Right wing policies on crime reduction

Clarke 1980

Argues that criniality is a conscious choice and the criminal opportunities available and the likelihood and the potential consequences of being caught are significant factors affecting criminality.

Situational crime prevention

Making particular crimes harder to commit or capture more likely.
For example, target hardening, increasing the securing surrounding the targets of crime, such as houses and cars.
This can be achieved through installing alarms and better locks and encouraging safer practices.

Clarke on Target hardening

Telephone box theft of coins, from aluminium changed to steel.
Steering column in German cars, most modern cars now have crime prevention technology.

Environmental crime prevention.

Wider measures relating to the public environment, which can make deviant behaviour less likely.
Eg, the use of CCTV which continues to increase in Uk

Security industry authority on CCTV

Estimated in 2013 that there was one surveillance camera for every 11 people.

Debates of surveillance, positive

House of lord constitution committee 2009,
CCTV is very popular with law abiding members of the public who see it as preventative, it may not Swales prevent crime itself but is useful to detect crime

Debates of surveillance, negative

It changes the moral nature of society and raised ethical issues about the society we want to live in.

Lighting as preventing crime

Modern housing estates often designed to prevent crime through increased lighting with encourages people to go out therefore more people make them feel safer
Stoke on Trent, lighting experiment, 43% decrease in crime and deviance.

Punishment

Right wing views believe in retribution and favour hash and punitive sentencing.

longer sentences

Imprisoning offenders take them of the street and means that issues of rehabilitation and reoffending become irrelevant.

Harsher prison regimes

A key role harsh penalties is the shaming/ stigmatisation of the behaviour, which acts as a form of public condemnation
Lino's to Durkheim and Eriksons collective conscience

Control, increase foot patrol

The police focus more on preventing crime than catching criminals as targeting would be offenders and crime hot spots will save money and reduce crime

Zero tolerance policing

Aggressive policing of minor and anti-social crime, including littering, vandalism and graffiti
3 strike policy in America, which increases the sentence for reoffending

Zimring 2011

Showed that between 1990 and 2009 the homocide rate in New York decline by 82% and rates for others crimes also fell dramatically.

The welfare state, control

Murray, argues that an over generous welfare system encourages feckless behaviour and prevents families and individuals for taking responsibility over their actions.
He says benefits should be cut and if families cannot afford to bring up their children then they should be adopted.

Murray 2005 on American prisons

He suggests that America had dealt with its crime problem, the crime rate has dropped about 1/3 since the early 1990s.
This is because in 2005 2 million Americans were incarcerated, it had significantly reduced crime but begs the question whether countries are willing to the pay the price of crime reduction.

Evaluation of right wing policies 1

Criticised for not addressing the underlying causes of crime, but Simon 1988 points out that 'changing people' is difficult and expensive which explains why policy makers have abandoned this approach, focusing instead on restricting people's movements and actions.