Crime Prevention and Control Flashcards
Give some examples of ‘target hardening’ measures that increase the risks of crime or reduce the opportunities
1) Locking doors and windows
2) CCTV in shops
3) Security guards in shops
What are 3 features of measures aimed at situational crime prevention?
1) Directed at specific crimes
2) Involve managing or altering the immediate environment of the crime
3) Am at increasing the effort and risks of crime and reducing the rewards
What type of theory is situational crime prevention, and what does this mean?
A rational choice theory. This means that it assumes that criminals act rationally, weighing up the costs and benefits of the crime before deciding whether to commit it.
What does Clarke argue is the most obvious solution to crime?
Focus on the immediate crime situation, since this is where scope for prevention is greatest
What does Clarke argue that most crime is, and therefore what do we need to do?
Most crime is opportunistic, and therefore we need to reduce the opportunities
What is the problem with this theory if it assumes that criminals are rational?
If criminals are rational then they will rationally respond to target hardening and move the crime elsewhere where the targets are softer.
What 5 different types of displacement are there?
1) Spatial
2) Temporal
3) Target
4) Tactical
5) Functional
What are the 4 criticisms of the situational crime prevention theory?
1) With most measures there is likely to be some displacement
2) Tends to focus on opportunistic, petty street crime. It ignores corporate, white-collar and state crime, which is most costly and harmful
3) Assumes that criminals are rational. This is unlikely to be the cases with violent crimes and crime committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol
4) Ignores the roots of crime, such as poverty or poor socialisation, this makes it difficult to develop long-term prevention strategies
Who talks about situational crime prevention?
Clarke
Who talks about environmental crime prevention?
Wilson and Kelling
What do Wilson and Kelling use the phrase ‘broken windows’ to describe?
All the various signs of disorder and lack of concerns for others that are found in neighbourhoods
What examples of disorder does the phrase ‘broken windows’ include?
- Undue noise
- Dog fouling
- Littering
- Vandalism
- Graffitit
What signal does leaving broken windows unrepaired send out?
That no one cares
What strategy do Wilson and Kelling propose?
A two fold strategy:
1) Environmental improvement strategy
2) Zero tolerance policing
How will the environmental improvement strategy help to reduce crime?
It send out a signal that disorder is not acceptable and that people care for the environment
What does the zero tolerance policing strategy propose?
That police must proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder, even if it is not criminal. This will halt neighbourhood decline.
Although there is evidence of a zero tolerance policy in NYC having positive effects, why can we not be certain it was due to the policy?
- There was a general decline in crime at the time
- The NYPD benefitted from 7,000 extra officers
- There was a decline in the availability of crack cocaine
What does social and community crime prevention place firm emphasis on?
The potential offender and their social context
What is the aim of social and community crime prevention strategies?
To remove the conditions that predispose individuals to crime in the first place
How are social and community crime prevention strategies more effective than situational crime prevention policies?
They attempt to tackle the root cause of the crime and are therefore longer term
What are often the root causes of crime?
Poverty, unemployment and poor housing
What does the Perry pre-school project show?
That the children who received the 2-year intellectual improvement programme had significantly less arrests than the control group by the age of 40
How can all of the crimes prevention strategies be criticised?
The largely focus on petty street crime and largely ignore with-collar crime, corporate crime and environmental crime.
What are the three types of crime prevention?
1) Situational crime prevention
2) Environmental crime prevention
3) Social and community crime prevention
