Crime reduction is applied within the bandwidth of an available resource input (e.g. By drawing on the public health model, some theorists have distinguished between primary crime prevention (universal), secondary crime prevention (at-risk) and tertiary crime prevention (known offenders).Ĭrime Reduction - "Crime reduction is concerned with diminishing the number of criminal events and the consequences of crime. 17-18)Ĭrime Prevention - Crime prevention involves any activity by an individual or group, public or private, which attempts to eliminate crime prior to it occurring or before any additional activity results. Community safety also provides a strategic viewpoint on community harms by focusing attention towards the development of programmes that set targets to manage risks and aims to maximise public safety" (Chainey and Ratcliffe, 2005, p. Key TermsĬommunity Safety - "Community safety is realized through an integrated consideration of diverse harms to the public, and 'refers to the likely absence of harms from all sources, not just from human acts classifiable as crimes' (Wiles and Pease, 2000). This further complicates what activities, technologies, programmes and techniques can rightfully be included under the banner of crime prevention. Other terms like 'security', 'policing', 'citizen security', and 'urban safety' are also utilized in discussions relevant to crime prevention and can reflect regional preferences. Definitions adapted from their work are included in the Key Terms section above. It is beneficial to have a basic understanding of the different terms and why prominent theorists prefer them.Ĭhainey and Ratcliffe (2005) distinguish between the terms 'community safety', 'crime control', 'crime reduction', and 'crime prevention'. Handbook on the Crime Prevention Guidelines - Making them work (UNODC, 2010).Ī range of different terms are used, often interchangeably, in the crime prevention literature.
It is also reproduced on page nine of the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime (Economic and Social Council resolution 2002/13). This definition was adopted by the United Nations in the Strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, and their potential harmful effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence their multiple causes. The important role of police, courts and correctional agencies is now routinely incorporated into definitions of crime prevention, such as the one used by the United Nations: Over time, this definition was criticized for what it excludes - the enforcement of criminal law. Rime prevention is defined as the total of all private initiatives and state policies, other than the enforcement of criminal law, aimed at the reduction of damage caused by acts defined as criminal by the state (van Dijk and de Waard, 1991, p. 483). Exactly how bewildering the analysis depends on where one draws the line in terms of what counts as 'crime prevention' and what does not (2007, p. 267).Ī common definition used in the literature is: When one examines what could be described as 'crime prevention' in most developed countries one finds a bewildering array of activities and programs. Gilling (1997, p. xi) suggests that "crime prevention is a difficult beast to tame" and Homel observes that: Defining crime prevention is difficult because, "n practice, the term 'prevention' seems to be applied confusingly to a wide array of contradictory activities" (Brantingham and Faust, 1976, p. 284). Topic one - Definition of crime preventionĪ common challenge when discussing 'crime prevention' is identifying exactly what is captured by the term.
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