This volume of essays is the third in a series of critical studies in criminology produced under the auspices of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cape Town.

This volume of essays is the third in a series of critical studies in criminology produced under the auspices of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cape Town. Ten years into South Africa's new democracy, crime and what should be done about it is the subject of endless debate. Arguments range from the accuracy of the country's crime statistics to the state of its prisons. But why is crime such a persistent problem? How have patterns of offending changed over the course of South Africa's transition to democracy? And how have crime control practices altered in response to the challenges of the post-apartheid era? Justice gained? Sets out to answer these questions by providing a critical commentary on some of the key issues in contemporary South African criminology.

• 'A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake'
• politics and crime in the transition to democracy in South Africa
• out of the mainstream
• critical reflections on organised crime in the Western Cape
• guns and public policy in South Africa
• murder and capital punishment after apartheid
• child justice and diversion
• will children's rights outlast the transition?
• acting against domestic violence
• cosmetic crime prevention
• South African policing studies in the making
• swimming against the tide
• controlling the size of the prison population in the new South Africa