NCJ Number
133958
Date Published
1991
Length
21 pages
Annotation
After defining crime prevention, this article develops a new typology of crime prevention and then presents a bibliography under the categories of the new typology.
Abstract
This article defines crime prevention as "the total of all private initiatives and State policies, other than the enforcement of criminal law, aimed at the reduction of damage caused by acts defined as criminal by the State." Crime prevention projects are best classified on the basis of two defining characteristics. The first dimension is the conventional distinction derived from the public health model. This dimension distinguishes between primary, secondary, and tertiary types of prevention (directed at the public at large, groups with a high risk of associating with crime, and core groups that have actually been afflicted by it respectively). The newly proposed second dimension of crime prevention is derived from routine-activity theory. According to this theory, most criminal acts require convergence in space and time of motivated offenders and potential victims within an insufficiently guarded environment. Preventive efforts thus focus on the reduction of propensities to offend, diminishment of the vulnerability of the potential victim, and the strengthening of the level of guardianship in the environment. An integration of the two dimensions creates nine types of crime prevention: primary, secondary, and tertiary measures that target offenders, situations, and victims. A 216-item bibliography presents listings under each of these 9 categories.