Implications for Crime Prevention Lecture Notes

Week 11: Implications for Crime Prevention

Associate Professor Jesse Cale

Crime Prevention Lecture Outline

• Levels of prevention

• Criminal Justice Interventions

• Developmental crime prevention

• Community crime prevention

• Situational crime prevention

Levels of Prevention

• Tertiary Prevention/Intervention:

  • Involves interventions aimed at individuals who have already committed crimes.

  • Focuses on reducing the risks of recidivism and limiting the consequences of criminal behavior.

• Secondary Prevention:

  • Targets individuals or groups who are at risk of engaging in crime.

  • Involves measures such as diversion programs, educational initiatives, and support services to prevent future criminal behavior.

• Primary Prevention:

  • Aimed at the general population to stop crime before it occurs.

  • Includes initiatives like community development, policies to improve social conditions, and the promotion of social cohesion.

Crime Prevention Strategies

Criminal Justice Interventions

• Detection and Investigation:

  • Focuses on identifying criminal activity and ensuring offenders are brought to justice.

• Deterrence:

  • General Deterrence: Aims to deter the general public by making an example out of offenders.

  • Specific Deterrence: Targets individual offenders to discourage them from committing future crimes.

• Incapacitation:

  • Includes strategies that physically restrain offenders, such as imprisonment.

  • Selective Incapacitation: Refers to targeting specific offenders for longer sentences based on risk assessments.

• Offender Rehabilitation:

  • Aims to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior through programs that promote change and reintegration into society.

Roles of Police, Courts, and Corrections

• General Deterrence (Primary):

  • The criminal justice system imposes penalties that deter crime at a societal level.

• Specific Deterrence (Tertiary):

  • Aimed at individuals to discourage repeat offenses.

• Incapacitation (Tertiary):

  • Involves keeping offenders away from potential victims to reduce crime rates.

• Rehabilitation (Tertiary):

  • Focuses on changing offenders’ behaviors and reintegrating them into the community.

Goals of Corrections

• Retribution:

  • Aims to restore moral balance by providing deserved punishment.

• Incapacitation:

  • Physically restraining or removing an offender from society to prevent crime.

• Deterrence:

  • Based on the rational choice theory; seeks to deter future crimes by imposing penalties.

  • Distinction between general deterrence (societal impact) and specific deterrence (individual impact).

• Rehabilitation:

  • Involves identifying and addressing the causes of criminal behavior through counseling, education, and social services.

Negative Effects of Imprisonment

• Criminalization:

  • Imprisonment may create a deviant subculture, reinforcing negative attitudes and behaviors amongst inmates.

  • Example: Group polarization can exacerbate deviant behaviors.

• Prisonisation:

  • Refers to the learning of prison culture and rules, leading to culture shock upon release.

Varying Outcomes of Interventions

• Fines:

  • Monetary penalties imposed on offenders.

• Probation and Fines:

  • When combined, result in 25% lower recidivism rates compared to probation alone.

• Scared Straight Programs:

  • Evidence suggests potential for iatrogenesis, where interventions may exacerbate the problem rather than help.

• Boot Camps:

  • Generally ineffective in preventing further criminal behavior.

• Three Strikes Law:

  • Studies indicate results are inconclusive regarding effectiveness.

• Death Penalty:

  • Uncertain impact on crime prevention; lacks definitive evidence.

• Home Detention:

  • Shows promise as it is linked to lower recidivism rates.

Creating Pathways to Prevention

Developmental Crime Prevention

• Aims to reduce the number of potential offenders by targeting risk and protective factors throughout the life course.

• Emphasizes early intervention with at-risk groups and the need for continuous support.

Points of Intervention

1. Prenatal:

   • Address issues like substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, and poor prenatal care.

   • Focus on family support and education.

2. Infancy:

   • Concentrates on attachment issues and inappropriate parenting.

   • Implement parent training and early education programs.

3. Preschool:

   • Targets appropriateness of parenting, addressing problem behaviors and peer difficulties.

   • Includes child training and teacher training initiatives.

4. School:

   • Addresses academic failure, peer rejection, and inconsistent discipline.

   • Involves peer group training to foster supportive relationships.

5. Adolescence:

   • Tackles issues like teenage pregnancy, risk-taking behaviors, antisocial peers, and lack of parental support.

   • Community support and anti-bullying initiatives are crucial at this stage.

6. Adulthood:

   • Focuses on unemployment, poverty, and homelessness.

   • Involves social and economic development strategies.

Community Crime Prevention Initiatives

• Neighborhood Watch Programs:

  • Community mobilization to address local crime dynamics.

• Community-Building Initiatives:

  • Examples include creating recreational facilities and urban renewal projects.

  • These initiatives are generally more sociological than psychological.

Situational Crime Prevention

• Aims to reduce criminogenic features of potential crime sites through environmental design and management.

Theoretical Framework

• Based on Rational Choice Theory (Cornish & Clarke, 1986):

  • Treats offenders as active decision-makers conducting a cost-benefit analysis of criminal opportunities.

  • Highlights the role of opportunity and provocation in crime occurrence.

  • Applies a micro-focus on specific crime types and geographical locations.

Techniques of Situational Crime Prevention (Clarke's 25 Techniques)

1. Increase the Effort:

   • Hardening targets, controlling access to facilities, and strengthening formal surveillance.

2. Increase the Risk:

   • Extending guardianship, assisting natural surveillance, and reinforcing peer pressures against offending.

3. Reduce the Rewards:

   • Concealing targets, denying benefits, and disrupting markets for stolen goods.

4. Reduce Provocations:

   • Reducing frustrations and stress in environments that may provoke crime.

5. Remove Excuses:

   • Setting rules, posting instructions, and identifying property to reinforce accountability.

Case Studies

• Car Theft:

  • Notable reduction in car thefts linked to introduction of steering locks on new models (Webb, 1997).

• Motorcycle Theft:

  • Decrease observed after mandatory helmet laws were enforced (Webb, 1997).

• Obscene Calls:

  • Introduction of caller ID led to a 25% reduction in obscene communications (Clarke, 1997).

• Graffiti in Subways:

  • Persistent cleaning and maintenance efforts eliminated subway graffiti (Sloan-Howitt & Kelling, 1990).

• Physical Assaults:

  • A 52% drop in physical assaults in nightclubs following 'best practice' interventions (Homel et al, 1997).

Design Against Crime

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

• Founded on the premise that crime is influenced by the design of physical environments.

• Explores the roles of architecture and urban planning in crime prevention efforts.

Key Concepts in CPTED

• Territoriality:

  • Refers to the inherent tendency of individuals to claim and defend space against intruders.

  • Individuals are more likely to care for spaces they feel ownership over, using territorial markers to deter intruders.

• Defensible Space:

  • Utilizes environmental design to enhance territoriality and reduce crime.

  • Incorporates elements such as natural surveillance and access control.

Characteristics of Defensible Spaces

• Vulnerable vs. Defensible:

  • Lack of clear boundaries increases vulnerability; clear boundaries promote defensibility.

  • Poor lighting may create unsafe conditions, while well-lit areas enhance safety.

Designing Products Against Crime

• Involves incorporating crime-prevention features into industrial design.

• Companies are encouraged to assume responsibility for their products' potential misuse.

Examples of Theft-Resistant Designs

1. Plastic Beer Glasses:

   • Concept designed to reduce alcohol-related altercations in public spaces.

2. Theft-Proof Café Chair:

   • Design aimed at preventing theft in outdoor café settings.

3. Theft-Proof Bicycle:

   • Incorporates features specifically tailored to deter bicycle theft.

4. Vandal-proof Signs:

   • Created to withstand vandalism and protect information displayed in public areas.

Displacement of Crime

• The theory that preventative measures in one area may simply shift criminal activity to another area.

• Types of displacement may include changes in place, time, target, tactic, or crime type.

Arguments Against Displacement

• Critics argue that focusing solely on displacement underestimates the influences of opportunity.

• Most studies have documented some displacement, but none has confirmed that displacement is exhaustive (i.e., 100%).