NCJ Number
214377
Journal
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Volume: 11 Issue: 3-4 Dated: 2005 Pages: 321-346
Date Published
2005
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This comparative study examined selected aspects of the supply of and demand for scientific crime prevention in Canada and Venezuela from 1949 to the present.
Abstract
Despite the identification of marked differences between Canada and Venezuela, both countries revealed academic entrepreneurs to be a necessary factor in the sale of crime prevention to government. Without academic entrepreneurs who actively promote it among politicians and bureaucrats, the prospects for scientific crime prevention are minimal. In addition, in both countries, the national crime prevention programs were used as vehicles through which governments could express their broader visions of social life and social change. Since 1950, both Canada and Venezuela have experienced periods during which crime rates have risen considerably. In areas of rising crime rates and crime urgency, the attractiveness of crime prevention diminishes. In comparing the countries of Canada and Venezuela, this study focused on national crime prevention policy and examined developments in each country during the last 55 years (1949 to present). The paper examined the role of academics in promoting or diluting prevention activities, and the social construction of the crime problem, as well as the specific manner in which governments developed their prevention policies. References