C&D- CRIME CONTROL Flashcards
What are the three main types of practical crime reduction strategies?
Situational Crime Prevention
This approach focuses on reducing opportunities for crime by increasing the risks and effort required to commit crimes. Examples include target hardening (e.g., locking doors, using CCTV) and altering environments to deter crime (e.g., redesigning spaces like the NYC Port Authority Terminal). It is based on rational choice theory, where offenders weigh risks and benefits.
Environmental Crime Prevention
Rooted in Wilson and Kelling’s Broken Windows theory, this method emphasizes maintaining order to prevent crime. Strategies include repairing vandalism immediately, removing abandoned cars, and adopting zero-tolerance policing to tackle even minor signs of disorder.
Social Crime Prevention
This approach aims to address the underlying social causes of crime, such as poverty, unemployment, and poor education. Long-term strategies include improving living conditions, community involvement, and programs like the Perry Preschool Project, which showed positive outcomes in reducing crime through early intervention.
What is surveillance used for in crime control?
Surveillance is used as a means of controlling people’s behavior and preventing crime.
What are the two main theories on crime control?
Right Realism
Left Realism
What were the crime prevention policies during the Conservative government (1979-1997)?
Promised to restore the rule of law with a war on crime.
Focused on situational approaches like target hardening, surveillance, and Neighbourhood Watch.
Increased police force expenditure by 40%.
Encouraged courts to issue harsher sentences.
Resulted in the highest rate of imprisonment in Europe by 1988.
What were the crime prevention policies during the New Labour government (1997-2010)?
Adopted the approach: “Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.”
Promoted situational approaches like zero tolerance policing.
Encouraged a multi-agency approach involving social services, health, housing, and criminal justice agencies.
Introduced policies targeting social exclusion, such as minimum wage, Family Tax Credit, Sure Start, and the New Deal.
What is situational crime prevention according to Clarke?
It is a pre-emptive approach aimed at reducing opportunities for crime by:
Directing measures at specific crimes.
Altering the environment where crimes occur.
Increasing the risks of committing crime.
What are the two types of situational crime prevention measures?
Target hardening: e.g., locking doors, not leaving valuables visible in cars.
Surveillance: e.g., CCTV, security guards.
What is rational choice theory in crime prevention?
It is the theory that criminals weigh the risks and benefits of committing a crime and can be deterred if the risks outweigh the benefits.
What was Felson’s case study on situational crime prevention?
The Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC was redesigned to discourage crime (e.g., luggage theft, drug dealing) by altering its poor design.
What are the forms of crime displacement according to the evaluation of situational crime prevention?
Spatial: Crime moves to another place.
Temporal: Crime happens at a different time.
Target: A different victim is targeted.
Tactical: A different method is used.
Functional: A different type of crime is committed.
What are the criticisms of situational crime prevention?
Focuses on petty, opportunistic crimes.
Ignores root causes of crime like poverty.
Overlooks white-collar crimes.
Surveillance may target specific groups unfairly (e.g., young males).
What is the “Broken Windows” theory by Wilson and Kelling?
It suggests that visible signs of disorder (e.g., a single broken window) lead to further disorder and crime due to the lack of social control.
What are the two strategies in environmental crime prevention?
Environmental improvement: Fixing broken windows, towing abandoned cars, etc.
Zero tolerance policing: Addressing even minor signs of disorder.
What is the Perry Preschool Programme?
An experimental programme where 3-4-year-olds received a two-year enrichment programme. By age 40, participants had fewer arrests, higher high school graduation rates, and better employment outcomes compared to a control group.
What does Foucault argue about surveillance?
Foucault claims that surveillance controls both body and mind through disciplinary power, leading to self-surveillance and self-discipline.
