NCJ Number
82069
Date Published
1981
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Because of restrictive funding guidelines, the goals and objectives of community crime prevention programs have reflected the Federal theory of crime -- the victimization perspective -- so that crime problems and solutions have not been locally identified.
Abstract
The Federal Government, primarily LEAA, has played a major role in community crime prevention by providing most of the funding for these programs. In establishing funding guidelines, the Government has limited the definition of the problem to the incidence of crime as defined by criminal statute; further, it has tended to fund large target area programs sponsored by established community organizations and official agencies at the expense of small area programs and grassroots groups. Consequently, the process by which groups have planned their community crime prevention efforts has been distorted to the point where the programs reflect the Federal Government's approach to problems, rather than that of local residents and officials. This has contributed to the failure of innovations in local program ideas and strategies to materialize. Also, many projects suffer from low levels of citizen interest and involvement. While the logical policy implication is to limit the Federal Government's role in community crime prevention, the evidence suggests that these programs may not long sustain themselves with volunteers, private contributions, or even local government funding. The solution may lie in a reformulation of the theoretical basis for understanding crime and how it interrelates with other problems at the neighborhood level. Eight references and seven notes are provided. (Author summary modified)