LEARNING TO LIVE WITH DEVIANCE - CURRENT TRENDS IN CRIME PREVENTION (FROM CRIME PREVENTION WORKSHOP - REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS, 1975, BY DIANNE MACFARLANE - SEE NCJ-47726)

• NCJ Number: 47728
• Author(s): J HAGAN
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 31 pages
• Corporate Author: University of Toronto
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

BOTH HISTORICAL EFFORTS AND EXISTING TRENDS IN CRIME PREVENTION ARE DISCUSSED.

Abstract

TRULY CRIME FREE SOCIETIES ARE TOTALITARIAN IN NATURE, AND THAT WHAT SOCIETY REALLY WANTS IS LESS CRIME, PARTICULARLY IN ITS MORE SERIOUS FORMS. PAST EFFORTS AT CRIME PREVENTION FOCUSED ON INDIVIDUAL TREATMENT, SOCIAL REFORM, AND POLICE DEPLOYMENT; THESE WERE WELL INTENDED EFFORTS, THOUGH WIDELY INEFFECTIVE. RECENT EFFORTS HAVE FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT THROUGH LAW REFORM, ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, AND THE LOCATION OF CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY; THESE PROMISING CONCEPTS ARE LARGELY UNFULFILLED. THESE PAST AND RECENT EFFORTS AT CRIME PREVENTION ARE REVIEWED WITHIN AN HISTORICAL CONTEXT, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE. VARIOUS INDIVIDUAL TREATMENT PROGRAMS ARE DISCUSSED, INCLUDING A YOUTH PROJECT WHICH USED EMPLOYMENT AND TEACHING MACHINES IN AN EXPERIMENTALLY DESIGNED EFFORT TO PREVENT DELINQUENCY. BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAMS ARE ALSO NOTED. PREVENTION THROUGH SOCIAL REFORM IS EXAMINED. IT IS NOTED THAT SOCIAL REFORMIST PREVENTION PROGRAMS BEGIN WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT IS NOT THE INDIVIDUAL THAT MUST BE CHANGED, BUT RATHER THE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES OF THE PEER GROUP OF COMMUNITY; THE PREFERRED TOOLS OF THIS APPROACH ARE DETACHED WORKERS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION. A SELECTION OF SOCIAL REFORM PROGRAMS ARE DISCUSSED. INCREASED POLICE DEPLOYMENT HAS BEEN SUBSTITUTED FOR OTHER APPROACHES, A NATURAL INCLINATION IN THE FACE OF THE FAILURE OF ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS. AVAILABLE DATA PROVIDE LITTLE SUPPORT FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS APPROACH. RECENT TRENDS IN CRIME PREVENTION SEEM TO SHARE THE SAME GOAL: REDISCOVERING THE COMMUNITY. AN APPROACH INLINE WITH THIS GOAL INVOLVES LAW REFORM. AMONG THE SUBJECT AREAS RECEIVING ATTENTION IN THIS REGARD ARE RADICAL NONINTERVENTION IN CERTAIN FORMS OF COMMUNITY CONFLICT, VICTIMLESS VICE, PRETRIAL DIVERSION, AND THE DAY-FINE CONCEPT. THESE CONCEPTS ARE DISCUSSED AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF DIVERSION ARE ASSESSED. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN IS ALSO RECEIVING ATTENTION, AND ONE OF THE BASIC NOTIONS OF THIS ARGUMENT IS THE IDEA OF DEFENSIBLE SPACE, WHICH INVOLVES FOUR ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN THAT CAN BE UTILIZED TO REGAIN CONTROL OF URBAN LIFE: TERRITORIALITY, SURVEILLANCE, IMAGE, AND ENVIRONMENT. WHERE PRIMARY PREVENTION AND DIVERSION FAIL AND SOME FORM OF INCARCERATION BECOMES NECESSARY, COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED AS EFFECTIVE REHABILITATIVE ALTERNATIVES TO THE ACCEPTED PENITENTIARY APPROACH. THE HISTORY OF COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS IN CANADA IS REVIEWED, AND IT IS NOTED THAT THE SUCCESS OF THIS APPROACH DEPENDS LARGELY ON THE WILLINGNESS OF THE COMMUNITY TO PROVIDE COOPERATION AND SUPPORT. AMONG OTHER CONCLUSIONS IT IS ARGUED THAT A CONCERNED, PERHAPS SCARED, AND CLEARLY UNDERINFORMED PUBLIC IS AN UNLIKELY BASIS FOR AN ENLIGHTENED CRIME PREVENTION POLICY IN CANADA. REFERENCES AND TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. FOR DISCUSSION, SEE NCJ-47729. (KBL)