Right Realist theories of crime control

AQA Sociology A Level Crime and Deviance

Situational Crime prevention (Clarke)

* Directed at specific crimes
* Reduced rewards
* Increased effort
* Increased risk

Increased effort

* Target hardening
* Control tools/weapons
* Control access to facilities

Increased risk

* Strengthen formal surveillance
* Reduce anonymity
* Leave signs of occupancy

Reduce rewards

* Conceal targets
* Disrupt markets
* Property marking

Reduce provocations

* Discourage imitation
* Reduce frustration and stress
* Reduce emotional arousal (control on violent pornography)

Remove excuses

* Set rules
* Control drugs and alcohol
* Instructions

EVAL of Situational Crime Prevention

* Displacement
* Ignores white collar, corporate or state crime
* Ignores root causes of crime

Example of Situational crime prevention

Felson- Port authority bus terminal

* Reshaped physical environment to design crime out
* Reduced crime
* Displacement

Environmental crime prevention (Wilson and Kelling)

In neighbourhoods where minor deviancy takes place (broken windows, graffiti, littering and vandalism) there is an absence of formal social control (police) and informal (community). Without remedial action the situation deteriorates and the area is tipped into a spiral of decline.

Solution to broken window theory

* Zero tolerance policing
* Environmental improvement strategy

Examples of environmental improvement strategy

* Abandoned cars towed immediately
* Damaged buildings must be repaired

Zero tolerance policing

Officers must proactively tackle the slightest sign of disorder, even if it not criminal; this will halt neighbourhood decline and prevent serious crime taking root

Example of zero tolerance policing

Clean car programme

* Subway cars taken out of service if they had graffiti on
* As a result, graffiti was largely removed from the subway
* Other programmes followed (against fare dodging, drug dealing and begging)
* Between 1993 and 1996 there was significant decline in crime, and 50% drop in homicide rate

EVAL of Clean car programme

* NYPD benefitted from 7,000 extra officers
* General decline in major US cities at the time
* Deaths from homicide declined but attempted homicides remained high (improved medical emergency services rather than policing)

EVAL of zero tolerance policing

* Ignores corporate crime
* Allows police to discriminate against minorities
* Leads to displacement

EVAL of zero tolerance policing - Young

Police need arrests to justify their existence