NCJ Number
101400
Date Published
1984
Length
15 pages
Annotation
A review of the evidence indicates that building design per se is not a significant burglary deterrent but can play an important role in conjunction with other preventive efforts.
Abstract
Defensible space theory oversimplifies the complex interrelationships between social activity and the built environment. It also tends to ignore offenders' perspectives of the built environment. Given the uncertainty of a direct relationship between building design and burglary prevention, citizens are not likely to give it high priority because of the scale and cost of altering the environment according to defensible space theory and the difficulty of reconciling conflicting principles and preferences for building design. Any effort to use building design as part of local burglary effort to use building design as part of local burglary prevention should focus on specific burglary problems in precisely defined local areas. Design should be integrated with other crime prevention initiatives and address the complex interactions among burglary, social behavior, and design. The British Home Office is currently promoting this type of approach to crime prevention. 31 references.