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Assoc. Prof 

Ras, Johannes Marthinus

Department: Criminal Justice
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3337-4055
Research Interest: Policing, Firearms, Body guarding, Private security, Criminal justice, Religion, Theology, Psychology, Prisons, Corrections.
Faculty: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Active Community Engagement:
Community engagement work on crime prevention and women empowerment in rural area of Nteneshane.
Active Research Projects: Firearms, Body guarding, Private security, Community engagement, Terrorism.
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Biography

Professor (Dr) Johan Ras is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Zululand. He was appointed as a lecturer in Bibliological Studies and started lecturing on 19 March 1990 in the Faculty of Theology. He became Senior Lecturer in 1996 and Associate Professor in 1999 in New Testament. He moved over to the Department of Criminal Justice in 2000 as Associate Professor in Police Science. In 2006 he started to act as acting Head of the Department of Criminal Justice and was appointed full-time from 2014 to 2019. He also serves as Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2007 to 2012. He is working in different fields because of his background. He inter alia served in the military as chaplain for more than 16 years, was a temporal correctional officer and a police reservist at Empangeni Farm Watch. For the past 20 years he is an active private security training instructor training general and specialised security courses. He obtained three doctorates in the fields of New Testament, Criminal Justice and Psychology.

Research Intrest

Policing, Firearms, Body guarding, Private security, Criminal justice, Religion, Theology, Psychology, Prisons, Corrections.

2022 - 20252

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    A text-immanent, narrative-critical and logotherapeutic reading of the book of Amos and the necessity of a scientific approach by its readers to prevent terror deeds
    2022
     | Greek Orthodox Patri...
    A text-immanent and narrative critical approach to the Biblical book of Amos reveals that the prophet Amos had addressed the social injustices of his time. He addressed the issues of his day with the belief that it was the Lord God (Elohim) Almighty who had instructed him to do so. The leaders of the well-known terror groups, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and the Islamic State (IS) are also addressing contemporary social issues that confront them with the belief that Allah (God) has prompted them to do so. While Amos had discovered meaning through what he had seen and what he had said about the Lord and his interventions, the terror groups find their meaning in jihad (holy war). The book of Amos confronts modern readers to take scientific contextual analyses seriously and it also makes them aware that believers need to do what is right without making use of any violence to effect some societal change. In contrasts to this, the jihadists’ interpretation of the Quran and their quest for a world under Sharia law are not in line with sound scientific contextual analyses and as a result led to unacceptable terror and violent deeds in practice – something that must be rejected at all costs.
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    How can community members in Lesotho be empowered to prevent crime?
    2025
     | Criminological Socie...
    This article addresses the question: “How can local community members be empowered to assist the police in the prevention of crime?” A qualitative approach was employed, and data were collected through document analysis, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews. The participants’ views are presented in this paper. They identified 15 key strategies for empowering community members to prevent crime: encouraging active participation; establishing crime prevention committees; providing self-defence training; implementing firearm training programmes; forming neighbourhood watches; community patrols; introducing shop and business watch schemes; implementing kraal watches; holding community meetings to discuss crime-related issues; organising crime awareness workshops; conducting crime prevention campaigns; promoting knowledge sharing; involving youth in sports, cultural and religious activities; empowering the youth; and empowering women. It is recommended that these strategies be implemented in Lesotho through collaboration between community members and the police as part of a comprehensive empowerment framework.
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