NCJ Number
86921
Date Published
1980
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report explores why the dominant approach to crime prevention in the 1970's was one of reducing the opportunities for crime (opportunity reduction) through citizen involvement in protective activities.
Abstract
This approach has been criticized because of its conversative bias, its potential for making people more fearful, its tendency to benefit the middle class at the expense of the poor, and its tendency to displace (not reduce) crime. Policy, research, and theoretical developments in the late 1970's challenged the primacy of the opportunity reduction approach. The Community Anti-Crime Program of 1976 and the results of a major research effort exploring crime and fear in urban communities have led to an alternative definition and broader approach to community crime prevention, one emphasizing community control over crime prevention efforts. The future of community crime prevention is at the mercy of economic forces dictating severe cutbacks in Government funding. Footnotes are included. (Author abstract modified)