Lifestyle and Routine Activities Theory

Pratt and Turanovic (2016:335) state that the Lifestyle Exposure Model was developed in 1978 by Hindelang, Gottfredson and Garofalo in order to categorise and explain lifestyles responsible for the victimisation of specific individuals. The Lifestyle and Routine Activities Theory are separate theories which are closely related because of

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their similarity. Pratt and Turanovic (2016:336) point out that when it comes to the Lifestyle Theory, it is usually the individuals’ lifestyle that makes people prone to being victimised based on their exposure to societal criminal elements. LRAT views risk in terms of probabilities. For example, it states that certain behaviours give rise to the risk of victimisation. In other words, individuals become crime victims because they do not exercise rational choice and/or intelligence in certain social situations. According to Pratt and Turanovic (2016:336), LRAT underscores that individuals are exposed to “…high risk times, places and people”.

LRAT claims that victimisation is opportunistic, ergo, there has to be a combination of favourable factors at play in order for a person to be victimised (Daigle, 2012:3; Robinson & Cussen 2017:123). The Theory is founded on the work of Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson that related victimisation against the backdrop of a motivated offender, attractive target or victim, and the absence of capable guardianship (Pratt & Turanovic, 2016:335). In the case of drug mules, a motivated offender can be the drug trafficker whose sole aim is to smuggle drugs from one destination to another, a readily available victim may be the unsuspecting individual who is unaware that they are being groomed to be recruited as a drug mule; and the final condition is the absence of capable guardians would apply to individuals who do not have close bonds with their family members to warn them against getting involved with a drug trafficker.

LRAT is a fitting theory that may explain why people become drug mules. This is based on the premise that some women are taken advantage of and exploited, thus forcing them to become drug mules (Gerry, Harré, Naibaho, Muraszkiewicz & Boister, 2018:167). Another example can be found in victims of human trafficking who are forced to become drug mules or those individuals who are tricked into carrying drugs unknowingly (Gerry et al., 2018:180). These include unsuspecting people duped by family members, acquaintances, friends, or intimate partners into transporting drugs without their knowledge.

Like all theory, the LRAT has a few shortcomings; the main criticism is that it seems to place blame on the victim (Miró, 2014:6). In addition, Sovacool and Hess (2017:728) postulate that because the Theory focuses on the merits of an individual’s lifestyle, it

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may blame individuals who are deemed to have inappropriate, unhealthy, or unsustainable lifestyles.

Criminological theory is an important measure when it comes to explaining crime. Although criminological theories are usually not a ‘one size fits all’ approach, they still enable criminologists to try and make sense of certain crime phenomena.

3.5 CHAPTER CONCLUSION

Doorewaard (2016:34) claims that because women are often seen as nurturers, they are perceived to be incapable of committing indescribable crimes and most often they are viewed as trapped due to circumstances and forced into a life of crime. As shown above, various reasons motivate females to become drug mules; nevertheless, it is clear that victimisation, exploitation, coercion, trickery, free will and money are the most frequently recurring reasons. Prominent previous studies exploring and evaluating the motives of female drug mules consulted for this research revealed different results. Fleetwood (2014:15) maintains that female accounts of being drug mules involved poverty, money, mothering, and relationships; stating that other themes emerged which comprised of escape, opportunity, and excitement.

Despite the different results, there was still an underlying similarity in the results of the studies examined for this research, in that the majority of the women were victims to varying degrees, such as victims of circumstances, naiveté, drug abuse or simply greed.

Fleetwood (2014:161) found that a growing number of women play an increasingly important role in organised drug-smuggling operations through their family networks and that instead of being coerced or victimised, females viewed being drug mules as a reasonable career option in the context of their active social networks. While on the other hand, Bailey (2013:121,135) admitted that drug smuggling research claims that the motives for many women were a product of various forms of victimisation ranging from poverty to emotional dependence on romantic partners, with a minimal number of women displaying a sense of agency with motives usually associated with men.

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Schemenauer (2012:86) offers a different view, in that when it comes to drug mules, female mules are often dismissed as instruments in the drug trade thereby only being described in terms of victims and vamps - a product of the ‘Madonna/whore’ dichotomy - which in itself is untrue as it normalises gender protection. Bareket, Kahalon, Shnabel and Glick (2018:np) describe the ‘Madonna/whore’ dichotomy as the contrasting perceptions of women as either ‘good’ or innocent as the Madonnas - or ‘bad’, licentious, or immoral as whores. Therefore, the Madonna drug mule would be considered an innocent victim of circumstance. Due to the complexity of humans and everyday life, it can be concluded that not all decisions made by humans are straightforward. Nevertheless, EMCDDA (2012:19) avers that there is some disagreement regarding just how complicit drug mules are in their crimes as they are often portrayed by the media and law enforcement as unwilling, unwitting participants - yet levels of coercion are not well defined or outlined. With all being said, it is essential to remember that motives are often not one-dimensional, but rather multi- dimensional according to an individual’s perception. Although available literature covers a wide variety of theories, Burt and Simons (2013:1330) note that most crime theories are focused mainly on the material benefits of crime, where other non- economic motivations such as status, respect, and self-esteem gained from the completion of the crime, are overlooked. This is highlighted by Collins (2018:1) who claims that some women are purely motivated by money and notoriety and thus take part in criminal activities in order to obtain money to fulfil what are legitimate needs to them.

Given the different motivations that have been mentioned thus far, it should be cautioned that the literature reviewed was limited to women who smuggled drugs in a few countries globally. Overall, the above analyses, consistent with the literature studied, provides some valuable information regarding female motivations for becoming drug mules. Regardless of the various explanations, Fleetwood (2015b: 964) outlines the fact that motivations for being a drug mule are complex and should be explored in more depth. Despite the value of the information, explanations and motivations of female offending are still lacking. It is clear that South African female motivations for becoming drug mules have received minimal attention, and as such, this research will endeavour to provide more insight and expand on female motivations for becoming drug mules. This research will assist in filling the gap in the current

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research by providing a study that deals exclusively with female drug mule motives. Whatever the reasons, however, a person’s motivations are often more complicated than what research implies.

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CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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4.1 INTRODUCTION

As mentioned, the study aims to explore the motives of female offenders for becoming drug mules. To achieve this aim, the research methodology of the study should be explained to substantiate the scientific rigour of the study. The purpose of this chapter is to outline and clarify the logic behind the chosen methods and techniques used by the researcher. The chapter includes an in-depth discussion of the research design, sampling procedure, data collection and analysis strategy followed. Because the study dealt with a vulnerable group, namely female drug mules, the emphasis is placed on ethical considerations guiding the study.