Development of Community Safety in Scotland: A Different Path? (From Crime Prevention Policies in Comparative Perspective, P 86-109, 2009, Adam Crawford, ed. - See NCJ-229306)

• NCJ Number: 229310
• Author(s): Alistair Henry
• Date Published: 2009
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Collected Work
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter examines the way in which Scotland developed community safety.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the particular experiences of Scotland during the implementation of crime prevention and community safety in both the pre- and post-devolution periods. The Scottish development is one of convergence and divergence, both at different times and in different policy domains that stress crime prevention and community safety. Whereas in the 1980s and 1990s Scotland sought to differentiate its polity from the neo-liberal influences of Thatcherism, the last decade under a New Labor Government saw significant policy emulation and harmonization despite the establishment of an independent Scottish Parliament in 1999 with full competency for criminal justice and policing matters. In other areas, such as youth justice, the distinctiveness of the Scottish approach has remained constant. Due to complex historical, constitutional, and cultural reasons, Scotland shares certain similarities with continental European approaches to youth and urban policies, where a legacy of "welfareism" and social inclusion are evident. As elsewhere in mainland Europe, crime prevention has alternated between criminal justice and social/urban policy, and where community safety has been more embedded within social justice strategies rather than as a component to crime control. Note and references