NCJ Number
82428
Date Published
1978
Length
45 pages
Annotation
The relationship between the general public's personal theories about the causes of crime and crime prevention efforts are analyzed.
Abstract
When people explain the causes of crime as a social problem, they attribute it to social conditions, such as poverty, unemployment, neglect of children, and other factors that appear to be linked with high crime rates; however, when people act on their personal fear of crime, they do not focus on modifying the identified causes of crime. Instead, they focus on such actions as avoidance (staying in at night and avoiding areas perceived as being at high-risk for crime) and target hardening (installing locks and burglar alarm systems). These actions are more properly termed victimization prevention rather than crime prevention, since they do nothing to remedy the perceived causes of crime. While social programs do exist to reduce unemployment, revive declining neighborhoods, and redress social conditions that are factors in nurturing criminal behavior, these actions are not done under the crime prevention label. Most programs officially termed crime prevention programs focus on behaviors of potential victims that can prevent or discourage offenders from selecting them as prey. This is largely because such programs can point to certain successes over short periods with relatively little financial investment, while programs that would attack the root causes of crime show few short-term effects in countering crime and are costly. A total of 71 references are listed.