Since 1980, the pace of economic and social change in Botswana has been rapid. One might expect this to be reflected in patterns of offending behaviour and court responses. This paper examines trends in certain types of criminal offence during this period, making use of police and prison reports and a smnmary of magistrates' court records in Gaborone. While there are clear rising trends for a nmnberof major offences and differences in sentencing patterns between them, the paper concludes by warning against making simple connections between these observations and structural changes such as the growth of urbanisation or of presumed urban income inequalities.
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