Relative Contributions of Situational and Social Crime Prevention - Essay Example

Relative contributions of Situational and Social Crime Prevention Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction Crime prevention refers to the effort to reduce victimization and to deter criminals and criminal activities. The term is specifically applied to efforts made by government authorities to reduce crime, maintain criminal justice, and enforce the law. Crime prevention involves any policy or initiative that eliminates or reduces the cumulative level of victimisation or the risk of individual participation in crime. This encompasses government and community based initiatives to reduce the events of risk factors that are related to participation in crime and the rate of victimisation. Additionally, such strategies include efforts to change perception about crime. There are many approaches to crime prevention. This paper will address situational and social crime prevention, and the relative contributions of these approaches. To illustrate this, the paper will focus on various types of criminal activity, with an aim to determine how situational and social crime prevention help in intervention. The paper is structured to discuss each approach of crime prevention along with its contributions as per the nature criminal activities involved, with examples from Britain, the United States, Australia and South Africa. I. Situational Crime Prevention Situational crime prevention is a set of recipes for directing and channelling behaviour in ways that reduce the occurrence of criminal incidents. The objective of the approach is to apply situational stimuli to guide behaviour towards lawful outcomes, preferably in ways that are not obstructive and which are invisible to those whose conduct is in question (Garland, 2000, p. 1). The functioning of situational crime prevention can be likened to that of institutions. According to Garland, institutional practices and routines, as well as their distinctive ways of organising the flow of social life, have the typically unnoticed effect of directing the thinking and acting of those caught up in them. Further, the impact of embedded institutional arrangements (for instance the criminal justice system) is to gently guide people’s thought and action in predetermined directions, shaping how the people think about various problems (such as crime) and how they routinely respond to them (for instance by implementing punitive measures for individual criminals). Situational crime prevention deviates radically from most criminology in its orientation (Clarke, 1997, p. 2). It proceeds from an analysis of the circumstances that give rise to specific kinds of crime, and further introduces discrete managerial and environmental change to reduce the opportunities for those crimes to occur. Hence, it is focused on the settings of crime, as opposed to those involved in the criminal acts. It seeks to prevent the occurrence of crime, rather than to detect and sanction offenders. Further, situational crime prevention aims not to eliminate criminal or delinquent tendencies through improvement of society, or the societal institutions, but simply to make criminal action less appealing to offenders. The approach focuses not on the criminal justice system, but on a host of public and private agencies and organisations such as hospitals, schools, shops and malls, transit systems, manufacturing businesses and phone companies, pubs and parking lots, and local parks and entertainment facilities whose services, products and operations create opportunities for a wide range of different crimes (Clarke, 1997, p. 2). Situational crime prevention techniques seek to reduce the perceived suitability or increased security of potential targets (Farell and Pease, 2005). As it has been noted above, situational crime prevention aims to reduce opportunities for crime. It focuses on particular forms of crime, changing the manner in which the immediate environment or target of the crime is managed or designed so that the risk of the effort needed to commit the crime is increased, the rewards are reduced, or the causal agents removed from the environment (House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee, 2010, p. 53). Contributions of situational crime prevention Situational crime prevention is a phenomenon that has been met with a lot of scepticism from academic criminologists primarily for its indifference to social welfare. It has been perceived to be a contributing factor to a law-and-order agenda with its attention to making public places secure for business and replacing social welfare policies as a way of responding to crime (Knepper, 2009, p. 57). The subject of contention is that situational crime prevention lacks a criminological constituent. Nevertheless, Knepper (2009) argues that situational crime prevention contributes more to social welfare than cynics allow and its advocates may believe. The author adds that situational crime prevention has “enjoyed its fullest and robust presence, not in the free market, neo-liberal environment of America, but within the leading welfare states of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark” (p. 57). There are also many other examples to support this view across the world. For instance, situational crime prevention has already taken a significant position in crime policy in Britain and elsewhere (Clarke, 2000, p. 109). The phenomenon has also been applied in Australia with phenomenal results as will be highlighted later in the paper. According to David Garland (1996) (cited by Clarke, 2000), situational crime prevention has been widely applied as a consequence of the devolution of crime control to local agencies and private institutions. Situational crime prevention approaches are perceived to be beneficial in three major ways: (1) interventions can bypass obstinate social problems unresponsive to other approaches; (2) eliminating temptation may have a “multiplier” effect if it averts crimes which are characteristically the entry of a criminal career, such as vehicle crime or shop-lifting; and (3) a relatively short time is needed to implement any situational crime prevention programme and make it have an impact, which among other benefits can help contain a runaway growth in crime (House of Commons: Home Affairs Committee, 2010, p. 53). Situational crime prevention has been implemented by a wide range of private and public agencies and has attracted the concern of the police and security industry at large. Interestingly, situational crime prevention has been described by some commentators as the fastest growing method of crime control around the world (Clarke, 2000. p. 109). These facts thus in a way demonstrate that situational crime prevention can prosper without the support of academic criminologists. But they need to be backed by practical examples as detailed next. Situational crime prevention in England and the United States Brandon Welsh and David Farringdon used a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the effectiveness of situational crime prevention techniques used in England and the United States. They evaluated the effectiveness of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras and street lighting techniques used in both countries. They found significant differences in the use of these methods. Notably, CCTV is popular in England where it is the single most heavily financially supported crime prevention strategy. In fact, between 1999 and 2001, the British government spent around $320 million for CCTV projects in town and city centres, crime hot spots, parking lots, and residential areas. By the year 2008 there were more than 40,000 surveillance cameras in use in Great Britain (Siegel, 2008, p. 104). In contrast, CCTV is less popular in the United States perhaps because it increases the spectre of Big Brother society that is constantly watching and recording the details of everyone’s behaviour and activities. The United States has instead focused on the use of street lighting to deter crime. Thus, whether it is the CCTV or the street light, both approaches, which are examples of situational crime prevention, have shown the contribution of the method in avoiding crime. The idea behind the use of CCTV cameras and street lighting to deter crime lies with the deterrence theory. This theory states that “if the probability of arrest, conviction, and sanctioning could be increased, crime rates should decline.” For instance, criminals are likely not to be very active in well lit streets of the United States as they may fear being easily spotted. In the same way, there is likely to be reduced criminal activity in the streets in England because criminals understand that their activities are being monitored – which increases the likelihood of their arrest and conviction. Additionally, if criminals become more certain that they will be punished, they may desist from crime because they realise that the risks of crime outweigh its potential rewards (Siegel, 2008, p. 104). Between 1985 and 1995, Britain also employed situational crime prevention through the Safe Cities Programme. Under this programme, there were over 500 individual programmes designed to prevent domestic burglary in British neighbourhoods. They employed approaches such as improving household locks on windows and doors, fencing back yards and providing gates for alleyways. This led to significant reductions in crime in the affected buildings (Vito, Maahs & Holmes, 2007, p. 73). The fact that situational crime prevention strategies are used in England and the United States does not however mean that situational crime prevention has been very effective in the two countries. For instance, situational crime prevention and other forms of environmental crime prevention have had little impact in the United States since the “defensible space” and “crime prevention through environmental design” (CPTED) concepts were disfavoured at the end of the 1970s. And in Britain where situational crime prevention originated, the phenomenon is regularly de-emphasised with new leadership regimes (Clarke, 2000, p. 109). Even then, CPTED has been applied with significant results in Western Australia (Cozens, Thorn & Hillier, 2008, p. 295-309). Situational crime prevention in New South Wales, Australia According to Prenzler (2009), New South Wales Police came up with an initiative called Strike Force Piccadilly, aimed at combating crime involving automatic teller machine (ATM) ram raids in 2005. By 2006, the media reported significant reduction in raids and this continued through to 2007. The project was organised as a major successful crime prevention initiative and involved police working closely with private stakeholders. The Strike Force Piccadilly is an embodiment of the best aspects of problem-oriented, situational crime prevention, partnership policing and CPTED (Prenzler, 2009, p. 210). After a meticulous study of the ATM crime situation in New South Wales, the Strike Force Piccadilly made some revelations: That some thieves defeated existing security technologies; for instance, some would defeat camera identification by wearing balaclavas and using stolen vehicles Alarm response times by security firms were well above the time taken by the gangs, who were well coordinated, well equipped and efficient Some thieves would make false alarms during the night, which would sometimes make security firms reluctant to call the police Alarm response firms had a tendency to call the police only after the machines had been stolen. This could be up to 30 minutes after the raid occurred (Prenzler, 2009, p. 215) It was also found that ATM ram raiders were extremely concerned about capture and allowed themselves a very short operating time of about two minutes. If they encountered any delay they would abandon the raid. Further, the raiders used scanners to listen in on the police radio system, and would abandon the raid if the police were called (Prenzler, 2009, p. 216). In response, the Strike Force Piccadilly analysts generated confidential intelligence reports that were distributed via email to stakeholders after each attempted ATM raid. Industry members agreed to share information about the benefits and problems associated with trial technologies. Further, police undertook to continue consulting stakeholders to obtain feedback on the project and offer advice and assistance on any relevant issues. Many other measures were also implemented, and this led to a reduction in ATM raids from 69 before intervention to 19 during the post-intervention period. Further, there was a 93 percent reduction is successful raids from 30 to two during the same periods (Prenzler, 2009, p. 216). This case highlights a major contribution of situational crime prevention to the deterrence of crime. Critical analysis of situational crime prevention In spite of the significant reductions noted as due to enforcement of situational crime prevention as discussed above, there is a general concern that such programmes only aid in crime displacement. This implies that improving the situation in one area may shift crime to a different locality. This is often ignored as most people will always be satisfied when crime is moved out of their vicinity (Vito, Maahs & Holmes, 2007, p. 73). As such, situational crime prevention is not a panacea. Some crimes can in fact be controlled through environmental design (such as burglary and vandalism) but they may have little or no impact on underlying problems. In addition, violent crimes such as murder and rape and instrumental crimes such as robbery may not be deterred using situational mechanisms. It is also argued that situational crime prevention addresses the symptom and not the cause of crime (Wagner & Bode, 2009, p. 142). All the same, current trends show that situational crime prevention contributes a lot to deterrence of crime and would need to be strengthened in future (Vito, Maahs & Holmes, 2007, p. 74). II. Social Crime Prevention Social crime prevention refers to measures to prevent crime, which are focused on the social causes of crime rather than being concerned with the mechanical reduction of opportunities (that is situational crime prevention) or with deterrence (the criminal justice systems) (McLaughlin & Muncie, 2006, p. 396). The idea behind this approach is that some crimes can be averted by changing the social factors that cause people to be criminals (Brassil, 2007, p. 81). Brassil also argues that the best social crime prevention strategies include education, employment and a viable social security system. Hence, social crime prevention involves breaking the cycle of the social causes of crime. Muncie and Wilson (2004, p. 173) contribute to this discussion by noting that social crime prevention is chiefly focused on the social environments as well as the motivations of offenders. The authors further argue that social crime prevention measures tend to focus on the development of schemes, such as youth clubs and activity-based projects, to discourage potential or actual offenders from future offending. Such strategies also involve collaboration between organizations that provide social welfare services, civil society and government, and the protection of potential victims, rather than the search for perpetrators (Palmary, 2001). Contributions of social crime prevention Social approaches have been used to identify the causes of crime and how the crimes can be prevented by approaching the causes socially. According to a report by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), some of the social risk factors that contribute to the prevalence of high levels of crime include: Poverty and unemployment, which are associated with social exclusion, particularly among the youth Dysfunctional families with callous and incoherent parental thoughts, parental conflicts and violence Presence of facilitators such as drugs and firearms Social linkage to a culture of violence Discrimination and exclusion due to racist, sexist or other forms of oppression Inadequate surveillance of places and availability of products that can be easily transported and sold Deprivation of urban environments and social bonds (Plamary, 2001) Social crime prevention thus seeks to deal with the above issues as a way to prevent the occurrence of criminal activity. Plamary (2001) highlights some effective strategies used internationally in social crime prevention as: Adopting a problem solving approach. The causes of crime need to be identified, targeted and addressed, rather than merely the symptoms of crime. This approach identifies the needs most pressing to the affected locality Community involvement is paramount. Communities should be engaged in all stages of crime prevention planning and enforcement. Nevertheless, while the input of the community is essential, there is also need for some capacity from the side of the community partners Systematic and meticulous research is necessary at all stages of crime prevention including needs assessment, programme evaluations, crime trend analysis, and public opinion surveys Social crime prevention should be long-term in nature. For instance, some of the factors underlying crime include proliferation of firearms and gender inequality. These problems should be addressed over a long period. Social crime prevention should be carried out in line with professional and efficient law enforcement The process requires a multidisciplinary crime prevention team It may not be possible to address all the above factors conclusively, but addressing as many of them as possible can lead to significant crime reduction. This has been applied in South Africa as discussed next. Social crime prevention in South Africa As one of the countries that are hard hit by crime (Moser, 2004, p.104), South Africa has implemented a number of social programmes to curb the vice. Some of the programmes are sponsored by the police department (such as pamphlets and talks on what to do and what not to do to prevent crime). Other programmes are supported by organisations such as Nicro. The educator can contact the local police or Nicro for information on crime-prevention in their areas. Other approaches include the “neighbourhood watch” schemes where neighbours keep an eye on each other’s property and report strange or criminal activity in their neighbourhoods to the police. Further, many South African towns have introduced crime watch programmes. Church and youth clubs are also used to develop and enhance crime prevention programmes (McQuoid-Mason & Coetzee, 2005, p. 74). Crime statistics from the South African Police Service show that burglary at residential premises, common assault, other forms of theft, robbery with violence, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm and vehicle theft are some of the leading crimes especially in major cities such as Durban. These crimes have particularly been on the rise in Durban. In response, Durban city officials have forged development negotiations, peace pacts and partnerships as mechanisms to contain crime. These efforts aim to strengthen community-based involvement in the development process, a notion that is in tandem with the concept of participatory democracy. Key issues are centred around creating and carrying out partnership processes through education, the problems and value of incorporating the informal sector within crime prevention programmes, developing effective social and environmental design initiatives, and targeting programmes for vulnerable groups. These activities are monitored by the Safer Cities Steering Committee, which mainly focuses on social crime prevention, and engages the youth and other target groups in understanding the causes of crime (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2007, p. 305). Social crime prevention strategies in Durban as well as in other cities of South Africa focus around five major areas: Designing out of crime Education Promoting social cohesion Supporting families, youth and groups at risk Promoting individual responsibility Breaking cycles of violence Socio-economic interventions to address causes of crime (Plamary, 2001) Significant crime reduction has occurred in South Africa as a result of the multidimensional strategies employed under social crime prevention. According to the South African Police Service, three categories of contact crime decreased. These are attempted murder, murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. The significant decline in the incidence of murder represents a major highlight in the report by the Police Service. Murder cases declined below 17,000 for the first time since the inception of the South African Police Service in 1995/1996. Notably, murder cases declined from 26,877 to 16,834 cases between 1995/1996 and 2009/2010, representing a 50 percent reduction in the murder ratio. Though the figure is still high, the South African Police Service is confident that significant progress has been made (South African Police Service, 2009/2010, p. 1). According to the South African Police Service, the 8.6 percent reduction in murder cases and 6.1 percent reduction in the occurrence of attempted murder in South Africa between 1995/1996 and 2009/2010 can most probably be attributed to the 10.4 percent reduction in street/public robbery and 6.8 percent reduction in car jerking cases. The latter was accompanied by a stabilization of the number of business and residential robberies reported in the country. Sexual offences declined by 4.4 percent in the same period. The positive development reflects the contributions made by a number of intervention strategies including those to do with social crime prevention (South African Police Service, 2009/2010, p. 1-9). Critical analysis of social crime prevention Proponents of social crime prevention believe that it is the responsibility of government to put in place measures to remove the negatives associated with crime and give support to programmes that lead people away from crime. However, critics point to contradictory evidence; that in spite of the billions of dollars spent on social crime prevention programmes, crime remains largely unabated (Fay, 2007, p. 489). This is true going by the situation in South Africa, where crime rates remain high notwithstanding intervention. One can ask for instance, why people in employment commit crimes if employment is a strategy to eliminate crime. There are cases of people stealing from their employers, shoplifting and burglarizing their premises, yet they are employed, and this adds more queries. The contributions of social crime prevention are thus relative. Conclusion This paper has discussed crime prevention in the context of situational and social crime prevention. Situational crime prevention focuses on particular forms of crime by changing the manner in which the immediate environment or target of the crime is managed or designed so that the risk of the effort needed to commit the crime is increased, the rewards are reduced, or the causal agents removed from the environment. This has been applied in countries such as England, the United States, and Australia with different results. On the other hand, social crime prevention aims to change the social factors that cause people to be criminals. Thus, it is believed that if people are educated, employed or encouraged to engage in gainful activity they are less likely to engage in criminal activity. The approach has been widely employed in South Africa with commendable results. In spite of the contributions made by situational and social approaches to crime prevention, it has been noted that these approaches per se are not a panacea to elimination of crime; as one approach may be effective in one area but successful in another area. References Brassil, B. 2007, Excel HSC Legal Studies, Pascal Press, Melbourne. Clarke, R.V. 1997, Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case Studies (2nd edition), Harrow and Heston Publishers, New York. Clarke, R.V. 2000, “Situational prevention, criminology and social values,” In Hirsch, A.V., Garland, D. & Wakefield, A. Ethical and Social Perspectives on Situational Crime Prevention, Hart Publishing, London. 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