CRJ 490 - Final Exam

Social Disorganization Theory

macro; Residential Instability, Poverty, and Ethnic Heterogeneity are factors that lead to social disorganization which contributes to higher crime rates and social disorder.

Defensible Space

meso; physical design influences how people behave

______ can be better developed in areas that fostered defensible space.

Social Cohesion

Four Components of Defensible Space

territoriality, natural surveillance, image, milieu

Territoriality

The extent to which a space conveys a sense of being owned or private and has clearly designated purposes

Natural surveillance

the capacity of physical design to provide surveillance opportunities for residents and their agents

Image

the capacity of the physical design to influence the perception of an area as unique, well-maintained, and non-isolated

Milieu

the location of the space within the macro urban background, spaces adjacent to risky places can experience spillover

Routine Activity Theory

micro; routines unintentionally structure opportunities for crime. certain controllers actively shape convergent events that raise the likelihood of a crime event arising.

Three Elements of a Crime Event

Place, Motivated Offenders, Suitable Targets

Handlers

influence offender behavior (motivated offenders); weak motivation if strong (parents, friends, spouses, teachers, probation officers)

Place Managers

regulate spaces; who allows things to occur at a specific PLACE (bouncers, land lords, homeowners, teachers)

Capable Guardians

Prevent the victimization of someone and something. control decreases because guardians are absent and weak; increases target suitability (police patrols, security guards, friends, neighbors)

Routine Activity Prevention Techniques

installing stronger locks/security screens, encouraging neighbors to watch out for each others’ safety, assigning at least 2-3 people to a late night shift

Crime Pattern Theory

meso; crime happens in predictable places because people’s daily routines and movements bring them into contact with certain locations and opportunities more often than others

Environmental Backcloth

the physical, social and temporal fabric of a place that influences how people use and experience their environment

CPT asserts that crime occurs where people’s movement patterns intersect with opportunities shaped by the ______ ______

environmental backcloth

Awareness Space

mental map; areas that offenders know well and consider for potential criminal activity

Activity Nodes

specific, fixed location where a person regularly spends time and carries out routine activities

Pathways

routes that people travel between their activity nodes (i.e. roads, sidewalks, hallways, or bus lines)

Edges

boundaries or transition zones where one type of land use or environment changes into another; mark the outer limits of awareness spaces and areas of weakened guardianship

crime generators

places that draw large number for legitimate reason, unintentionally increasing opportunities for crime through sheer volume of activity

crime attractor

places known to provide criminal opportunities that intentionally attract offenders who seek them out

Difference between a crime generator and a crime attractor is _____

motivation

CPT v. RAT

CPT asserts that places are problematic because of their location and relationship to the environment whereas RAT argues that places are problematic because of the types of people present and absent at locations

How CPT, RCT, and RAT are related

Crime Pattern Theory relates to Rational Choice Theory because offenders discover areas where the pros outweigh the cons and in those areas they will choose to engage in criminal behavior. For RAT, motivated offenders are likely to choose to commit a crime where there is a suitable target and lack of capable controllers because they perceive the risk to be low.

deterrence theory

people can be discouraged from committing crimes if the costs outweigh the benefits

General deterrence

macro; aims to prevent crime among the public by making an example of punished offenders

specific deterrence

micro; aims to prevent the punished individual from reoffending

Main Concepts of Deterrence

certainty, severity, celerity

certainty

likelihood of being caught and punished

severity

harshness of the punishment

celerity

speed between crime and punishment

Proportionality

punishment fits the crime

How can we use punishment and good law to deter effectively?

laws should be clearly written and the respective punishments should be made public. Justice system should act with both swiftness and certainty. Individuals are rational actors. Good laws establish a framework where this cost-benefit analysis leads to law abiding behavior.

How can deterrence theory be a part of SCP?

Situational crime prevention applies deterrence theory by altering environments to increase the perceived effort and risk of offending, thereby discouraging crime in specific situations.

Rational Choice Theory

Micro; offenders weigh potential rewards against potential risks and consistently choose environments where the balance of reward and risks favors offending

bounded rationality

making decisions based on what is known to you

involvement model

first/necessary step of RCT; long-term decision about offending

event model

second step of RCT; immediate opportunity, environment, target, guardianship, and access

Why RCT is the core of crime science and offender behavior

crime is not random; all human beings are rational thinkers that weigh the costs and benefits of every situation, especially when engaging/deciding to engage in crime.

Situational Crime Prevention

adjusting environment can discourage potential criminals

5 Main Principles of SCP

Effort, risk, reward, provocation, excuses

Increase effort

make the crime physically more difficult to commit by adding steps, barriers or required tools (ex. tamper proof packaging, baggage screening, electronic merchandise tags, street closures, disabling stolen cell phones)

Increase risk

make it more likely for the offender to be seen, caught, or identified (ex. neighborhood watch, improve street lighting, “How’s my driving?” decals, CCTV increase, hire security guards)

Remove excuses

make rules and expectations clear so offenders cannot justify or rationalize what they did (ex. rental agreements, “No Parking” signs, “Shoplifting is stealing” signs, public restrooms, breathalyzers in pubs)

Reduce Rewards

take away or limit what the offender hopes to gain from the crime (ex. off street parking, removable car radio, property marking, monitor pawn shops, graffiti cleaning)

Reduce Provocations

identify and reduce the situations, feelings, or cues that spark harmful behavior (ex. efficient cues and polite service, fixed cab fares, enforce good behavior, “It’s OK to say NO”, rapid repair of vandalism)

Broken Windows

disorder leads to a break down in social control and breakdown allows crime to flourish

Physical Disorder

litter, abandoned buildings, vandalism, graffiti

Social Disorder

aggressive panhandling, prostitution, drug dealing; things that cause disturbances and violate social norms and law

Temporal Process of BW

lack of social control leads residents to stop utilizing areas. Criminals begin to use these areas, resulting in a criminal invasion. Once the invasion occurs, more serious crimes follow.

Causal mechanisms for BW

social control

Broken Windows Policing

addressing the affects of disorder amongst the neighborhood by dealing with physical and social disorder

Community Oriented Policing (COP)

accountability to the community and proactivity in solving community problems; guiding philosophy of policing agencies today

Problem Oriented Policing (POP)

discovering the true root or cause of the crime or problem

SARA Model

scanning, analysis, response, assessment

Scanning

discover patterns

analysis

heart of the SARA Model; using data to discover the who, what, when, where, and why of crime before issuing a response

assessment

measures of the level of crime and of crime prevention effectiveness

Place Network Investigations

using intelligence-driven efforts and community collaboration to identify and disrupt criminal networks in problematic areas

Crime Sites

place in which the crime occurred

convergent settings

public places that facilitate the meeting of offenders

comfort spaces

offender-controlled places used to carry out criminal activity

corrupting spots

support transactions that help to facilitate crime elsewhere

Displacement

criminals are predisposed to commit crime; psychological need to commit crime despite environmental changes

5 categories of displacement

geographical, temporal, target, tactical, crime type

geographical

moves from one place to another

temporal

moves from one time to another

target

moves from one target to another

tactical

one method replaces another

crime type

one crime is substituted for another