NCJ Number
105402
Date Published
1987
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Based on various dimensions of 'community' emphasized in preventive theory and program application, this paper constructs and critiques a typology of three basic approaches to community crime prevention: situational, 'stake in conformity,' and informal social control.
Abstract
Situational programs -- involving communities as locales for 'walling,' 'watching,' and 'wariness' -- foster a siege mentality inimical to community social solidarity. Community crime prevention must be integrative rather than alienating for involved citizens. The 'stake-in-conformity' approach emphasizes the community as an institutional network designed to gain voluntary compliance to norms and laws. Under this approach the community is viewed as a social service delivery system and as a structure for economic opportunity, which is intended to enhance compliance with normative behaviors. This approach is too impersonal and intrusive. The approach of informal social control focuses on the social power of an informal or primary group over the values and behavior of other community members. Behavior and attitudes are molded through social relationships and interactions conducive to the development of self-regulating behavior rooted in a conscience strongly dominated by core community values. Informal social control works best when there are not great power differentials among community members. The most effective community crime prevention program is centered in informal social controls supplemented by tempered applications of the situational and 'stake-in-conformity' approaches. 72 notes and 10-item bibliography.