why is environmental design effective at achieving social control
- it influences potential offenders and minimised their opportunity to commit crime
- people have minimal control over their surroundings which is off putting
what did NEWMAN argue
some space are defensible v indefensible
what are defensible environment designs
clear boundaries make it obvious as to who jas the right to be there. Newman says you can decrease crime rates by:
- territoriality: enviro encourages sense of ownership amongst residents and control and want to look after it EG culdesacs project a private image and sense of community
- surveillance: residents looking at whos coming and going eg culdesacs allow residents to overlook each other whereas in flats there are concealed entrances which allow people to come and go without being seen
- safe image: looked after and safe gives a good impression compared to a negative image being targeted
- safe location: neighbourhoods in the middle of a crime free area
what are indefensible designs
crime is more likely
belong to no one
cared for by no one
‘confused areas’
eg alleyways
what is CPTED
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
who are the two thinkers in CPTED
jeffery - the built environ can either create or deny opportunities to criminals. By altering the environment you can reduce crime
Alice coleman - looked at 4000 blocks of flats in 2 london boroughs: found that annonymity, lack of surveillance and easy escape encouraged crime
what were alice colemans recommendations
- no more blocks of flats to be built
- each block should have their own private space to look after
- overhead walkways should be removed because they obstruct surveillance
where have alice colemans recommendations been applied
Lisson green estate in west london - they removed overhead walkways and that reduced crime by 50%
what is an example of CPTED
gated lanes - lockable gates, installed to prevent offenders from getting across to alleyways which prevent burglaries fly tipping and antisocial behaviour by youths and encouraging a safe place to play for kids
what is an example of CPTED
gated lanes - lockable gates, installed to prevent offenders from getting across to alleyways which prevent burglaries fly tipping and antisocial behaviour by youths and encouraging a safe place to play for kids
positives to gated lanes
- creates a physical barrier which makes it more effort to commit crime
- residents take responsibility for closing the gate which increases surveillance
- gated area indicates that the area is looked after and doesn’t tolerate crime
negatives to gated lanes
- doesn’t work against criminals who already live inside the gated community
- restricts access to emergency services
- needs to be full agreement from all residents
theory behind CPTED
rational choice theory - CPTD sees offenders acting rationally eg if intruders fear that they’ll be challenged by residents they are more likley to stay away from the area
criticisms of CPTED
- focuses on defense from outsiders but insiders commit crime too eg domestic abuse
- only focuses on crime such as intrusion not crime such as white collar crime
the panoptican
(means ‘all seeing’)
Foucault - says modern society is increasingly controlled through self surveillance
- prisoners unable to see the guards from a central tower
- prisoners don’t know if they are ever being watched so must constantly behave
theory to the panpotican
surveillance theory
- argues that in today’s society, self surveillance has become an important way of achieving social control
- we know we might always be being watched eg CCTV
what are behavioural tactics
agencies trying to change the behaviour to make them conform to norms and laws
eg ASBOs + criminal behaviour orders
eg token economies
what are ASBOS
blairs gov introduced them to deal with low lebel anti-social behaviour eg vandilism, playing loud music at night ect
- they are civil orders, not criminal but breaching the conditions of an asbo was an offence of up to 5 years in prison
theory behind ASBOS
labelling theory - labelling someone as a criminal leads to a self fufilling prophecy
the person internalises the label and begins to live up to it, impressing their peers
ASBOS became a badge of honor which lead to repeat offending
what are CBOS
replaced ASBOS after criticism from the anti-social behaviour and crime policing act 2014
injunctions - deal with low level nuisance and annoyance and breaching can get up to 2 years in prison
CBO - more serious anti-social behaviour eg harassment and breaching can get up to 5 years in prison
how are ASBOS + CBOS different
CBOS can require a person to do something possible to improve their behaviour eg joining a drug treatment programme
what are token economies
aims to achieve social control by re-shaping inmates behaviour patterns so that they conform
BY: listing desirable behaviours and when a prisoner behaves in this way they get a token which they can exchange for rewards eg TV
positives and negatives to token economies
+ hobbs and hobbs study on 125 prisoners found that behaviour changed over 14 months
+ offender return to crime more slowly compared to those who hadn’t undergone the programme
- when offender leaves prison and the reinforcement stops then the desired behaviour dissapears
why can’t agencies achieve complete social control of crime
resources
new technology
unreported crime
existing laws
