General Methodological Approach

 

Enhancing the Delivery of Security in Africa: Complementing the APRM and Working to the African Union

 

The overarching goal of this project to generate information that can be used to review the scale of crime and the criminal justice systems in countries undergoing the APRM. This ultimate goal is to enhance the implementation of NEPAD programmes. Crime is a cross cutting issue in all the four areas identified in the NEPAD Declaration (Democracy and Political Governance, Economic Governance and Management; Corporate Governance and Socio-economic Development) and containing it is essential for enhancing human security as well as achieving the levels of development envisaged by the continent. Different countries experience different rates of crime and though management of the criminal justice hinges on accepted principles, there are some variations across countries in the levels of performance and the determinant factors equally vary. Participating country partners will thus agree on the methods to be used in each area of study, taking into account each country’s specificities, as indicated in the Master Questionnaire. Sharing information will be essential for the success of the project and will enhance the quality of work by the country team.

The study will proceed in a number of stages. The AHSI2 Secretariat will be involved at all the stages and will render technical support throughout. The stages are as follows:

• First Stage: The engagement of country partners by AHSI2 and preparing the questionnaire for the country’s local context. This will be done through the aid of the country background report. An issue paper derived from this document will guide the actual study. Selected Partners will write brief action plans on how they intend to proceed with the study. They will also compile a list of stakeholders and other likely respondents to interviews they will conduct. Intended visits to institutions, e.g. prisons must also be indicated and later documented.
• Second Stage: In country workshop during which studies pertaining to all sections will be discussed. AHSI2 takes a holistic approach to this study hence all sections outlined in the Master Questionnaire are viewed and treated as interconnected.
• Third Stage: Fieldwork/data collection by the partners and analysis of the findings, discussion of preliminary report.  
• Fourth Stage: Finalising of country report/ drafting of policy briefing documents/ prep for publication
• Fifth Stage: Confidential policy briefings with relevant stakeholders followed by general dissemination of the findings

 

Data Collection

Collecting accurate, representative data on the scale and nature of crime as well as the criminal justice systems in Africa is extremely challenging. Traditionally, the two main sources for policy development and planning are official police statistics and victimisation surveys (which ask a representative sample of the population about their experiences of crime). In the African context, both sources are scarce. The project aims to bridge this gap by generating more knowledge on the phenomenon through a combination of the strategies listed below.

 

Document Review

A document review will include for every country, an analysis of the institutional (constitutional) framework governing the administration of criminal justice. A review of non-governmental documentation on the crime problem, and the functioning of the police and courts, such as the media, donor-commissioned studies, reports of international human rights monitors, and reports from local academic and research institutions. (such as official crime statistics, victimisation surveys (1), case studies of particular issues such as organised crime, inter-personal violence, organised crime, gun violence, illicit drug related crimes- United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s Survey of Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, and Interpol reports), as well as available documentation on the capacity and effectiveness of the police and court systems (such as governmental annual reports, statistics, parliamentary reports.

 

Structured Interviews / Focus Group Discussions

In-depth interviews or focus groups will be conducted with individual key officials in the relevant government departments and groups of interviewees from select target/stakeholders. The actual number of interviews per organisation will be determined during the preparation of the detailed country research plan and when more information about each organisation is available. The interviews will be largely structured.

(i) Interviews or focus group discussions with selected stakeholders involved indirectly in the management of crime and security problems, and service delivery to those affected by crime, such as private security companies, informal community based anti-crime organisations, traditional leaders, hospitals, clinics and ambulance services, relief agencies, counselling or psychological services providers, legal aid agencies, defence lawyers, security advisors to the corporate sector or multinationals operating in the countries concerned. Direct questions can be asked about stakeholders’ views of government policy with regard to criminal justice.

(ii) Interviews or focus group discussions with key representatives of organised civil society such as women’s groups, religious or faith based groups, trade unions, community or residents’ associations, the education sector (schools in particular), youth organisations, etc. The aim of these discussions will be to identify the key safety and security needs and challenges facing the communities represented by the stakeholders, general views about crime and safety, priority needs with respect to safety and security, and views about the capacity and performance of the criminal justice sector. Direct questions can also be asked about stakeholders’ views of government policy with regard to criminal justice.

A set of standardized questionnaires will be administered across the countries involved in the project (2).

 

Victimisation Surveys

Where possible, and based on the input gathered in the course of the above approaches, it may be deemed necessary to conduct crime victimisation surveys in specific locations to attempt to provide more objective and quantitative data on the nature and extent of the crime problem. This would probably only be necessary if the qualitative approach reveals strong disagreements among stakeholders (and government) about safety and security issues, or if the research reveals important issues that the local stakeholders believe require in-depth exploration.

• Public opinion data: A detailed analysis of public pinion data will be conducted where the data are available.