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International Journal of Public Health
Published in: International Journal of Public Health 8/2018

01-11-2018 | Original Article

Linking criminal contexts to injury outcomes: findings and lessons from a national study of robbery in South Africa

Authors: Brett Bowman, Sherianne Kramer, Sulaiman Salau, Ella Kotze, Richard Matzopoulos

Published in: International Journal of Public Health | Issue 8/2018

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Abstract

Objectives

South Africa has high rates of violence. The country has benefitted enormously from the use of injury surveillance data from the health sector, but there is a need to explore other avenues of routine data to advance violence prevention. We demonstrate the value of using routinely collected police data for enhancing our understanding of robbery as an important situational context for violence in South Africa.

Methods

We analysed 1,841,253 cases reported to the police between 2003 and 2014 to describe the distribution and predictors of robbery violence in South Africa.

Results

Robbery is prevalent in South Africa, but the use of violence beyond the threat of force is rare. After adjusting for confounding factors, the probability of co-occurring violence increases when robbery occurs at night, on weekends, involves cash and where the victims are black, young and female.

Conclusions

Using routinely collected police data is valuable for investigating the situational dimensions of violence, thereby enhancing our understanding of contexts that shape violence and its injury outcomes. Such an approach can advance contextually sensitive violence prevention strategies.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
Race is categorized here according to apartheid population group classifications, which include the terms black, coloured, Indian and white. While the authors recognise that such terms are social categories that served a socio-historical political purpose, they continue to be used in vital statistics and police reporting in South Africa. We have therefore retained the category and its associated terms for our analysis.
 
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Metadata
Title
Linking criminal contexts to injury outcomes: findings and lessons from a national study of robbery in South Africa
Authors
Brett Bowman
Sherianne Kramer
Sulaiman Salau
Ella Kotze
Richard Matzopoulos
Publication date
01-11-2018
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
International Journal of Public Health / Issue 8/2018
Print ISSN: 1661-8556
Electronic ISSN: 1661-8564
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-018-1129-z

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