Situational Crime Prevention

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Freilich ◽  
Graeme R. Newman
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Criminological Perspective ◽  
The Common ◽  
Crime Types ◽  
Criminological Theories

Situational crime prevention (SCP) is a criminological perspective that calls for expanding the crime-reduction role well beyond the justice system. SCP sees criminal law in a more restrictive sense, as only part of the anticrime effort in governance. It calls for minutely analyzing specific crime types (or problems) to uncover the situational factors that facilitate their commission. Intervention techniques are then devised to manipulate the related situational factors. In theory, this approach reduces crime by making it impossible for it to be committed no matter what the offender’s motivation or intent, deterring the offender from committing the offense, or by reducing cues that increase a person’s motivation to commit a crime during specific types of events. SCP has given rise to a retinue of methods that have been found to reduce crime at local and sometimes national or international levels. SCP’s focus is thus different than that of other criminological theories because it seeks to reduce crime opportunities rather than punish or rehabilitate offenders. SCP emerged more than 40 years ago, and its major concepts include rational choice, specificity, opportunity structure, and its 25 prevention techniques. Contrary to the common critique that SCP is atheoretical, it is actually based upon a well-developed interdisciplinary model drawing from criminology, economics, psychology, and sociology. Importantly, a growing number of empirical studies and scientific evaluations have demonstrated SCP’s effectiveness in reducing crime. Finally, the SCP approach inevitably leads to a shifting of responsibility for crime control away from police and on to those entities, public and private, most competent to reduce it.

The Theory and Practice of Situational Crime Prevention

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald V. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Routine Activity Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Pattern Theory ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Sound Foundation

Situational crime prevention is radically different from other forms of crime prevention as it seeks only to reduce opportunities for crime, not bring about lasting change in criminal or delinquent dispositions. Proceeding from an analysis of the circumstances giving rise to very specific kinds of crime and disorder, it introduces discrete managerial and environmental modifications to change the opportunity structure for those crimes to occur—not just the immediate physical and social settings in which the crimes occur, but also the wider societal arrangements that make the crimes possible. It is therefore focused on the settings for crime, not on delinquents or criminals. Rather than punishing them or seeking to eliminate criminal dispositions through improvement of society or its institutions, it tries to make criminal action less attractive. It does this in five main ways: (1) by increasing the difficulties of crime, (2) by increasing the immediate risks of getting caught, (3) by reducing the rewards of offending, (4) by removing excuses for offending, and (5) by reducing temptations and provocations. It accomplishes these ends by employing an action research methodology to identify design and management changes that can be introduced with minimum social and economic costs. Central to this enterprise is not the criminal justice system but a host of public and private organizations and agencies—schools, hospitals, transit systems, shops and malls, manufacturing businesses and phone companies, local parks and entertainment facilities, pubs and parking lots—whose products, services, and operations spawn opportunities for a vast range of different crimes. Some criminologists believe that the efforts that these organizations and agencies have made in the past 20 or 30 years to protect themselves from crime are responsible for the recorded crime drops in many countries. Situational crime prevention rests on a sound foundation of criminological theories—routine activity theory, crime pattern theory, and the rational choice perspective—all of which hold that opportunity plays a part in every form of crime or disorder. There is therefore no form of crime that cannot be addressed by situational crime prevention. To date, more than 250 evaluated successes of situational crime prevention have been reported, covering an increasingly wide array of crimes including terrorism and organized crimes. Many of the studies have found little evidence that situational interventions have resulted in the “displacement” of crime to other places, times, targets, methods, or forms of crime. Indeed, it is commonly found that the benefits of situational crime prevention diffuse beyond the immediately targeted crimes. Despite these successes, situational crime prevention continues to attract much criticism for its supposed social and ethical costs.

scholarly journals Using heat maps to identify areas prone to violence against women in the public sphere

Crime Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita Garfias Royo ◽  
Priti Parikh ◽  
Jyoti Belur
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Heat Maps ◽  
Crime Data

Abstract The lack of accessible crime data, especially geolocations, in developing countries often acts as a barrier to identifying environmental or situational factors in high crime areas that might contribute to the facilitation of those crimes. This paper presents a methodology for conducting fieldwork for creating heat maps to identify areas prone to violence against women (VAW) in Corregidora, Mexico. Heat maps were produced based on household survey data. The results were used to select specific high concentration locations to conduct structured observations and inductive visual analysis at street level in order to identify if and what situational factors might influence the perpetration of VAW in those locations. Four broad features were identified in the urban built environment during the site visits linked to the facilitation of opportunities for the commission of VAW: (1) lacking infrastructure, (2) presence of physical obstacles, (3) poor visibility and (4) restricted pedestrian mobility. The paper demonstrates the utility of this method for aiding situational crime prevention strategies in areas where official spatial crime data is unavailable or lacking. This study presents a relatively low cost (although labour intensive) and independent method of aiding crime prevention strategies, which will hopefully be of practical value for organisations in areas with poor crime recording practices and limited access to expensive mapping technologies.

Guardianship

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Reynald
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Control Strategy ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
New Directions ◽  
And Control

The concept of guardianship has been defined as “any spatio-temporally specific supervision of people or property by other people which may prevent criminal violations from occurring.” As a key process of crime prevention and control by informal citizens, research on guardianship has revealed that it is negatively associated with crime, suggesting its importance as an effective crime control strategy. This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical origins of the guardianship concept, and reviews key empirical studies that have contributed to the development of criminological understanding of how guardianship functions to control crime. It concludes with a discussion of current research being done and the new directions currently being charted for continued insights into the processes and mechanisms that facilitate effective guardianship for crime prevention.

scholarly journals Situational Crime Prevention and the Ecological Regulation of Green Crime: A Review and Discussion

2018 ◽  
Vol 679 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Lynch ◽  
Paul B. Stretesky ◽  
Michael A. Long
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Environmental Crime ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Prevention Theory

Situational crime prevention theory suggests the need for innovative, non-criminal-justice polices to control crime, but that approach has not been widely employed by criminologists addressing the control of environmental crime. Numerous examples of innovative environmental social control practices can be found outside of the criminological literature; but within criminology, such studies have most often been undertaken by conservation criminologists, while green criminologists have undertaken empirical studies illustrating the ineffectiveness of traditional, punitive responses to environmental crime. Here, we briefly review the use of situational crime prevention theory and research by conservation criminologists and provide examples of environmental social control policies used by various nations that are consistent with situational crime prevention arguments. We also note that research and theory in other disciplines suggest that crime is produced by larger structural economic forces, indicating that situational crime prevention alone is likely not sufficient to control environmental crime.

Defensible Space

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert I. Mawby
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Environmental Design ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Defensible Space ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Specific Influence

While the term “defensible space” is widely referenced in literature on situational crime pre vention and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, it is commonly mentioned in passing, almost as an historical landmark, with its relationship to more recent work assumed rather than rigorously examined. Yet, Oscar Newman’s work bridged the gap between criminological theories and preventive approaches in the pre-1970s era and the more grounded and policy driven approaches that are common today. Consequently, this article looks at the context within which Newman developed his ideas and revisits his core work. It then considers the initial response from the criminology and planning communities, which focused on the methodological and theoretical weaknesses that undermined what were, essentially, a series of imaginative, exploratory propositions about the influence of design on crime patterns. In this sense, it is clear that Newman both provoked and inspired further research into the relationship between urban design and crime, and indeed, between crime, crime targets, and space, looking at the specific influence of design, technology, social engineering, and so on. Terms such as ownership, visibility, occupancy, accessibility, image, and juxtaposition, which Newman used, are now incorporated into more sophistical theories of situational crime prevention. This article thus offers a reanalysis of defensible space in the context of later refinements and the application of Newman’s ideas to current policies.

Third Party Policing

Criminology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Ransley
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Focused Deterrence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Third Party Policing ◽  
Causes Of Crime

The major premise of third party policing is that police on their own cannot succeed in reducing many crime and disorder problems. Instead, they need to draw on the social control mechanisms held by other government and community actors. Third party policing occurs when police leverage the powers or legal levers held by those other actors or partners to help control or reduce crime or disorder. The move for police to work through partners has accelerated due to trends in governance, the increasing scope of government regulation, and the expectation that communities will help co-produce public safety. At a time when many police agencies face budget restrictions, encouraging others to assume some crime control responsibility becomes especially important. These trends have expanded how crime can be regulated and prevented in ways that do not rest only on traditional criminal law or justice processes. Typical police partners include regulators, businesses, property owners, and schools. Legal levers include property or fire codes, liquor regulation, rental contracts, and school suspension or discipline powers. Police seek to activate or escalate their partners’ use of these non-criminal powers, either cooperatively or coercively, so as to extend the range of policing influence over problem places, people, or situations. Therefore, third party policing is both proactive, in that it is focused on addressing and reducing the causes of crime and disorder, and problem-oriented, in that it seeks to do so by analyzing and resolving recurrent, underlying problems. The focus on places, people, and situations also aligns with situational crime prevention techniques, such as hots spots policing and focused deterrence. But third party policing is differentiated from these other approaches through its reliance on the legal levers of partners. The first section in this entry outlines how third party policing has developed over the past twenty years. There are also sections on the role and use of regulation in policing, the contribution of civil remedies to crime prevention, descriptions of the multiple contexts in which third party policing has been adopted, factors that promote successful partnerships, assessments of outcomes and effectiveness, and issues to do with ethics and accountability.

scholarly journals Criminology and situational prevention

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2-3) ◽  
pp. 31-34
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Mastronardi
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Shopping Malls ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Telephone Companies ◽  
Situational Prevention ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Theoretical Overview

The present work brings to light a criminology and a preventative system from a less classic perspective, which does not aim to explain the criminal or the reasons why the act is committed, but rather a theoretical overview that focuses on the setting of the offense and the environmental opportunities that the criminal has taken to commit him. Situational Crime Prevention places attention and works on a set of public and private facilities (such as schools, hospitals, transport systems, shops, shopping malls, small businesses, telephone companies, parks, clubs, entertainment venues, bars and parkings) that create conditions, actions and performance that are potentially suitable and fertile for delinquency. ---------- Il presente lavoro porta alla luce una criminologia e un sistema preventivo letti da una prospettiva meno classica, che non si pone l’obiettivo di spiegare il criminale o le ragioni per cui l’atto illecito viene compiuto, bensì tratta una panoramica teorica che si focalizza sul setting del reato e sull’opportunità ambientale che il reo ha colto per commetterlo. Ecco che le Prevenzione Situazionale Criminologica attenziona e va ad operare su un insieme di strutture pubbliche e private (quali scuole, ospedali, sistemi di trasporto, negozi, centri commerciali, piccola imprenditoria, compagnie telefoniche, parchi, locali, luoghi di divertimento, bar e parcheggi) che vanno a creare circostanze, azioni e prestazioni, tutte potenzialmente idonee e fertili per la realizzazione di delinquenza. ---------- El presente trabajo saca a la luz una criminología y un sistema preventivo leídos desde una perspectiva menos clásica, que no pretende explicar el criminal o las razones por las cuales se comete el acto, sino que trata de una visión teórica que enfoca en el escenario de la ofensa y en la oportunidad ambiental que el rey ha capturado para cometerla. Prevención Situacional Criminológica atrae y opera en un conjunto de instalaciones públicas y privadas (como escuelas, hospitales, sistemas de transporte, tiendas, centros comerciales, pequeñas empresas, compañías telefónicas, parques, clubes, lugares de entretenimiento, bares y aparcamientos) que crean condiciones, acciones y rendimiento, todos potencialmente aptos y fértiles para el propósito de la delincuencia.

scholarly journals Politi og arkitekters forebyggingslogikker: Forståelser av kriminalitetsforebyggende arbeid i offentlige rom

2020 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-174
Author(s):  
Marina Hiller Foshaugen
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Environmental Design ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Police Personnel ◽  
Preventive Work ◽  
Prevention Approach

AbstractThis article focuses on crime prevention through architecture, environmental design and other situational modifications to public space. Today’s crime control is characterized by a continuously expanding focus on prevention and the proliferation of new contributions to preventive work. In the literature, the situational crime prevention approach is an acknowledged and well-known field in which strategies have been used to reduce crime in public spaces for decades. In Norway, however, this remains an area of crime prevention with little empirical data. The current study therefore attempts to fill this gap in Norwegian research. Based on interviews with architects and police personnel, the article explores these actors interpret and understand prevention through architecture, environment and physical design. The main aim is to examine approaches to crime prevention in public spaces in regards to safety, security, risk and social control.

scholarly journals Specialization in offending: A comprehensive review of criminological theories and empirical studies

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2295
Author(s):  
Ahmet Eker ◽  
Ekrem Mus
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Criminal Career ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Career Criminal ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Crime Types ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
Research Recommendations

Policy makers, legislators, and law enforcement practitioners generally believe that criminals do specialize in offending. However, they commit only one type of crime throughout their criminal career. Criminal laws, crime prevention programs, and criminal investigation techniques have been shaped by this assumption. On the other hand, a perennial debate amongst criminologists and researchers shows whether criminals have a tendency of specialization or versatility. Some theorists claim that there is one underlying reason for deviance; thus, offenders commit all available crimes. Whereas, others argue that offenders commit crimes for different reasons and needs. As a result, they have a tendency of specialization. Conversely, developmental criminologists claim both specialization and versatility. In this paper, we will start by explaining the theoretical assumptions and results of empirical studies regarding the effects of age, gender, peers, and crime types on offence specialization. Later, we will discuss the assumptions of the theories in the light of the related researches. Finally, we will present various policy and the research recommendations of this study.   

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