Situational approaches

Question 1

Clarke 1983

Answer 1

involves the management, design or manipulation of the immediate environment to reduce opportunities for crime and increase its risks as perceived by offenders

Question 2

Types

Answer 2

primary - directed at the general public before a problem e.g environmental design
secondary - directed at people or place’s identified as a risk e.g target hardening and more surveillance
tertiary - preventing recurrence, targeting known offenders and victims e.g crackdown in hotspots

Question 3

Routine Activities Theory

Answer 3

Cohen and Felson, 1979
crime occurs when there is a mix of a likely offender, suitable target and lack of a capable guardian
in the 60s - more women in work so they were not at home, burglary increased
60s/70s - TV smaller so easier to take

Question 4

Defensible Space Hypothesis

Answer 4

Newman, 1972
increasing surveillance and reducing escape routes
e.g cul de sac layouts - exclusive living environments, increase a sense of community in residents and resulting in a collective action against crime

Question 5

Prevention techniques

Answer 5

Clarke 1992
steering locks and safes
street lighting, CCTV and NW
ID badges, security guards

Does it work?
improve rather than cure problem
displacement

Question 6

Kirkholt burglary project

Answer 6

Forrester et al, 1988
1985 - 1 in 4 houses on the Kirkholt estate were victims
surveyed victims and burglars to assess the problem and design means to deal with it - target hardening and surveillance
costs to install techniques and little evidence of displacement

Question 7

CCTV

Answer 7

1994-97 - 78% of Home Office spending was dedicated to the expansion of CCTV - Coleman and Norris 2000
1 CCTV camera for every 14 people

Impact on crime - Welsh and Farrington, 2009

• meta analysis of 44 studies
• 51% reduction in vehicle crime when used in car parks
• effect on vehicle crime but not violent

Question 8

Improved street lighting

Answer 8

Painter 1996

• darkness induces sense of security
• surveys before and after about incidence of crime, fear of crime and whether lighting improvements noticed
• reported crime fell in 2 areas
• fear of crime reduced in all areas for men and women
• women noticed the street lighting more than men

Question 9

Evaluation of situational

Answer 9

some methods prevent activities which aren’t criminal e.g rough sleeping
does not provide protection against corporate crime or state crime - just street
displacement - crime is likely to move elsewhere, one without CCTV and measures