Crime Control and Prevention

Crime is caused by social factors: marginalisation, relative deprivation, and subcultures.
Relative deprivation: People feel deprived compared to others, leading to marginalisation and deviant subcultures.

Individualistic perspective: Crime is a rational choice; benefits outweigh the costs.
Criminals commit crimes due to opportunities.
Murray: Rise in single-parent families leads to a lack of socialisation and youth delinquency.

Summary: Pre-emptive approach to prevent crime by designing it out.
Strategies:
- Target hardening: bars, bolts, alarm systems, park benches, and preventing sleeping.
- Increased CCTV and police presence.
- Hostile architecture.
Studies:
- Pease (2002): ‘Bars, Bolts and Barriers’.
- Hostile Architecture examples.
- Marcus Felson (1998): New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal.
- Cornish and Clarke (2003): Notices.
Evaluation:
- Displacement theory: Crime moves to a different area.
- Doesn’t address corporate or white-collar crime.
- Unfairly targets the working class due to the cost of target hardening.

Summary: Improving local areas and addressing low-level criminal activity.
- Examples: vandalism, graffiti, and loitering.
Strategies:
- Zero tolerance policing: Addressing small petty crimes to prevent escalation.
Studies:
- Wilson and Kelling: Broken Windows Policy.
Evaluation:
- Deals with the system, not the cause.
- Targets working-class people and street crime.
- Displacement theory.

Summary: The Left realist approach addresses social inequalities to reduce crime.
Strategies:
- Youth groups and community centres to create a sense of community.
- Parenting groups to aid socialisation.
- Increase community police officers to improve relations and solve crimes.
Studies:
- Community action programs: Perry pre-school program.
- Intervention programs: Troubled families program.
Evaluation:
- Assumes a value consensus within a community.
- Ignores issues like relative deprivation and institutional racism, which can limit effectiveness.