Perceptions of poverty and crime, its impact on the farming community and guidelines for and intervention programme

Abstract

This article provides a profile on the poverty and crime that farm workers experience and have to deal with in their community. A multidisciplinary study was conducted by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) on certain farms in the North-West Province of South Africa. This study was known as FLAGH, an acronym for the Farm Labour, Agriculture and General Health study. Thirty (N=30) participants were identified through systematic random sampling techniques. Qualitative interviews were undertaken for data collection purposes. The aim of this study was to gauge the workers' perceptions concerning poverty and crime and to suggest guidelines for a possible intervention programme.