Situational Crime Prevention
Clarke (1992) describes it as a ‘pre-emptive’ approach that relies simply on reducing
opportunities for crime.
There are 3 features:
1. They are directed at specific crimes
2. It involves managing or altering the
immediate environment of the crime
Target
3. They aim at increasing the effort and risks of Hardening
committing crime and reducing the rewards.
Measures which involve ‘target
hardening’ include locking doors
and windows as it increases the
effort a potential burglar requires.
Increased surveillance such as CCTV in shops or security
guards increase the likelihood of catching shoplifters.
Crime and This all increases the effort and risks of committing crime
Deviance - for the criminal, alongside reducing the rewards.
Situational
Crime Clarke argues that… Most theories do not offer realistic solutions
Prevention to crime. He argues to focus on the
immediate crime situation, since this is
where scope for prevention is greatest.
Displacement Crime is opportunistic, so opportunities
Evaluation simply need to be reduced.
Once criticism of Situational
Crime Prevention is that crime is
not reduced but instead
displaced; moved elsewhere.
- SCP works to some extent in reducing
certain kinds of crime. However with It can take several forms:
most measures there is likely to be - Spatial (moving elsewhere to commit it)
some displacement. - Temporal (committing it at a different time)
- It assumes that criminals make - Target (choosing a different victim)
rational calculations, but this seems - Tactical (using a different method)
unlikely in many crimes of violence, - Functional (committing a different type of
and crimes committed under the crime)
influence of drugs/alcohol.
- Ignores the root causes of crime such
as poverty or poor socialisation.
Clarke (1992) describes it as a ‘pre-emptive’ approach that relies simply on reducing
opportunities for crime.
There are 3 features:
1. They are directed at specific crimes
2. It involves managing or altering the
immediate environment of the crime
Target
3. They aim at increasing the effort and risks of Hardening
committing crime and reducing the rewards.
Measures which involve ‘target
hardening’ include locking doors
and windows as it increases the
effort a potential burglar requires.
Increased surveillance such as CCTV in shops or security
guards increase the likelihood of catching shoplifters.
Crime and This all increases the effort and risks of committing crime
Deviance - for the criminal, alongside reducing the rewards.
Situational
Crime Clarke argues that… Most theories do not offer realistic solutions
Prevention to crime. He argues to focus on the
immediate crime situation, since this is
where scope for prevention is greatest.
Displacement Crime is opportunistic, so opportunities
Evaluation simply need to be reduced.
Once criticism of Situational
Crime Prevention is that crime is
not reduced but instead
displaced; moved elsewhere.
- SCP works to some extent in reducing
certain kinds of crime. However with It can take several forms:
most measures there is likely to be - Spatial (moving elsewhere to commit it)
some displacement. - Temporal (committing it at a different time)
- It assumes that criminals make - Target (choosing a different victim)
rational calculations, but this seems - Tactical (using a different method)
unlikely in many crimes of violence, - Functional (committing a different type of
and crimes committed under the crime)
influence of drugs/alcohol.
- Ignores the root causes of crime such
as poverty or poor socialisation.
