| Don Pinnock | |
| Birth Date: | 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Queenstown, South Africa |
| Occupation: | Writer, photographer, criminologist |
| Spouse: | Patricia Schonstein |
| Children: | 2 |
Donald Pinnock is a South African writer, investigative journalist, and photographer. He was born in 1947, in Queenstown, South Africa, and educated at Queens College. He is a Research Fellow at the Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town,[1] a former editor of Getaway magazine in Cape Town, and writes for Daily Maverick. He has been a lecturer in journalism and criminology, consultant to the Mandela government, a professional yachtsman, explorer, travel and environmental writer and photographer. His passions are species conservation in Africa and the relationship between early social and biological trauma and high-risk adolescent behavior.
Pinnock has a PhD in political science, an MA in criminology, a BA in African history and has published a post-doctoral study on gangs, rituals and rites of passage. He has held lectureships in Journalism (Rhodes) and Criminology (University of Cape Town) and conducted his PhD research at School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. He was the first Writer in Residence at South Africa's Antarctic SANAE IV base (2005–06).
As a criminologist, he was one of the co-drafters for the ANC government of the Youth Justice White Paper, which became the Child Justice Act. He is a specialist in adolescent deviance, was one of the founders of the Usiko Trust and is a trustee[2] of the Chrysalis Academy, both involved with support and training[3] for high-risk youth. He is an Honorary Research Associate in the Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town.
He was appointed a commissioner of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2017.
He has held three photographic exhibitions in Cape Town: The Wonder of Elephants and Postcards from the Road. $treet$ is a traveling exhibition that explores gang life.
He is a columnist for BA High Life and Mahala and researcher/writer for the Conservation Action Trust,[4] The Dodo[5] and Daily Maverick.[6]
He is married to the novelist and poet Patricia Schonstein, with whom he has a son and a daughter.