Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Abstract

OverviewThis chapter examines an approach to crime reduction which differs from many others in that it focuses, not on the offender or their reasoning for committing an offence, but upon the environment in which an offence takes place. This approach also differs in its consideration of who should hold responsibility for the reduction of crime, with a focus, not solely upon the traditional criminal justice system agencies, but also upon planners, architects, developers and managers of public space. The approach is based on the presumption that offenders will maximise crime opportunities, and therefore, those opportunities must be avoided (in the first place) or removed (following the emergence of a crime problem). In the 2001 publication 'Cracking Crime through Design', Pease introduces the concept of design as a means of reducing crime, but more importantly, the premise that it is the moral responsibility of many different actors and agencies to improve the lives of those who may fall victim to crime, those who live in fear of crime, and (less obviously) those who will, through the presentation of unproblematic opportunities, be tempted into offending. In the case of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), it is the planners, designers, developers and architects who risk acting (as Pease paraphrases the poet John Donne) as the gateway to another man's sin. 2CPTED is an approach to crime reduction (that may be described as a measure, programme or intervention) which aims to reduce crime through the design and manipulation of the built (and sometimes natural) environment. It focuses predominantly upon 'designing out' opportunities for crime before they occur -for example at the pre-planning or planning stage -although some interventions take place post-development, in response to a crime problem which has emerged.A commonly used formal definition is that used by Tim Crowe who defines CPTED as:"The proper design and effective use of the built environment, that can lead to a reduction in the fear of incidence of crime and an improvement in quality of life...The goal of CPTED is to reduce opportunities for crime that may be inherent in the design of structures or in the design of neighbourhoods" (Crowe, 2000, p. 46). Ekblom (2011) proposes a redefinition and presents the following alternative, which introduces several points not included within Crowe's definition, including the balance between security and contextually appropriate design and the possibility of intervening at different stages between pre-planning and post construction. Ekblom states that CPTED is: "Reducing the possibility, probability and harm from criminal and related events, and enhancing the quality of life through community safety; through the processes of planning and design of the environment; on a range of scales and types of place, from individual buildings and interiors to wider landscapes, neighbourhoods and cities; to produce designs that are 'fit for purpose', contextually appropriate in all other respects and not 'vulnerab...

Sources of Social Influence on Adolescents’ Alcohol Use

“…Throughout adolescence, friends and romantic partners may influence risk behavior through mechanisms corresponding to multiple theories of behavioral influence, including differential association, social learning, and social ecological theories. Differential association theory (Sutherland, 1947) proposes that individuals learn favorable attitudes toward criminal and delinquent deviant behaviors from significant others; in turn, these attitudes become principal mechanisms for individuals' own future deviant behavior (Bruinsma, 2014;Ragan, 2014). Although there is overlap between differential association theory and social learning theory, they differ in that differential association theory necessitates attitude transference to explain behavior, whereas social learning theory emphasizes that behavior change can occur without attitude transference due to modeling and operant conditioning processes (Akers, 2017;Akers, Krohn, Lanza-Kaduce, & Radosevich, 1979).…”

Is Sexual Abuse a Unique Predictor of Sexual Risk Behaviors, Pregnancy, and Motherhood in Adolescence?

“…Increasing the precision of primary prevention efforts involves identifying at-risk groups that would benefit from targeted intervention. Adolescents who have been identified as victims of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect) is one such group (Brown, Cohen, Chen, Smailes, & Johnson, 2004;Wilson, Mitchell, & MacKenzie, 2014). Child maltreatment, when considered through the lens of developmental psychopathology, can offer important clues into why otherwise healthy individuals diverge from normative developmental pathways to maladaptive outcomes (Toth & Cicchetti, 2013).…”

Introduction

“…The implementation, development and expansion of the Prüm System have led to heated debates on issues of transparency, accountability and data privacy (McCartney, 2014;Prainsack & Toom, 2010;Toom, 2018;Toom, Granja, & Ludwig, 2019).…”