Suburban Fear, Media and Gated Communities in Durban, South Africa
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2009
Type of Work
Department
Towson University. Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Durington, M. (2009). Suburban fear, media and gated communities in Durban, South Africa. Home Cultures, (6)1, 71-88. doi: 10.2752/174063109X380026
Rights
Abstract
A disjuncture between the reality of crime and its perception has created a culture of fear within South Africa that bolsters gated community development and an accompanying fear industry that supports media, private security companies, and a number of other industries that provide security apparatuses. Is the establishment of gated communities an irrational response to perceptions of crime in South Africa in the twenty-first century? Or, are they deemed necessary in a perceived culture of violence that exists in the country? The article explores these questions through ethnographic research with residents of a gated community and the security company hired to provide security for the estate reflecting on the reality and perceptions of crime in the "New" South Africa.