NCJ Number
67338
Date Published
1976
Length
8 pages
Annotation
THE PROBLEMS OF CRIME CONTROL THROUGH REPRESSION ARE SUCH THAT REPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES DO NOT POSSESS SIGNIFICANT PREVENTION VALUES.
Abstract
FIRST, IT MUST BE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE FOREMOST GOAL OF CRIMINAL POLICY FOR A FREE, DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY IS NOT CRIME CONTROL; IN FACT, NUMEROUS LEGAL GUARANTEES AND CIVIL LIBERTIES MAKE THE INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF OFFENSES PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT. A SECOND PROBLEM IS THAT THE PRESENT MODE OF CRIME REPRESSION IS HIGHLY SELECTIVE: THE MAJORITY OF POLICE ACTIVITIES ARE DIRECTED AGAINST PARTICULAR TYPES OF OFFENDERS (WITH A PARTICULAR SOCIAL BACKGROUND) WHILE THE REMAINING OFFENDERS REMAIN CONCEALED IN THE VAST NUMBER OF UNREPORTED OR UNINVESTIGATED CRIME. LAST, SOCIETY NEEDS THE CRIMINAL AS WELL AS THE POLICEMAN THOUGH, IRONICALLY, IT MUST PRETEND NOT TO NEED THE CRIMINAL IN ORDER TO HAVE THE POLICEMAN. IN THIS RESPECT AND FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF CRIMINOLOGY, REPRESSION IS A DUBIOUS AND DANGEROUS TOOL OF CRIME PREVENTION SINCE IT SUPPRESSES THE SYMPTOMS WITHOUT ATTACKING THE UNDERLYING SOCIAL CAUSES; SUPPRESSION WITHOUT CURE IN A SOCIETY ENCOURAGES THE EMERGENCE OF SECONDARY (PERMISSIBLE) SYMPTOMS SUCH AS ALCOHOLISM, SICKNESS, AND APATHY. NO SCIENTIFIC RESULTS AT THIS POINT JUSTIFY THE BELIEF THAT INDIVIDUAL CRIME REPRESSION HAS A DETERRENT EFFECT ON THE GENERAL POPULATION. IN FACT, SOME STUDIES SHOW AN INCREASE IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES (ESPECIALLY IN ORGANIZED CRIME) WHEN REPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES ARE STEPPED UP. ALTHOUGH THE TRUE CAUSES OF TODAY'S CRIME--MATERIALISM, URBANISM, AGGRESSIVENESS, STRESS, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TRADITIONAL VALUES--ARE NOT AFFECTED BY CRIME REPRESSION, REPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES HAVE ONE VALUE: THEY CONVEY TO THE POPULATION A FEELING OF SECURITY. THE ARTICLE INCLUDES FOOTNOTES. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)