A System’s Approach to Crime Prevention: The Case of Macao

Abstract

Macao has the world's largest casino industry and represents a unique political, social, and cultural system that differs significantly from Western societies. The overall crime rate in Macao is relatively low. Scholarly knowledge about crime and crime prevention in Macao, however, is very limited. This paper first reviews crime prevention theories, typologies, and various strategies in Western societies, followed by an introduction and discussion of crime prevention practices in Macao. Crime prevention strategies in Macao may be characterized as a tripod structure with three major supporting legs: traditional criminal justice practices, social prevention beyond the criminal justice system, and situational crime prevention measures. The paper then discusses the factors that may contribute to the low level of crime in Macao and points out the direction for future research in Macao.

Vandalism and tourism settings: An integrative review

“…Initially developed by Clarke in 1980s, it is directed at specific contexts, including manipulations of the environment, reducing the opportunities and rewards of vandalism and target hardening. It relies primarily on rational choice theory and the routine activity theory (Zhao & Liu, 2011). The rational choice theory suggests that vandalism may be discouraged if the environmental setting increases the costs of vandalism, while reducing the perceived benefits to the perpetrators.…”

“…The various typologies of damage prevention place emphasis on measures of law and order, criminal justice prevention measures, or practices outside of the criminal justice system. It is apparent from the preceding review that some typologies of crime-prevention strategies in the existing literature do in fact overlap ( Zhao & Liu, 2011).…”

Institutional anomie theory and gambling-related crime: An empirical test in Macau

“…First, on the one hand, after the return of Macau to China, the crime rate has remained low. Perhaps this was due to comprehensive crime prevention measures (Zhao & Liu, 2011). More specifically, in 2019, the overall crime rate was 2086.2 per 100,000 population in Macau, the rate of violent crimes was 99 per 100,000 population and the rate of property crimes was 1300.6 per 100,000 population.…”

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Criminal Justice and Criminology in Greater China: Editors’ Introduction

“…Given that the ACCCJ aims at enhancing research and teaching involving the Greater China region (encompassing Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), we first briefly mention new developments in criminology in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and then devote greater space to legal developments in Mainland China. Detailed discussion of the various criminological developments, police reforms, crime prevention, and legal reforms in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau have been addressed previously in Cao and Hebenton (2018), He and Zhuo (2016), Cao et al (2016), Hebenton and Jou (2013), Liu and Wang (2015), Zhao and Liu (2011).…”