Paper 3 - criminal 5 - crime prevention

Question 1

Explain the background study by Zimbardo on broken windows theory

Answer 1

• Zimbardo conducted an experiment where he abandoned 2 similar cars in different neighbourhoods, one in the bronks, a poor suburb and another in palo alto, california.
• In the bronks, after 10 minutes of abandonment, people behan stealing parts from the car. After 3 days all valuable parts had been taken and it became a source of entertainmment. people smashed the windows and chipped the paint.
• In palo alto, nothing happened for more than a week. Zimbardo decided to smash parts of the car. Passerbys then soon took turns with thr hammer and the car was demolished within a few hours
• if a broken window remains unrepaired, vandals will soon break remaining windows as there is no consequence.

Question 2

what are features of a neighbourhood - newman’s theory

Answer 2

• territoriality - creating zones where residents have a sense of ownership like fences and changes in paving
• natural surveillance - residents are able to see what is happening in their neighbourhood such as outdoor balconies and road lighting
• image - physical attributes to houses that make them defendable like regular maintainance of buildings
• milieu (surroundings) - making the most of a development’s location close to communal areas like entry ways.

Question 3

what research did kelling and sousa do

Answer 3

• the zero tolerance policy has a positive impact on new york
• the number of misdemeanour arrests had a significant affect on crime
• for every 28 arrests, there was one less violent crime
• broken windows policty also reduced crime by 5%

Question 4

what type of study is wilson and kelling’s research

Answer 4

an article

Question 5

where was wilson and kellings article based on

Answer 5

new york, new jersey

Question 6

what was the aim of wilson and kelling’s research

Answer 6

aims to outline how features of a neighbourhood can influence crime rates, the changing role of police in the US, and strategies for maintaining order.

Question 7

what are the findings of Wilson and Kelling’s article

Answer 7

• broken windows - crime will increase where vandalism occurs, e.g. smashed windows left unrepaired show a lack of informal control agencies and leads to more criminals breaking windows because there are no consequences.
• this can lead to more crime and residents leaving.
• They suggest to fix problems quickly like repairing windows straight away so crime doesnt escalate and residents want to stay
• foot patrols- They are police who take informal steps to keep streets safe.
• They said that people in these areas were made of regulars and strangers the patrols saw their job as keeping an eye on strangers and making sure that they understood the rules.,e.g. telling loud teenagers to be quiet and not letting drunk people sit on streets and steps.
• The people of Newmark appeared to be reassured it reduced fear of crime
• also it makes stronger relationships with police officers so encourages people to come out their homes
• zero tolerance- minor crimes such as vandalism and littering must be punished to prevent escelation of crime.
• in New york it reduced certain crimes by 40% e.g. prostitution
• informal control methods - informal methods of control like community rules e.g. putting alcohol bottles in brown bags.
• Also employing patrols to watch streets or security to guard buildings

Question 8

what are the conclusions of wilson and kellings article

Answer 8

• We should return to the view that the police should protect communities as well as individuals. crime statistics measure individual losses but also need to focus on communal losses.
• Doctors now recognise the importance of fostering health rather than treating illness - and similarly the police should focus on maitaining orderly communities with no broken windows.
• what frightens people in public is not violence but more disorderly behaviour like drunks and addicts.
• by using zero tolerance policy and creating footpatrols the level of order was elevated in newmark so reduced fear
• role of policing will continue to change but they are the key to maintaining order and are central to crime prevention
• disorderliness weakens intreactions in the community, so police role is to maintain order by reinforcing community controls.

Question 9

explain the validity of this topic

Answer 9

1. Zimbardo - a field experiment so is high in ecological validity
2. Wilson and Kelling - kelling’s observations were subjective with no other evidence or confirmation. This questions their validity
3. kelling and sousa - the measure of disrict misdemeanour arrests are highly valid as the data is based on official NYPD records which are collected under struct guidelines.

Question 10

explain the reliability of this topic

Answer 10

1. wilson and kelling - only based on kellings observations, low inter rater reliability
2. kellings and sousa - reliable, the number of misdemeanour arrests are based on official NYPD records which are collected under strict guidelines
3. Zimbardo - field experiment so low control of extraneous variables.

Question 11

explain the sampling bias of this topic

Answer 11

1. zimbardo - used 2 areas to compare
2. Kelling and sousa - new york only
3. wilson and kelling only looked at cities in new york, new jersey.

Question 12

explain ethnocenrism in this topic

Answer 12

1. zimbardo - american individualist culture
2. wilson and kelling - policing strategies for zero tolerance policy deal with problems in a western way
3. kelling and sousa - american only, new jersey

Question 13

explain reductionism/holism in this topic

Answer 13

1. kellings and sousa - reductionist, ignores other key explanations like economy and drug use.
2. newman - reductionism - only physical design, doesnt look at social influences on residents
3. zimbardo - holism - consideres economy differences and how this affects crime

Question 14

explain socially sensitive research in this topic

Answer 14

1. strength - alows for study of interesting behaviour e.g. Zimbardo
2. Weakness - policies - zero tolerance - violated civil rights for minorities and poor people. because officers consistently enforce all laws without consideration of context or severity, criminalising harmless behaviours
3. weakness - labelling - Zimbardo - poor areas may be discriminated against as being seen as criminals, disregarded from opportunities.

Question 15

explain usefulness of research in this topic

Answer 15

• newman - social benefits, crime preventoin through simple architectual design
• wilson and kelling - lacks validity, observations should be applied cautiously.
• zimbardo - shows how poor areas are more suseptible to crime - in palo alto no windows got smashed originally

Question 16

explain individual/situational debate in this topic

Answer 16

1. wilson and kelling - situational, features of a neighbourhood influence crime rates
2. zimbardo - situational, the situation of an abandoned car influenced crime
3. Wilson and kelling - individual, residents in newmark exerted self restraint in committing crime which led to reduction in crime.

Question 17

explain ethics in this topic

Answer 17

1. zimbardo - no informed consent
2. wilson and kelling - not decived, observed natural behaviour
3. zero tolerance - socially sensitive as violated civil rights in minorities/ poor areas.

Question 18

what are the 2 applications of this topic

Answer 18

neighbourhood watch schemes
target hardening

Question 19

what are neighbourhood watch schemes

Answer 19

• aim to reduce crime by directly involving the communities in activities that promote safety or assist with detection of crime.
• If a communitiy is interested in setting up a NHW they contact the NHWN to register the assosication and also contact local police. They then consider what they want to achieve.
• A coordinator gets appointed who acts as the key contact point for the scheme, they ensure a smooth flow of information between police and the community.

Question 20

what is the usefulness, effectiveness and practicalities of neighbourhood watch schemes

Answer 20

• usefulness - most useful when residents can see each others houses. prevents antisocial behvaiour, burgularies and fraud.
• effectiveness - acts as a deterant to offenders by increasing their awareness that local residents will be looking and reporting crime. stickers are used to prove NHW scheme is in effect.
• practicalities - free and based on motivation of members to create safety mechanisms. may be some costs involved and time such as meetings and newsletters.

Question 21

what is target hardening ?

Answer 21

• the process of increasing the security of a property to make it more difficult to commit the crime.
• The goal is to deter criminals from targeting the property or person bu increasing effort and risk of the crime.
• e.g. strong locks, motion lights, cctv, locked gates, uniformed security, alarm tagging.

Question 22

what is the usefulness, effectiveness and practicalities of target hardening

Answer 22

• usefulness - fails to explain crime, it can cause crime in other areas that aren’t protected. It acts as a deterrnt by increasing effort and cost
• effectiveness - found that burgularies are less likely to happen
• practicalities - large financial cost e.g. cctv is expensive.

Question 23

evaluate psychology as a science in this topic

Answer 23

1. Zimbardo - a field experiment so is high in ecological validity
2. wilson and kelling - only based on kellings observations, low inter rater reliability
3. kelling and sousa - the measure of disrict misdemeanour arrests are highly valid as the data is based on official NYPD records which are collected under struct guidelines.