NCJ Number
103236
Journal
Crime and Soical Justice Issue: 25 Dated: (1986) Pages: 140-165
Date Published
1986
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article critiques three crime control models: the 'victimization deterrence' model, where police encourage individuals to adopt protective and surveillance practices designed to reduce crime opportunities; the 'social disorganization and social control' model, which reforms community structures to strengthen informal social control mechanisms; and the 'community control and social change' model, which emphasizes broad social change designed to reform basic community structures.
Abstract
The weakness of the 'victimization deterrence' model is that it focuses on individual protective measures, which can increase social isolation and suspicions in the community without changing crime causes rooted in community institutions. The weakness of the 'social disorganization and social control' model is its narrow focus on neighborhood environments whose criminogenic roots lie in broad socioeconomic structures that create social injustice, powerlessness, and economic deprivation. The 'community control and social change' model emphasizes the integration of public and private sectors; decentralized, resident control of basic institutions; and the organization of communities to meet all the needs of their residents. Although this model is the most effective approach for reducing crime, it will involve conflict with the basic institutions of capitalism that resist change which challenges their power. 49 references.