Crime prevention through social support

To discuss crime as a community health issue and to discuss

prevention strategies

Crime rates according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Stats.

• 3 people murdered in NSW each year

• 12000 robbed

• 150,000 assaulted or threatened

• 131,000 home broken into

• 46,000 vehicles stolen

• BUT statistics may reflect community level of confidence in police activities

Half of offenders in NSW courts below the age of 25

• Much white collar crime goes unreported and unpunished

• The majority of other crime appears to be committed by young males. US experience suggests that if there is a rise in the proportion of adolescent males in the population, there is an increase in crime

Young offenders

• Most offenders appear only once

• The younger the offender, the more likely they will re-offend

• Young people have the highest rates of crime victimisation and there is a relationship between being a victim and perpetrator of crime

A variety of crime prevention options need to be used

• For domestic violence a variety of options for protecting the vulnerable need to be used. A purely punitive process is likely to entrench anger, violence and family poverty. Community based management, education and treatment strategies need to be set up.

Risk factors for poor parenting

• Living in poverty on in a neighbourhood where there is poverty

• Single motherhood

• Having children when very young

NSW Standing committee on law and justice prevention principles

• Community participation at all states of intervention

• Locally based management rather than distant bureaucracy

• Community ownership of improvements

• Adequate resources for improvements

• Effective sanctions against the disruptive

Models of crime prevention

• Early intervention: perinatal home visiting programs, family support, child and respite care

• Community development: Local govt. crime prevention plans and place management initiatives

• Environment: Street lighting, formal or informal surveillance, building security

Models of crime prevention

• Law enforcement: investigating and arresting offenders to prevent repeat offending.

• To keep a person in prison for a day in 1999 cost approx. $160. In comparison NSW Probation and parole supervised 13000 at the cost of $3.50 to $5.50 per person per day.

Primary and secondary prevention

• Primary targets a general population of potential offenders and/or victims

• Secondary prevention target groups most at risk of victimisation or offending

• Tertiary programs are targeted at those already convicted or attacked

Plan prevention broadly

• Reduce the level of economic stress

• Prevent geographic concentration of poverty so as to reduce influence of delinquent peers

• Introduce family and child support programs to prevent social and economic stress exerting disruptive influence on parenting

Lessons from the US

• Sesame Street produced in the US in the 1960s as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty. It included home tutoring and other support for pre-schoolers

• Sesame Street shown all around the world today

• Once guns reach a critical mass you can’t get rid of them. Ban them now in Aust.

The US Dept. of Justice recommends:

• For infants: frequent home visits by health or related professionals

• For pre-schoolers: Classes with weekly home visits by pre-school teachers

• For schools: Organisation development for innovation. Communication and reinforcement of clear, consistent norms.

• Teaching social competency

NSW crime prevention leg.

• Children (Protection and Parental Responsibilities)Act (1997) limits the right of parents to physically discipline children and empowers local councils and police to take children off the streets

• Young Offenders Act (1997) options for dealing with young offenders outside the courts

Drug court

• Provides opportunities for those convicted of drug crimes to receive treatment and rehabilitation for their problems

• Methadone reduces crime and allows clients to retain stability and social support

NSW Victims Compensation Act

• A person is eligible to obtain compensation if they can prove they are the victim of an act of violence and are injured as a result

• They may obtain compensation for injuries, medical and related expenses, loss of earnings, and recompense for lost, stolen or damaged personal items (Counseling also)

Mentoring programs run by NSW Dept. of Juvenile Justice

• Expected program outcomes are:

• Better family relationships

• Reduced drug and alcohol abuse

• Reduced involvement in crime and violence

• Reduced truancy and early school leaving

• Improved training and job prospects

Mentoring requires

• Responsiveness to the idea of mentoring

• Willingness to participate

• Few links to youth and other support services within and outside the family

• Difficulties which a mentoring relationship could address

Fukuyama (1992)

• Sees the quest for recognition as the central engine of history which he defines as the evolution of ideology and government. The ‘end of history’ is a form of government where nation states do not go to war, but face strong internal demands by their citizens whose human rights include the dignity of recognition.

Braithwaite on crime

• A low crime society will be strong on rights and strong on responsibilities, and especially strong on responsibilities to disapprove when the rights of others are crushed. A low crime society is characterised by active community engagement with defending the institutions of freedom.

UN Declaration of Basic Principles on Restorative justice

• The restorative process is any process in which the victim, the offender and/or any other individuals or community members affected by a crime participate actively together in the resolution of matters arising from the crime, often with the help of a fair and impartial third party

Strang & Braithwaite (2001)

• Restorative justice does not subordinate emotion to dispassionate judgment. Nor does it subordinate emotion to bureaucratic routine. Space is created for the free expression of emotions however irrational they may seem. If emotions are deeply felt, their relational perspective requires that they be heard and attended to.

Steps in Peace building

• Identify the issue• Build ideas about why it happened• Choose one or two ideas to try out• Build a program, based on the ideas, to

resolve the issue• See what happens when the program is tried• Improve the program – share what you learn

Reparation includes:

• Acknowledgement and apology

• Guarantee against repetition

• Measures of restitution

• Measures of rehabilitation

• Monetary compensation

• (May need to be seen as affecting communities, rather than individuals)