NCJ Number
177106
Editor(s)
Graeme Newman,
Ronald V. Clarke,
S. Giora Shoham
Date Published
1997
Length
260 pages
Annotation
This collection of original papers examines the theoretical and philosophical bases of the perspective of situational crime prevention.
Abstract
The editors note that at the core of rational choice theory and situational crime prevention is the belief that offenders make rudimentary judgements about the costs and benefits of committing crime and that they can be deterred by environmental changes to reduce criminal opportunities. The introductory chapter outlines the common themes of the other 13 papers. The majority of the chapters examine situational crime prevention as a theory of the later 20th century and attempt to identify its essential theoretical premises, philosophical significance, and, in some cases, political or moral implications. The structure and levels of explanation of situational crime prevention are addressed in many of the chapters. The focal point of the situation in situational crime prevention theory sets it apart from other traditional theories of crime causation. One chapter shows how Bentham identified the specific end point of action and worked back from that end point, but at the same time his general theory of action was applied to take into account various dispositions he saw as acting upon human behavior. Among the issues examined in the chapters are the status of situational crime prevention as a theory, the theoretical traditions and context of situational crime prevention, the relationship of rational choice to situational crime prevention, utilitarianism and situational crime prevention, and the ethical/policy implications of situational crime prevention. Chapter notes and references and subject and name indexes