AC 3.2

• Two ways in which enviromental design can affect the level of crime

  1. By influencing potential offenders.

  2. By affecting people's ability to exercise control over their surroundings.
• Indefensible spaces


  Architect Oscar Newman argues that there are defensible and infefensible spaces.Indefensible spacesare where crime is more likely to occur, such as lone walkways and stairways. They belong to no-one and care for by no-one and are not seen by anyone. In study of high-risk blocks in New York, Newman found that 55% crimes were commited in public paces such as hallways, lifts, stairwells, because noone "owned" them.
• Defensible spaces


  Areas with clear boundries and owner. Newman argues that such places have low crime rate because of their territoriality, survelliance, safe image and protected location.
• Territoriality


  Territoriality encourages a sense of ownership in residents. Certain layouts also tell strangers that such areas are for private use of residents. This way, cul-de-sacs create a private image and a sense of community.
• Natural surveillance


  Easily viewed enrtrance and street allow resident to identify strangers. Similarly, cul-de-sacs give residents an opportunity to overlook each other's homes. Contrary to this, high-risk blocks often have hidden entrances that allow offenders to be unseen.
• A safe image


  Buildings should look safe, as if residents look after each other. A negative image means the area will be targeted by offenders.
• Crime Prevention through Enviromental Design

  Newman's ideas were developed further by American criminologist C.R. Jeffery. He argued that the built environemnt can affect crime levels.
• Alice Coleman (CPTED)


  Adopted similar approach to CPTED and analysed 4.099 blocks of flats.
• Alice Coleman's reccomendations


  1. No more blocks of flats should be built.

  2. Each existing block should have its own garden or private space, so residents would look after it.

  3. Overhead walkways should be removed as they obstruct surveillance.
• Attempts to design crime out

  1. Lisson Green estate in West London - the removal of overhead walkways led to a 50% reduction in crime.

  2. Some police foreces employ achitectual liaison officers to design crime out.

  3. Secured by Design kitemark is used to show that a new building meets crime prevention standards. Home Office research found a 30% lower burglary rate in such houses.
• Green lanes (example of CPTED)

  Green lanes are lockable gates that aim to prevent burglaries, anti-social behaviour by youth, etc.
• How do green lanes work?

  A review of 43 studies by Sidebottom et al found that gates reduce burglary rate for following reasons:

  1. Gates provide a physical barrier that increases effort required to committ a crime.

  2. Residents take responsibility for caring for the gates, increasing guardship and surveillance.

  3. Gates increase residents' sense of territoriality

  4. Offenders cannot claim that they thought this was a public space.

  5. Gating prevents "broken windows" - indicates that the place is cared for.

  6. May reduce rewards for crime - difficult to steal large objects.

  7. Cost may be an issue for some people. Avg cost = £728, but benefits are £2.19 to £1.
• Limitations of gated lanes

  1. Does not prevent crime inside the gated area.

  2. In areas where neighbours do not know each other well, residents will be unlikely to install gates.

  3. It can be difficult to instal the gate (e.g. there is a public way, several owners of the lane, etc.).

  4. Gated lanes can restrict access for emergency services.
• CPTED and theories


  1. Situational crime prevention -similarly to the thory CPTED involves changing physical enviroment to prevent crime.2. Felsin's routine activity theory -emphasises the importance of a capable guardian. In CPTED neighbour's surveillance acts as a guardian.3. Rational choice theory -CPTED sees offenders as rational.
• Crticism of CPTED


  1. Focuses on crime from outside but ignors crime inside.

  2. Cannot explain offences such as cybercrime, fraud, etc.

  3. Some housing because of councils' allocations. E.g. "problem families" with a history of anti-social beahviour on "sink" estates.

  4. Area's reputation rather than its design may cause high crime rate. Areas regarded as crime-ridden are more likely to be patrolled by the police, and more arrest are more likely to be made, therefore higher crime rate.

  5. Cul-de-sacs might be defensible spaces but they are not actually defended. e.g. if the residents are out all day, there will be no surveillance. This shows effects of social factors.
• Prison deisng (Panopticon)


  Environemnt can be used for social control through prison design.

  Foucault argud that we are controlled though self-surveillance. He ilustrated this through a prison design known as Panopticon, where cells of inmates are visible to the guards from the central tower but inmates cannot see guards, so they do not know whether they are being watched or not. This makes them constantly behave as if they are.
• Panopticon (surveillance theory)


  Foucault's surveillance theory argues that in today's society, self-surveillance has become an important way of achieving social control. We know that we might be being wathed - for example CCTV cameras - so we monitor and control out behaviour ourselves.
• Behavioural tactics


  Behavioural tactics are ways in which agencies can seek to change individuals' behaviour t make them conform to social norms and laws. For example:

  1. ASBOs and Criminal Behaviour Orders.

  2. Token economies.
• ASBOs


  Tony Blair introduced ASBOs in 1998 to deal with low-level anti-social behaviour. ASBOs were cilivil orders used to restrain a person from committing certain actions. Breaching conditions of an ASBOs was a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
• Labelling theory and ASBOs

  It became clear that ASBOs do not work. Between 2000 and 2013, ASBOs were issued to over 24k people but 58% of those breached their ASBOs and over 10k were breached repeatedly. Labelling theorists agued that ASBOs can lead to a self-fullfiling prophecy. They suggest that ASBOs became a "badge of honour" for some young offenders that only reinforced their criminal behaviour.
• Introduction of CBOs and civil injunctions

  As a result of ASBOs failures they have been replaced with CBOs under Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It had 2 new measures -civil injunctionsandCBOs.
• Civil injunctions


  Deal with low-level nuisance and nnoyance. Breaching those may mean up to 2 years in prison for adults or three months detention for under 18s.
• CBOs


  Deal with serious anti-social behaviour such as harassment, alarment or distressment of others. A CBO lasts at least 2 years for adults and 1 year for under 18s. Breaching CBO may mean up to 5 years in prison. They includepositiveandnegativerequirements.
• CBO positive and negative requirements

  1. Negative requirements -CBO forbids a persom from doing something, such as attending, seeing people or engaging in certain activities.2. Positive requirements -CBO can require a person to do something to improve their behaviour, such as attent an addiction treatment programme.
• Token economies + theory

  Behavioural modification programme usd by prisons and similar institutions. Aims to achieve social control by changing inmates' behavioural patterns. Operant learning theory. Token economies are based on Skinner's OLT - if a particular behaviour rewarded it is likely be repeated.
• Token economies social control

  With token economies the istitution creates a list of desireable behaviours and when inamtes follow it they earn tokens which can be exchanged for rewards. They can be in the form of IEP. This way desieable behaviouts become more likely and undesireable less likely.
• How effective are token economies?

  Studies showed that token economies work while inmates are inside. Hobbs and Holt's study of 125 12-15y.o. boys in a correctional institutional in Alabama found that behaviour change lasted through 14-month study.

  However, other studies showed that when inmates leave the prison the desired behaviours disappear, but they return to crime more slowly compared to those without token economy.

  Token economies make inmates more manageable but not neccessarily meet rehabilitation.
• Institutional tactics


  Institutions can use a variety of methods for reducing deviant behaviour and achieving social control such as token economies as a way of encouraging desirable behaviour among inmates. Institutions come in many different shapes and sizes, from families and schools to workplaces, religious organisations, armies and prisons.
• Institutional sanctions examples


  Family -witholding pocket money for staying late out without permission.School -gold star for getting full marks on test.The workplace -pay docked for lateness.The army -court martial for disobedience.
• Sanctions by criminal justice institutions

  The courtscan sentence offenders - used to achieve individual and general deterrence; can impose Community Orders to achieve rehabilitation.NPSsupervises offenders on licence and community sentences. If offenders breach their licence they can be sent back to prison.
• Prison rules


  HMPS has a set of prison rules for all prisons. Governords of individual prisons can extend the rules. The Prison Rules cover the following - Offending, threatening or hurting someone; Preventing staff from performing their jobs; Escaping from prison; Using drugs or alcohol; Damaging the prison; Being in possesion of forbidden items; Being somewhere in the prisons that you shouldn't be. Breaking rules can lead to sanctions such as caution, loss of IEP, cellular confinement, being prevented from working or receiving money from working. These punishments are time limited (e.g. cellular confinement can last up to 35 days). More serious offences may add 42 extra days to the sentence.
• Phased discipline


  Phased or staged discipline is a common way of attempting to achieve social control.

  A first offence, whether in prison or wider society, is dealt with more leniently often such as a warning, a police caution, a conditional discharge, or a loss of privileges for a few days (for prisoners).

  repeat offending particularly if it is more serious, is likely to be met with stronger sanctions such as probation or prison in an attempt to deter future misbehaviour