A victimological exploration of the African values of Ubuntu

Abstract

With specific reference to apartheid South Africa and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), this discussion focuses on the transformative potential of the ancient African worldview of Ubuntu and the importance of interpretation and meaning of culture in relation to the study-field of victimology and the administration of criminal justice. Ubuntu was conceptualized as the affirmation of one’s humanity with others in its infinite variety of context and form, whereby one’s own sense of humanity is gained from the humanity shared with others. With victimization that seeks to dehumanize, analyses referred to a critical exploration of the restorative Ubuntu values of interdependence and communality to advance the intense humanness of a universal personhood in our attempts to address and transcend institutional, structural and interpersonal victimization.