Prevention of crime

How would left realists prevent crime?

They focus on the organisation of society, especially the inequality, disadvantaged groups and the poverty that result from crime

• They aim for this, focusing on society; known as Social and Community crime prevention (SCCP)

What is SCCP according to left realists?

Focuses on the structural causes of crime as they want to tackle the reasons people turn to crime through better social support and community based policing; they desire to remove the conditions that predispose individuals to crime (which is a long-term plan)

• They desire to tackle root causes, not the present opportunities

How would right realists prevent crime?

Emphasise the individual; they note that people choose crime as the benefits outweigh the costs, so they aim to increase the costs so less people commit.

• They would do this via Situational crime prevention (SCP) and Environmental crime prevention (ECP)

What is SCP according to right realists?

According to Clarke, there are 3 features to removing opportunities for crime:

• The prevention would be directed at specific crimes

• Manage immediate environment of crime

• Increase the risks of crime

His idea inhibits rational choice theory, as we must focus on the immediate crime situation as the scope for prevention is the greatest them. To him, most crimes are opportunistic

What are some critiques to SCP?

• Displacement; crime is happening in other places were targets of crime are much easier

It can take place in several forms; spatial (moving elsewhere), temporal (committing at a later time), tactical (choosing a different method) etc.

• Assumes the criminals are rational when making choices; some may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs

• Ignores root causes of crime; difficult to develop longterm strategies for prevention

What is Environmental crime prevention according to right realists?

Crime increases in run-down areas, so there should be the removal of any signs of neglect, e.g; graffiti, so less people stop disrespecting the areas

• Wilson and Kelling have a twofold strategy; repairing ‘broken widows’ and ‘zero tolerance policing’

What are ‘broken windows’ and why do they need repairing?

They are a phrase to stand for all disorder; Wilson and Kelling argue that leaving them ‘unrepaired’ and tolerating aggressive behaviour gives the sign that nobody cares about that neighbourhood. There is an absence of formal (police) and informal (the community) control, as the police focus on serious crime and the community feel intimidated.

• The neighbourhood becomes a magnet for deviance as the respectable people leave

What is zero tolerance policing?

After repairing the ‘broken windows’, the police must proactively tackle any signs of disorder, even if it isn’t deviant.

• For example, the ‘Clean Car Program’ in NY, where, in the subway, cars with graffiti were removed. As a result, graffiti was less common. These policies have influenced global anti-social behaviour policies.

What are the critiques to ECP?

• Ignores corporate crime; which is more costly

• Gives police free reign to discriminate against minorities

• Over-emphasises the control of disorder