Signposts (From Analysing Informal Mechanisms of Crime Control: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, P 223-264, 1988, Mark Findlay and Ugljesa Zvekic, eds. -- See NCJ-119060)

• NCJ Number: 119067
• Author(s): M Findlay; U Zvekic
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 42 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: Italy

Annotation

This chapter identifies the general trends regarding crime control and formalization discussed in previous chapters.

Abstract

The chapter makes two primary observations regarding mechanisms of crime control. The first concerns the relevance of the variation and cultural relativity of socialization. The contributors in the previous chapters have different attitudes towards the origins of social control, the breadth of the social institutions which translate it, and the cultural significance of these institutions and their interrelations. Second, there is general consensus that crime is an identifiable social fact regardless of whether it is understood as a social construction or an ontological reality per se requiring prevention and control. The manner in which such intervention is effected relies on socialization through predefined and predeveloped structures of authority. Although the significance of such structures and the control process which they generate can only be understood within their immediate social context, they manifest some consistent and universal characteristics which are elemental for their socializing and controlling potential. This chapter identifies pointers from the previous chapters regarding the formalization of crime control and notes indicators of crime control potential.