NCJ Number
147414
Journal
Human Organization Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 83-88
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes Australian and U.S. experiences in Neighborhood Watch community policing schemes and concludes that Neighborhood Watch is not overwhelmingly successful as a crime prevention mechanism.
Abstract
Neighborhood Watch, a method of social control, is supported and run solely by volunteers and provides a focus to discuss the more subtle meanings and processes of symbolic contestation among state, community, and individual. The community generally upholds the dominance of formalized law as an ideology, despite the law's proven inadequacies in maintaining social control. The symbolic concept of "neighborhood" is manipulated by Neighborhood Watch programs; as these programs fail, opportunities open up for reappropriating the notion of "neighborhood" and its role in meeting the specific needs of individuals, interest groups, and local communities searching for a sense of physical and psychological security that the traditional idea of a neighborhood environment can no longer provide. The author concludes that alternative forms of social justice, as defined by gangs and vigilante groups, are validated by the state-authorized system of community control embedded in Neighborhood Watch. The greater emphasis placed on community policing in the United States than in Australia is discussed, along with challenges government policies in both countries will be required to meet in solving social order and control problems. 32 references, 18 notes, and 1 figure