Poor academic performance of Detective Trainees in Hammanskraal Academy in Pretoria, South Africa by Victor Mogale Letsoalo Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the subject PSYCHOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: Mr F Z Simelane December 2019 Dedication I dedicate this project to my boys, Matime, Nkopodi, and Phutyana, for keeping me on my toes by always asking me about my progress in this study, thus pushing me to work harder. ii Declaration I, Victor Mogale Letsoalo, declare that this dissertation Poor academic performance of Detective Trainees in Hammaskraal Academy in Pretoria, South Africa is my own work and that all the sources that have been consulted throughout have been acknowledged in the reference list. 26/11/2019 --------------------------- ----------------------- Signature Date iii Acknowledgements Special thanks go to my supervisor Mr FZ Simelane who has been there for me throughout this project, always guiding and encouraging me to work hard, especially when it seemed impossible. I also want to thank all my colleagues at the Division HRD especially those who supported me when I needed their support. Above all, I want to thank God the Almighty who gave me the strength to persevere in this challenging journey. iv Abstract This study was intended to understand the experiences of individual detective trainees about poor academic performance in Hammanskraal academy. Detectives are the people who must ensure that perpetrators of crime face the full might of the law through investigating and proving before the courts the guilt on the part of the perpetrator, but also to prove the innocence in some instances. In this qualitative study, purposive sampling was used, and ten participants were selected to take part in the study. The participants include the six trainees who obtained below 50% mark in one of the summative assessments and could not qualify as detectives. Further, participants include the four trainers who had more than five years as trainers in the academy to give their perspective about the poor academic performance of trainees in Hammaskraal Academy. The unstructured interview was used to collect the data, and qualitative data analysis steps were applied to analyse the data. Some of the findings are the extent of damage that is caused by poor academic performance on the individual detective trainees, and that also affected their families. They also feel embarrassed that they did not qualify as detectives because of poor academic performance. In conclusion, there is a need to put measures that would deal with the poor academic performance of the detective trainees. Keywords: Academic performance, detective trainee, detective learning programme, policing v Table of Contents Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Declaration ......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 ......................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 THE FOLLOWING ARE KEY DEFINITIONS IN THE STUDY: .................................... 2 1.3. RESEARCH PROBLEM ............................................................................................. 2 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................. 3 1.5 AIM OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 3 1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................................................... 3 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................ 3 1.8 RESEARCH SETTING: HAMMASKRAAL ACADEMY, PRETORIA ........................... 4 1.9 CHAPTERS OUTLINE ................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 ......................................................................................................................... 6 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORY ................................................................................ 6 2.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 6 2.2 THE POLICE ............................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 DETECTIVES ........................................................................................................... 7 2.3 COMPARISON OF DETECTIVE TRAINING BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND GHANA ............................................................................................................................. 8 2.3.2 DETECTIVE TRAINING IN GHANA ......................................................................... 9 2.3.3 SIMILARITIES ........................................................................................................ 10 2.3.4 DIFFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 11 2.4 CHALLENGES FACED BY DETECTIVES AND THEIR TRAINING IN SOUTH AFRICA ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.5 APPROACHES ON TRAINING ADULT LEARNERS ................................................ 13 2.5.1 CASCADE APPROACH ......................................................................................... 13 2.5.2 DIRECT APPROACH ............................................................................................. 14 2.5.3 PARTICIPATORY APPROACH .............................................................................. 14 2.5.4 OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING APPROACH .................................................. 14 2.6 FACILITATION AS A METHOD OF PRESENTING LEARNING IN ADULT EDUCATION ................................................................................................................... 15 2.7 ADULT EDUCATION FRAMEWORK IN SOUTH AFRICA ....................................... 16 2.8 RESOLVING OF CRIME LEARNING PROGRAMME ............................................... 18 2.8.1 Criminal law ............................................................................................................ 18 vi 2.8.2 The Resolving of Crime Learning Programme Modules .......................................... 20 2.8.3 Criminal procedure Act 51 of 1977 .......................................................................... 20 2.8.4 The law of evidence ................................................................................................ 21 2.8.5 Management of exhibits .......................................................................................... 22 2.8.6 Tracing resources ................................................................................................... 22 2.8.7 Statement Taking ................................................................................................... 23 2.8.8 Crime Scene Management ..................................................................................... 23 2.8.9 Functioning in a Team ............................................................................................ 24 2.8.10 Investigative Interviewing ...................................................................................... 24 2.8.11 Victim Empowerment ............................................................................................ 24 2.8.12 Witness Protection ................................................................................................ 24 2.8.13 Stress Management .............................................................................................. 25 2.8.14 Investigation of Specific Crimes ............................................................................ 25 2.8.15 Inquest Investigation ............................................................................................. 25 2.8.16 Missing Persons ................................................................................................... 25 2.8.17 Docket Administration ........................................................................................... 25 2.8.18 Giving of Evidence ................................................................................................ 26 2.8.19 Role of Crime Intelligence ..................................................................................... 26 2.8.20 Informer Handling ................................................................................................. 26 2.8.21 Utilisation of Systems ........................................................................................... 26 2.9 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF LEARNERS....................................................................................................................