Property crime ( or “economic crime” ) is an umbrella term for crimes that are committed with fiscal (financial) gain as the principal motive.
In most countries, crimes against property tend to be more common than acts of violence, and sexual offenses.
Property crimes are less traumatic for t...
Principles of Crime Prevention, Reduction,
and Control
Learning unit 1: Prevention and control of crime
1.1 Introduction
★ Mass media creates a belief that crime is politically driven and that criminals target
certain populations or cultural groups.
★ Affluent communities appear to be targeted more by robbery > car-hijacking, house
invasions, and burglary.
★ Less prosperous communities appear to be affected by social-fabric crimes > common
assault and robbery > attributed to alcohol abuse.
★ Some people think that criminals target a certain ethnic group, which come from a
misunderstanding of criminal behavior pattern.
★ There is a need to develop theories and explanations for crime patterns and trends. >
this is done to make sense of the crime.
1.2.1 Crime prevention and control
★ Crime prevention refers to all the measures taken by way of government policy and
private initiatives to prevent crime, with the exception of the criminal justice system. >
These measures are defined as crime control.
1.2.2. Crime prevention models and approaches
★ The are identifiable programs for crime prevention models> also called methods,
strategies, or techniques.
★ Specific theories or factors have played part in the commission of crime or victimization.
, 1.3. Historical development of crime prevention and control in South
Africa
➔ Crime prevention has been used for centuries and this was mainly a task for the
police, the court, and the correctional services.
➔ Crime prevention now follows the informal community-based approach, in which
people have lost confidence in the criminal justice system.
➔ South Africa was involved in what military experts call “ low-intensity warfare” > either
civil unrest or a liberation struggle.
➔ Warfare techniques > boycotts, civil unrest, defiance of oppressive laws, draconian
enforcement of laws, and suppression of riots
➔ The youth was militarised through training and that left a mark on the psyche of the
nation > and people resort to violence if ever they felt threatened.
➔ They also developed a negative attitude toward law enforcement.
➔ Many soldiers and policemen of the apartheid era were forced into a two-year
conscripted military, which lead to them using force to solve problems.
➔ Children of today may think that problems are solved with violence because of the
storytelling of their parents and grandparents ( or the apartheid era).
➔ Because of the type of violence, South Africa is now suffering violence and people are
either > raped, murdered, tortured, and robbed each day.
➔ The South African government adopted a National Crime Prevention Plan or
Strategy on 22 May 1996.
➔ The four pillars were for a comprehensive crime prevention model. > (1) Environmental
planning lead to the reduction of crime > focusing on designing systems to reduce crime
opportunities. (2) Campaigns that educate people to change how they react to crime. (3)
Transnational crime prevention strategies for the specific purpose of crime across
borders. (4) An effective, and integrated criminal justice system.
1.4. Factors crucial to successful crime prevention
➔ Before the 1960s, America’s crime prevention strategies focused on social and
development programs.> This was during the leadership of Martin Luther King.
➔ Five factors that are crucial to successful crime prevention > (1) The state and
community have to be involved in implementing a comprehensive crime prevention
policy. (2) Multidimensional crime prevention approach, in which they need to involve a
number of crime prevention methods and their various programs (3) Crime prevention
models and programs based on causation theories and factors that may be operative in
crime and victimization. (4) Attention to the uniqueness of crime patterns and causes
peculiar to a country or neighborhood. (5) Proper planning and the evaluation of crime
prevention programs.
1.5. Various crime prevention approaches
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