Crime Prevention Flashcards
What are the three approaches to crime prevention?
- Situational crime prevention
- Environmental crime prevention
- Social and Community crime prevention
What is situational crime prevention based on?
Rational choice theory and Cohen and Felson’s Routine Activity Theory
What are approaches to situational crime prevention?
Target hardening and Designing out
What is situational crime prevention?
Putting measures in a situation where the criminals and victims come together
What are two approaches to situational crime prevention?
- Target hardening
- Designing out
What is target hardening?
Decreasing the opportunity for crime through measures like window locks etc
How does target hardening affect crime?
It makes it harder to commit crimes such as burglary and graffiti
What does designing out involve?
Redesigning the city to prevent crime
Help CJS catch and prosecute but mainly act as deterrence
Give an example of designing out.
Eloping seats on bus shelters to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them
What are the pros of situational crime prevention measures?
They can be effective at a relatively low cost and have a significant impact on reducing specific crimes
What does zero tolerance policing involve?
Strictly enforcing every facet of law, including minor activities like littering and graffiti
What is a notable characteristic of zero tolerance policing?
It gives police less freedom to use discretion, obligated to hand out strict penalties
Provide an example of zero tolerance policing.
New York City in 1994, which saw significant crime reduction within a few years
What are ASBOs?
Anti-social behaviour orders introduced in the UK to correct minor acts of deviance
Introduced in 1998 and related to zero tolerance techniques
Who can receive an ASBO?
Anyone over the age of 10
Half of them handed out to 10-17 year old juveniles
What is a notable case involving an ASBO?
The 53 year old ‘Naked Rambler’ who was jailed for defying his banning order
What is a pro of zero tolerance policing?
Lead to CJS catching more criminals
It resulted in more arrests for possession of marijuana in new york (1 every 10 mins by 2012)
What is a con of ASBOs?
They give people a criminal record for not actually doing anything criminal
What is a criticism of zero tolerance methods?
They create a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding crime
also provides statistical justification for continued hyper-aggressive police tactics
What is social and community crime prevention sometimes referred to as?
An actuarial approach to crime
Based on intervening in groups or individuals most at risk of offending
How are crime prevention strategies similar to insurance?
They calculate premiums based on risk, identifying social groups more likely to commit crimes
What are examples of targeted interventions in social crime prevention?
- Pre-school classes
- Parenting classes
- Family and relationship counselling
What are the two broad approaches in social and community crime prevention?
- Intervention
- Community involvement
What is an example of an intervention program?
The Troubled Families Programme
