Prevention and punishment Flashcards
What is situational crime prevention?
Based on the view that criminals act rationally. Focuses on reducing opportunities to commit crime. Involves looking at the types of crime people commit, where they commit them and what can be done to prevent it.
What is designing out?
Some features are redesigned to make it harder to commit certain crimes. Examples include sloping seats at bus shelters.
What is target hardening?
Target hardening decreases the opportunity to commit crime. Examples include window locks, window shutters, car alarms, steering wheel locks, anti-climb paint and CCTV
What are the advantages of situational crime prevention?
Very popular with councils and businesses because they are effective and relatively cheap
What are the disadvantages of situational crime prevention?
Might prevent crime in a certain area, but will likely displace it elsewhere. Some of the methods prevent activities that most would not consider criminal.
What is environmental crime prevention?
Based on the broken windows theory. Emphasises the role of formal social control measures, such as zero tolerance policing, antisocial behaviour orders, curfews, street drinking bans and dispersal orders.
What is zero tolerance policing?
Involves the police strictly enforcing every facet of the law, paying particular attention to littering and begging. Involves giving the police less freedom to use discretion.
What do ASBOs aim to do?
To correct minor acts of deviance which would not usually warrant criminal prosecution
What are the advantages of environmental crime prevention?
Quite effective. Relatively cheap. Has an immediate effect on crime which can be reassuring to the public.
What are the disadvantages of environmental crime prevention?
Can be disproportionately harsh. Methods like zero tolerance policing have been deemed unnecessary. Can feed prejudice Assuming an area is more prone to crime because it looks rough is not always accurate or warranted.
Why have methods like zero tolerance policing been deemed unnecessary?
Crime has decreased in countries that did not adopt these methods. Often disproportionately affects ethnic minorities more due to biases.
What do left realist methods focus on?
Focuses on individual offenders and the social context in which they commit crime
What are community based approaches?
Targeted intervention and improving policing
What is intervention?
Identifying groups that are at risk of committing crime and taking actions to prevent this.
What risk factors did Farrington find?
Low education and parental conflict
What was the Perry Preschool project?
A two-year intellectual enrichment programme provided to black children living in poverty. Led to higher graduation rates, a significantly lower rate of crime and delinquency and a lower incidence of teenage pregnancy and welfare dependency.
What did Young and Mathews argue?
Improving leisure facilities for the young, reducing income inequalities, reducing unemployment, raising the living standards of poorer families and improving housing estates will all help to cut crime
Why is the relationship between the police and the public important?
Left realists argue that most crimes are cleared up by the police because of information from the public. Research suggests confidence in the police has declined. If this relationship breaks down, the flow of information from the victims will dry up. If they do not have this information, they must find new ways of solving crime. There is a drift towards military policing with tactics like stop-and-search.
Why is military policing not ideal?
Alienates people in the community by making everyone feel like criminals, resulting in a further decline in trust in the police
How should the police improve relationships with the community?
The public should have more say in shaping police policy. The police should listen to the public about what crime affects them most in the area. The police should spend less time on paperwork in order to be able to investigate crime. The police would have more time to be out in the community building relationships. Increased exposure to the police may actually increase the public’s trust in them.
What is the postmodernist approach to crime prevention?
Michael Foucault argues that the nature of crime control has shifted from sovereign to disciplinary power. There is more emphasis on private crime prevention techniques and informal arrangements of controlling crime.
How does consumer culture help control crime?
Data is collected on individuals through consumer tracking which takes purchasing information and creates a lifestyle profile based on it. People are regarded less as citizens and more as consumers. They are seduced into avoidance of social harm by participation in consumer society. Those who are not seduced or cannot participate face stricter control measures.
