Browsing by Author "Smythe, Deirdre"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Domestic Workers and their access to childcare: A Socio-Legal study
    (2018) van Zyl, Nicole; Smythe, Deirdre
    This dissertation explores how domestic workers within the Cape Town area access childcare. From this exploration, the argument that the state should provide childcare to mothers as a redress measure under s9(2) is developed. This argument is drawn from the proposition that universal access to childcare has the potential to reduce gender inequality by removing the care burden that women bear. By providing universal access to childcare, and thereby removing or reducing the care burden, women are better empowered to access income earning activity. This qualitative enquiry utilises a literature review and one-on-one interviews as modes of data collection. Eight interviews were conducted on the experiences of domestic workers. A feminist methodology was adopted in the collection and analysis of the data, which led to the finding that greater state intervention is needed into the lives of domestic workers so that they may realise substantive equality. This Constitutionally based legal analysis is used as a means of understanding social transformation through the experiences of the participant group.
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    From re-traumatisation to rightful recourse: designing just and victim-supportive policies for disciplining campus sexual misconduct
    (2025) Moyo, Grace; Smythe, Deirdre
    The issue of sexual misconduct in universities has come to a head in South Africa in recent years. Among the concerns that have been raised in student protests, scholarly studies, and research by the Department of Higher Education and Training is the question of effective institutional mechanisms to resolve complaints of sexual misconduct. This research is concerned with the disciplinary processes employed by universities to adjudicate complaints and impose disciplinary measures. The question asked is whether South African universities have policies on sexual misconduct that provide for just and victim-supportive processes, and what measures must be put in place in order for them to do so? My premise for this thesis is that an outcome is just if the determinative method is just, and as such I rely on the theory of Natural Justice and procedural fairness as the framework for developing a just process. I approach this question from a policy perspective, with a focus on developing and implementing policies that lay out disciplinary procedures for sexual misconduct that are responsive to the needs of victims and cognisant of the procedural fairness rights of accused students. I do this by analysing the sexual misconduct policies of thirteen public universities to understand their disciplinary procedures and institutional approaches to sexual misconduct as a whole. I find that, in general, university policies are lacking in so far as providing clear procedural rules and guidelines for disciplinary tribunals that allow for just and victim-supportive adjudication. Current policies provide for an imbalanced adjudication system or do not provide sufficient guidelines for adjudication at all. Ultimately, I make recommendations on how a hybrid model of adjudication can be fashioned; one that takes into account the need for procedural fairness in administrative decision-making, while simultaneously incorporating victim-supportive practices to minimise the trauma that disciplinary processes can inflict on victims of sexual misconduct. Among these recommendations are the inclusion of restorative justice practices in adjudication and sanctioning, the creation of an accusatorial/inquisitorial hybrid model of adjudication, and imposing justifiable limitations on the rules of Natural Justice to create a disciplinary process that is both just and victim-supportive.
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    Sexual offenses on campus: Challenges in the disciplinary system
    (2021) Isaac, Chyanne; Smythe, Deirdre
    Gender Based Violence (GBV) is not just an institutional problem but a global one. Higher education institutions have come under fire for inadequate policies and processes to address sexual violations on campus. Despite progressive policy revisions and advocacy at South African universities over the years, there is no indication of either a reduction in the number of cases or an increase in confidence in institutional responses to sexual offences. This dissertation reviews the sexual offences policies and procedures at six South African universities and highlights the challenges in the university student disciplinary process. Drawing the distinction between a criminal trial process and administrative hearing process, I make recommendations for procedural changes to the university disciplinary process that protects the complainant in a sexual offences case from unnecessary trauma during hearings.
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    Women's legal consciousness in a poor urban community: finding order in and around the law
    (2021) Harding, Joanne; Smythe, Deirdre
    This thesis is a qualitative empirical study aimed at understanding the legal consciousness of women in a poor urban community. Through the narratives of women who were interviewed for this study, articles in the media, social media, and film, it explores the predominant problems experienced by women, and their experiences of engaging systems ‘in and around the law'. I argue that localities like Lavender Hill cannot be seen as homogenous and one cannot assume that all people approach problem solving from a similar perspective. Using a feminist lens, with literature on legal consciousness, legal cynicism, and legal pluralism as a backdrop, I describe the legal consciousness of poor urban women; what Ewick and Silbey refer to as ‘tracing the law in everyday life'. I interviewed 52 women, of which eight are women who live and work with other women in the community. Using an open ended questionnaire, I captured these narratives and analysed them, describing the themes and trends which surfaced. Poor urban women in this context not only navigate the daily threat of gang violence. They live in a place that is neglected, and seek positive solutions, despite high levels of patriarchy and systems that are inaccessible and unfair in response to their problems and disputes. A key finding of relevance to legal consciousness theory is the existence of different typologies of women − despite the relatively small geographic locality − with diverse norms and values. Of value is the description of varied attitudes towards systems ‘in and around the law', and different problem solving approaches. This makes a significant contribution to legal consciousness scholarship, in that it brings into view the seminal role of norms and values in social control, and how this shapes women's expectations of the law, as well as their approaches to the law, and other systems that assist with problem solving. This finding has value for practitioners and policy makers seeking to make a contribution to social justice and improve the lives of women in poor urban neighbourhoods like Lavender Hill.
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    Youth in conflict with the law: a case study of critical issues that arise in sentencing youth who are on the verge of adulthood
    (2023) Mablane, Kearabetswe; Smythe, Deirdre
    Crime among youth in South Africa is a very serious and complex problem because it encompasses a lot of social issues that are deeply rooted. These issues encompass but are not limited to poverty, unemployment, disorganised families and communities, association with deviant peers, easy accessibility to illicit substances and poor education. As can be seen from statistics on youth who violate the law the amount of offences committed by young children is alarming negatively. Young children aged between 12 and 21 years are still forming part of the "high risk" for violating the law. As will be seen in the case in this study children are now becoming involved in heinous crimes. As alluded to above there are various factors that could have contributed to these children violating the law. These factors are called socio-economic risk factors. A great deal of children are already negatively affected by these risk factors. They come from poverty-stricken communities where unemployment is at its high and there is little to no adherence to the law. This is not only in the communities they come from but also in the homes that they live in. The school drop-out rate is very high and illicit substances are easily accessible to the youth. The peers they associate themselves with also contribute as they are most likely also deviant. That being the case, the number of children involved in crimes increases rapidly. Resources that are meant to cater for the needs of these children are fast becoming depleted because of overcrowding and other lack of resources. The lack of resources negatively affects these children because they often find it challenging to transition into responsible adults in most cases ending in recidivists and not contributing positively to the economy and society. This study explores a case of a young man from the Western Cape who has committed a very heinous crime. The case of the young man is then applied to the socio-criminogenic risk factors within the family, community, peer group association and school, in order to better understand the challenges that this young man might have (which are not unique to only him) the age that he is about to transition to being an adult. The study concludes that further in-depth research pertaining to youth who are about to transition into adulthood needs to be conducted. Research on the socio-criminogenic risk factors for youth who commit heinous crimes in the South African context is critical as the research will better guide the relevant stakeholders on where to focus much attention and emphases regarding rehabilitation and prevention of crime. Lastly, the sentences that youth are granted should be cognisant of the age when they committed the crime and the severity of their sentences should be less compared to those of adults.