused. The courts are a neutral role
player and are obliged to objectively assess the actions of the police and
ensure that the accused’s rights have not been violated. The courts also
evaluate the actions of other role players in the entire criminal justice
system to ensure that the rights of the convicted person are not violated
(http://www.uir.unisa.ac.za).
 Secondly, the courts are responsible for analysing all the evidence
presented, to determine whether it meets the prescribed guidelines.
 Thirdly, the court has a duty to protect society by ensuring that a person
who is found guilty is removed from the society and incarcerated
(http://www.uir.unisa.ac.za).
 Fourthly, the courts have to impose appropriate sentences t to deter a
convicted person from committing further crimes in future.
1.3. Correctional Services-Corrections is one of the most vital components in the
criminal justice process. It is responsible for enforcing court orders. However, this
component comes at the receiving end of the criminal justice. When the court
sentences an offender to a term of imprisonment, corrections has to
accommodate him/her. As a result, this leads to overcrowded facilities since
corrections do not have control over the number of inmates who enter the
system. Nonetheless, the Department of Correctional Services has a duty to
protect members of society by keeping offenders in safe custody for such a
duration as stipulated by the court (http://www.dcs.gov.za).While incarcerated,
offenders will have the opportunity to participate in rehabilitation programmes,
and educational and recreational programmes. The purpose of these
programmes is to provide offenders with an opportunity to become law-abiding
citizens after release. Not all prisons provide inmates with the same
programmes. In addition, since juveniles have special needs, they are treated
differently from the other categories of offenders (Schmalleger, 2001:16). 2.5
THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT “The central characteristic of criminal law is that a
violation of the rule results in punishment before.
QUESTION 2
2.1. The five (5) role players responsible for rehabilitation of offenders in
corrections.
 Social workers
 Health officials
 Psychologists
 The community
 Corrections official.

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2.1. The roles and responsibilities of the role players in the rehabilitation of
offenders.
The Department of Correctional Services takes offenders into custody with the
aim of rehabilitating them so that they can become good citizens to their
community. Birzer and Roberson (2004: 37) write that within a rehabilitation
approach, offenders are assigned to programs which were designed to prepare
them for readjustment or reintegration into the community. The fact that after
everything else that an offender goes through while incarcerated he or she has
to return to the community makes the community an important part of the
rehabilitation process. According to the South African Yearbook (2003/04: 451),
the Sub-directorate of Community Involvement facilitates the involvement of
community members in correctional matters. The Sub directorate aims to
promote co-responsibility for offender management and crime prevention, share
responsibility for offender rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the
community as well as maximize the use of public and private forums. Where
there is an open relationship between the community and corrections, offenders
stand a better chance of integrating well into society. The public will be able to
understand the conditions of the offender and they will try by all means
necessary to help him or her. The community can offer work, income assistance,
spiritual and emotional support, amongst other things, to offenders to ensure
their rehabilitation.

The correctional staff “There is reason to believe that the correctional officer role
is much more demanding, broad and rich than is generally
believed…Correctional staff are engaged in guiding, mentoring, facilitating,
developing, and watching prisoners. If a prisoner needs assistance with a job,
getting along with others, programming, interacting with staff, or obtaining
privileges, then correctional officers are their more likely resource, given their
proximity and frequency contact” (Hemmens & Stohr, 2000: 327). The White
Paper on Corrections (Department of Correctional Services, 2005b: 114)
recognises that every member has a role in the rehabilitation of offenders and to
achieve that, it is required that there be a good working relationship among all
the members, including social workers, psychologists, nurses, pharmacologists,
health officials, theologians and the entire workforce within the correctional
system. Bartollas (2002: 258) confirms that the work of the correctional officials
as well as those people who work within the correctional system is not an easy
one as it demands physical and emotional stamina. In just one day a
correctional official can play the role of supervisor, custodian, disciplinarian,
peacekeeper, administrator, observer, manager, facilitator, mentor, provider,
classifier and diplomat (Liebling & Price, 2001: 43). Officials are responsible for
the offenders from the day of admission until they are released to society. They
have significance in the daily lives of offenders in general as offenders look up to
them. Seiter (2002: 383) indicates that officials have the following roles to play

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 with regard to the rehabilitation of offenders and these roles are based on the
manner in which the officials conduct themselves, irrespective of whether they
are counsellors or treatment specialists:
 Contributing to an environment of control without threats and tension. Effective
control not only ensures that offenders are maintained at all times within the
correctional centre, but also promotes a good working relationship between
officials and the offenders. Where there is effective control, the correctional
system is guaranteed of a peaceful offender population. There will not be any
unrest or rioting by offenders, which will in turn lead to them focusing on
changing their lives and participating in the rehabilitation programs.
Communicating with inmates on a professional basis. Officials must always bear
in mind that offenders are people too, who, like them, deserve to be respected.
Officials must behave in a manner that is acceptable when they are around the
offenders and they should never under any circumstances insult offenders as
this might hamper their relationship.
 Focusing on providing human services. As it is officials’ duty to ensure that
offenders are treated in an adequate manner, officials should meet offenders’
needs at all times. As part of humane treatment, they must provide for basic
needs of offenders such as food and clothing. The provision of these services
will lead to offenders focusing more on their rehabilitation programs. The
correctional staff are the most valuable resource of a correctional system as they
are responsible for accomplishing the mission of that system. Officials are
responsible for supervising offenders by carrying out sentence orders of the
courts. This makes corrections a people business since work cannot be
accomplished by bars and fences, prison cells or use of electronic monitoring
(Seiter, 2002: 375).
The Department of Correctional Services supports community participation in
correctional matters through the following means (Bailey & Ekiyor, 2006: 27):
 The Department drafted a community participation policy that outlines the
guidelines for community involvement, which are in line with the departmental
rehabilitation strategy.
 The Department encourages greater community participation as a means of
reducing crime, thereby promoting good relationships amongst community
members.
 It offers support to both offenders and the victim.
 It offers support in all activities aimed at integrating offenders into the
community.
 The Department ensures active involvement in the definition of offender
obligations.
 It offers offenders opportunities for remorse, forgiveness, reconciliation and for
offenders to make amends.

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  The Department aims to ensure that relationships are restored for successful
reintegration of offenders.
In conclusion, rehabilitation remains one of the most important purposes of sending a
person to a correctional centre. This is mainly attributable to all the programs that are
available to the offenders while they are incarcerated so that they can redeem
themselves and return to their communities. As the Department of Correctional Services
(2007b: 10) states, rehabilitation comprises of education, skills training, sport,
recreation, arts and culture opportunities, health care and psychological treatment,
maintenance of family and community links, a safe and healthy detention environment
and post release support to ensure that the offender is rehabilitated to prevent him or
her from going outside worse than he or she was when he or she first came into
detention”.