Crime Control and Prevention Flashcards
(22 cards)
Cause of Crime (Left Realism):
Crime is caused by social factors such as marginalisation, relative deprivation, and subcultures.
Relative Deprivation:
People feel deprived compared to others, leading to resentment and potential criminal behaviour.
Marginalisation:
Individuals feel excluded from mainstream society, leading to frustration and crime.
Subcultures:
Individuals feel excluded from mainstream society, leading to frustration and crime.
Subcultures:
Groups with deviant or criminal values formed as a response to relative deprivation and marginalisation.
Left Realist Belief:
Crime can be reduced by addressing social inequality and improving community cohesion.
Opportunity and Crime:
Too many opportunities to commit crime make it more likely.
Charles Murray – Underclass Theory:
Rise in single-parent families and teenage parents leads to poor socialisation and youth delinquency.
Right Realist Solution:
Tough on crime through target hardening, CCTV, zero-tolerance policing.
Criticism of Right Realism:
Ignores structural causes like poverty and inequality. Focuses on street crime, not white-collar
Situational Crime Prevention (SCP)
Pre-emptive strategy that aims to design out crime by making it harder to commit.
SCP Strategies:
Target hardening (bars, bolts, alarms)
CCTV, hostile architecture, park benches shaped to deter rough sleeping
Cornish & Clarke (2003) – criminal decision-making
Pease (2002) – “Bars, bolts, and barriers”
Environmental Crime Prevention:
Focus on cleaning up the environment to reduce crime (e.g., graffiti, vandalism).
Broken Windows Theory (Wilson & Kelling):
Ignoring low-level disorder leads to more serious crime.
Zero-Tolerance Policing:
Deal with all offences, no matter how small, to prevent escalation.
Social and Community Crime Prevention (Left Realism):
Tackle root causes like poverty and poor socialisation through youth clubs, parenting groups, community policing.
Examples of Social Prevention Programs:
Perry Preschool Program (early education)
Troubled Families Program (targeted intervention) )
Displacement Theory:
Crime is moved, not reduced, when target hardening is used.
Class Bias:
SCP and zero-tolerance often target working-class areas.
Ignores White-Collar Crime:
Focus on street-level crime neglects corporate offenders.
Symptoms vs. Causes:
SCP and Environmental methods deal with symptoms, not causes like inequality.
Limitations of Community Prevention:
Assumes value consensus, ignores institutional racism and relative deprivation.
