NCJ Number
165678
Date Published
1997
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Technology and its implications for crime and crime prevention are discussed, with emphasis on theories of how technological progress influences society, on the importance of human factors in using technology effectively, and on business crime prevention.
Abstract
The six major concepts of Ogburn and others are that small inventions have major consequences, complex technology grows in small increments, a technological advance is not used immediately because a larger system must be ready for it, people and human organization make gadgets work, technology that is easier to use will have the greatest impact, and teaching technology and organizing people to use it require dividing it into simple steps. The theory of human ecology helps organize information abut how technology relates to crime. Duncan suggests four crucial concepts: population, organization, environment, and technology. These concepts indicate that a crime wave can occur without an increase in offenders and clarify the role of technology in the crime wave from 1963 to 1975 in the United States. Factors included the diffusion of lightweight durable goods and the dispersion of activities away from family and household settings. Technological advances that make goods such as calculators both widespread and low in cost may reduce their theft. Another concept, designing out crime, covers several categories of crime prevention. In addition, strategic thinking and consideration of people are required to make security hardware such as alarms effective. Finally, a crime prevention extension service might be a way to help bring crime prevention ideas from criminology into practice and to reach not only the public but also business as purveyors of technology. Notes and 24 references