Situational Crime Prevention: Its Theoretical Basis and Practical Scope

Abstract

Situational crime prevention can be characterized as comprising measures (1) directed at highly specific forms of crime (2) that involve the management, design, or manipulation of the immediate environment in as systematic and permanent a way as possible (3) so as to reduce the opportunities for crime and increase its risks as perceived by a wide range of offenders. These measures include various forms of target hardening (making the objects of crime less vulnerable), defensible space architecture (which encourages residents in housing projects to exercise territorial surveillance of the public spaces outside their dwellings), community crime prevention initatives (e. g., neighborhood watch and citizen patrol schemes), and a number of less-easily categorized measures such as improved coordination of public transport with pub closing times, or more sensitive public housing allocation policies that avoid the concentration of children in particular housing developments. Traditional criminological theories have been concerned with the etiology of crime-the fundamental social and psychological causes-and have provided little support for situational measures not aimed at "root causes." An alternative theoretical perspective that gives greater weight to situational factors in crime and to the ways these are taken into account by potential offenders provides better conceptual underpinning for situational prevention. Emphasizing offenders' decision making helps us understand why displacement of crime (e. g., to some other time or place) is by no means the inevitable result of situational measures. Various examples of successful situational measures, as well as a general pessimism regarding the effectiveness of other forms of crime control, might lead one to expect a growth in situational prevention. This is unlikely to be rapid, however, because it is difficult to persuade people and organizations to take the necessary action, particularly when, as is so often the case, risks of victimization are small. Finally, for some people situational prevention has unattractive connotations of "big brother" forms of state control and of a "fortress society"; it is also criticized for avoiding fundamental moral issues.