A Study of Multiple Causes of Recidivism Among Youth Offenders at Thohoyandou Female/Juvenile Correctional Centre in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

This research was conducted in the Thohoyandou Correctional Centre within the Female/Juvenile place found in the Thulamela Municipality in the Vhembe District. It is approximately 200km to the north of Limpopo Provincial capital of Polokwane. It focuses on finding out factors that influence offenders to re-offend again, investigate recidivism among youth offenders and identify some of the problems relating to recidivism. The research consisted of juvenile offenders incarcerated in the Thohoyandou Correctional Centre within the juvenile area. Both groups of sentenced male and female juveniles participated in the study. The research used non-probability sampling. Purposive sampling was used to gather information within the Thohoyandou Correctional Centre. The research used interviews and focus group interviews as methods of collecting data. The interviews were conducted using English and Tshivenda then the responses were translated from Tshivenda to English. The researcher interviewed young offenders who have offended and re-offended. The researcher used grounded theory as a method to analyse data. This method helped the researcher to generate theory from the data collected