Situational Crime Prevention: Its Role in Comprehensive Prevention Initiatives

• NCJ Number: 219788
• Journal: Revue de l' IPC Review Volume: 1 Dated: March 2007 Pages: 139-159
• Author(s): Rick Linden
• Date Published: March 2007
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis; Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

After briefly describing five types of crime prevention strategies, with "situational" prevention being one of them, this paper focuses on situational crime prevention as one facet of Canada's comprehensive crime prevention program.

Abstract

This paper recommends that Canada's vision of the National Crime Prevention Strategy expand to include situational approaches, that it become more reliant on evidence-based strategies, that it provide funding for research and development of situational strategies, and that it build the expertise and community capacity required for situational prevention. Situational crime prevention involves attempts to reduce the opportunity for crime by increasing the risks and decreasing the rewards of committing crime. Situational crime prevention is based in rational choice theory, which posits that crime is the result of deliberate choices made by offenders based on their calculation of the risks and rewards of these choices. A major difference between the situational approach and other crime prevention strategies is that the situational approach explicitly requires an analysis of specific crime situations and then develops prevention strategies and tactics appropriate for the circumstances. The analysis typically involves assessments of the characteristics of the potential victims or targets, offender characteristics, community characteristics (physical and social), timing of the offense, distinctive methods of committing crimes, location of the offense, and opportunity factors. Based on an analysis of these factors, situational crime prevention can involve hardening or controlling access to targets or the tools required to commit a crime; increasing the risks by increasing levels of formal/informal surveillance or guardianship; reduction in the rewards by identifying property in order to facilitate recovery by removing targets or by denying the benefits of crime; reducing provocations by controlling for peer pressure or by reducing frustration or conflict; and removing excuses by setting clear rules and limits. 38 references