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Understanding and Preventing Crime in Malawi: an Opportunity Perspective

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Understanding and Preventing Crime in Malawi: an Opportunity Perspective Understanding and Preventing Crime in Malawi: An Opportunity Perspective Aiden Sidebottom Department of Security and Crime Science University College London This Thesis is submitted in support of a Ph.D. in Security and Crime Science March 2013 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Aiden Sidebottom, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed: A. Sidebottom Date: 18/03/2013 2 Understanding and Preventing Crime in Malawi: An Opportunity Perspective Abstract Numerous studies demonstrate that crime is highly concentrated. The risk of criminal victimization is unequally distributed across available targets – be they people, products or places. Determining the extent to which crime concentrates and the correlates of victimization is a popular research area with implications for theory and crime prevention. Presently, such research is largely confined to Western industrialised settings attributed to a lack of suitable data in many developing countries. This thesis is concerned with the concentration and correlates of crime in Malawi. It uses a predominately environmental criminology framework to explore whether crime opportunity theories, amongst others, can make sense of the victimization patterns observed in the hitherto unexplored context of Malawi. The thesis is victim-oriented, saying little about the motivation of offenders and focussing instead on the attributes and activities of crime targets. This is achieved through secondary analysis of data from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2004/05, a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey containing questions comparable to crime victim surveys. The thesis is comprised of five case studies on livestock theft, residential burglary and physical assault. Despite the radically different circumstances, the findings suggest broad though not unanimous support for crime opportunity theories in the Malawian context. The findings also help draw attention to the plight of several population groups associated with higher risks of victimization, most notably the chronically ill. The implications of the research for reducing vulnerability, in particular the feasibility of applying situational crime prevention in resource- limited settings such as Malawi are discussed. 3 For Tamara, who waited. 4 Understanding and Preventing Crime in Malawi: An Opportunity Perspective Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 11 List of Tables ................................................................................................................. 12 List of Figures ................................................................................................................ 15 List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................... 16 Dissemination of Research Findings ........................................................................... 17 Publications ................................................................................................................. 17 Presentations ............................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1 - Thesis Summary ....................................................................................... 18 Why Malawi? .............................................................................................................. 20 What Lies Ahead ......................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 2 - Literature Review and Theoretical Framework .................................... 28 Chapter Summary........................................................................................................ 28 Crime Victim Surveys: How They Came About and Why They Matter .................... 31 Theories of Victimization ........................................................................................... 36 Theories on Crime and Development ..................................................................... 37 The Social Disorganisation Approach .................................................................... 39 Crime Event Theories ............................................................................................. 42 The Routine Activity Approach .............................................................................. 43 The Lifestyle-Exposure Theory .............................................................................. 45 Crime Pattern Theory .............................................................................................. 48 The Rational Choice Perspective ............................................................................ 49 A Brief Summary ........................................................................................................ 51 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 3 - On Malawi: Context, Culture and Crime .............................................. 54 Chapter Summary........................................................................................................ 54 Malawi: Geography and Climate ................................................................................ 54 5 A Brief Historical Background to Malawi .................................................................. 56 Pre-colonial history ................................................................................................. 56 Colonialism: The Scramble for and Cinderella of Africa ....................................... 57 Post-colonialism: Banda and Beyond ..................................................................... 60 Contemporary Malawi ................................................................................................ 63 Population ............................................................................................................... 63 The Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Malawi ............................................... 64 The Economic Characteristics of Malawi ............................................................... 64 Aid Dependency ...................................................................................................... 66 Burden of Disease ................................................................................................... 66 The Criminal Justice System in Malawi ..................................................................... 68 The Malawi Police Service ..................................................................................... 69 History and Structure .............................................................................................. 69 Public Relations ...................................................................................................... 71 Non-State Police in Malawi .................................................................................... 72 Crime in Malawi ......................................................................................................... 73 Malawi National Crime Victimization Survey ....................................................... 74 Criminal Victimization............................................................................................ 75 Corruption ............................................................................................................... 77 Victim Behaviour .................................................................................................... 77 Victim Reporting ..................................................................................................... 78 Public Perceptions of Safety, Security and the Criminal Justice System ............... 80 Some Reflections on the MNCVS .............................................................................. 80 Chapter 4 - On the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2004-05 ......................... 83 Chapter Summary........................................................................................................ 83 Fieldwork in Malawi: A Personal Account ................................................................. 83 Background to the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2004-05 ............................ 87 Sample Frame, Size and Selection .............................................................................. 89 Field Staff, Fieldwork and Survey Implementation .................................................... 94 Implementation Challenges ......................................................................................... 97 Funding delays ........................................................................................................ 98 Petrol constraints ..................................................................................................... 98 External political factors ......................................................................................... 98 Budget constraints ................................................................................................... 98 The Contents of the Malawi Integrated Household Survey ........................................ 99 6 The Security and Safety Module ..............................................................................
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