NCJ Number
86117
Journal
Working Papers Magazine Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (July/August 1982) Pages: 16-25
Date Published
1982
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Programs to provide employment or economic support to ex-offenders and to foster local economic development are among measures recommended to control crime in the United States.
Abstract
The demise of the liberal perspective on crime and punishment in the 1970's led to the rise of a conservative perspective, which now faces the dilemma of high and increasing crime in the face of strong crime control measures based on their philosophy. To replace these two perspectives, an approach is needed which supports criminal justice agencies, recognizes the need for intervention programs to deal with social pathology, and includes efforts to address the larger social and economic forces that are generally understood to generate crime. Programs which are known to be effective in reducing crime should be implemented on a large scale. Among these are supported work and economic stipends at about the level of unemployment to enable ex-offenders to manage while readjusting to the community and the job market. Both these programs would keep many property offenders out of prison, thereby freeing space for more dangerous offenders without the costs of new prison construction. It is also recommended that arrests should be made more often at the early stages of domestic violence, which tends to be treated as a civil rather than a criminal matter. Another recommended program is community-based and intensive services to reduce youth crime. Integrating community crime prevention programs with broader strategies of locally based economic development would also help deal with the forces that now undermine family and community supports. Finally, government must recognize the effects of its economic and social policies on crime.