Anti-crime Programs for the Elderly - Combining Community Crime Prevention and Victim Services, Volume 2

• NCJ Number: 76875
• Author(s): J H Stein
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 30 pages
• Grant Number(s): H-2696-RG
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Housing and Urban Development
• Corporate Author: National Council of Senior Citizens
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This is volume 2 in a 4 volume series of the Criminal Justice and the Elderly Program.

Annotation

The second of a four-volume series, this monograph explores the theory of offering crime prevention and victims services in a single, local service agency; historical foundations and purposes of both prevention and assistance efforts are emphasized.

Abstract

There are two branches of the modern crime prevention movement: the use of hardware and new technology to foil criminals, and community crime prevention efforts, such as block watch programs. One of the earliest block watch projects began in Philadelphia several years ago; its leaders later became directors of the Citizens Local Alliance for Safer Philadelphia (CLASP). The CLASP organization now trains volunteers and paid block organizers throughout Pennsylvania and the East Coast. CLASP illustrates two elemental motivations that are found in the community crime prevention movement, i.e., an aversion to being preyed upon and faith in safety in numbers. Just as crime prevention efforts have two identifiable aspects, so does the victim assistance movement. These components include victim-oriented reforms, such as rape crisis centers, and improved management of criminal justice agencies through the addition of victim/witness assistance units. Today, there is a growing trend for law enforcement agencies to sponsor victim-oriented counseling and social service projects. A series of projects begun in Florida in the mid-1970's provided the initial step in this direction. The prototype of the projects features a two-person unit of volunteer victim advocates who are immediately available to police officers on duty when crime victims first contact police. Crime prevention programs and victim assistance projects have long been characterized as kindred spirits. Crime victims are frequently eager for suggestions on how to make themselves less vulnerable in the future. The elderly particularly are subject not only to actual victimization but also to paralyzing fear of being attacked as well. In response to the interrelated kind of distress crime inflicts on the elderly, seven projects affiliated with Criminal Justice and the Elderly (CJE) program each established a crime prevention and a victim assistance component. These components tend to operate in a partially coordinated manner, underscoring the challenge and possibilities of total service integration. Two footnotes are provided.