Heidi Sauls

Heidi Sauls has completed her Masters Degree in Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her thesis was titled ‘Live fast, Die Young and have a good looking corpse’. This project was based on extensive research that investigated issues of violence and masculinity among gang members in a township, notorious for the widespread violence. This township is called Manenberg and is situated on the Cape Flats. South Africa-Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development  (SANPAD) funded her studies.  

While writing her masters thesis, she was also employed as a researcher, in the Department of Psychiatry, at the University of Cape Town. This project attempted to develop a risk model for children who were younger than 16 years old, who committed serious violent crimes and had been institutionalized in prison and what is called ‘Places of Safety’. In addition, Sauls had attended various Masters Courses in the Amsterdam Masters in Medical Anthropology (AMMA programme). Once she had received her Masters degree, she then, completed her Honours Degree in Clinical psychology at the University of the Western Cape.

For the past 4 years, Sauls has been lecturing at the University of the Western Cape and is still employed here. She has taught undergraduate and post-graduate classes in both disciplines of Anthropology and Sociology, mainly with specific reference to studies on violence. As part of her experience, Sauls is actively involved in volunteering counseling services for survivors and perpetrators of violence. In addition, she is involved as a consultant (member of the reference group) for various projects such as the 5-city project, Children and Youth in Organised Armed Violence (www.coav.org.br), to name a few.

At present, Sauls is now working with children, who are younger than 14 years old, who commit serious violent crimes that are institutionalized in ‘Places of Safety’. This study is a multi-level study and explores 3 different aspects: to explore socio-political and legal-political perceptions of violent children; to study the day-to-day enactment of children’s lives in Places of Safety; and finally, to describe children’s own experiences, perceptions and strategies regarding violence outside and inside the institution. Sauls is the recipient of a WOTRO grant in support of her PhD research and this project is in collaboration with the University of Leiden.