Risk Factors of Crime and Victimization

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMNOLOGY CRM 1300 E TERM PAPER By: Bhavna Bakshi Course Code: CRM 1300 E Professor: Professor Waller Date Submitted: Thursday, June-12-08 Dear Premier, I believe change derives from feeling unsafe to being safe and making an impact to the levels of victimization. This is why I want to now direct your attention to the risk factors of crime and victimization; level of crime in our province; and how much crime it is costing for Ontario’s taxpayers. In addition, I would like to propose several recommendations that can make significant changes to Ontario’s crime level and reduce victimization. 1.

The Risk of Crime and Victimization to Canadians and its costs to taxpayers and to victims The risk of crime and victimization in general generates significant impact on taxpayers and victims in terms of expenses, because police officers are trying their best to catch offenders. No matter how much taxpayers spend, it will not lead to drastic reductions in crime, rather it will cost twice as much and will lead to cutting back social programs. In this case, the social programs are most effective strategies to utilize in decreasing crime. It is the misconception that punishing harder to criminals will protect Canadians and citizens from harm.

In contrast, the reason for such expenditure on crime prevention is that police officers are hired more from the government, which leads to more work for lawyers, and which leads to paying more for incarceration. The concept behind preventing crime loses its meaning through increase policies and over paid programs that reduces the effect in reducing crime or the lesson. Therefore, when investing in such programs or strategies, it is important to make sure that the focus is towards the basic principles of justice for crime victims. 2. The Causes and Prevention of Youth Crime

The causes of youth crime develop from three longitudinal studies that show the risks such as: (1) Raising children up with inconsistent and uncaring parenting which includes the witnessing of violence in home (2) Youths being excluded from or dropping out of secondary school (3) Young adults being frequently unemployed and with relatively limited income. In addition to the longitudinal studies, there have been other causes for children to become persistent offenders that tend to grow up with more negativity around family and school experiences, such as being : ?

Born into a family in relative poverty and inadequate housing ? Brought up with inconsistent and uncaring parenting, including violence ? Living with a culture of violence on television and in the neighbourhood In order for prevention to take place, an investment must take place in parenting and child development. There are several prevention programs that help in reducing persistent delinquency between the ages of 12 to 18 year olds. First one being is the Quantum Opportunities program put that took place in 1989 as an RCT and evaluated by Dr.

Hahn in Okalahoma City, Philadelphia, Saginaw and San Antonio. Scientists demonstrated that this program reduces crime by comparing the outcomes of the proportion of youth arrested with a control group of youth who were not selected to participate in the program. The proportion of those arrested after they completed the program was 70 percent lower that the proportion of youth arrested in the control group. Another program designed for youth between the ages of 12 and 18 is one which focuses on families with youth at risk.

The approach named “Functional Family Therapy” helps families identify that they can improve situations and shows them how they can change particular ones. It was demonstrated that this particular program reduced crime by comparing the proportion of youth arrested who have gone through the program to the proportion arrested in a comparison group in clinical trials. Through these comparisons scientists have shown reductions in crime of up to 25 percent. This is impressive because there have been more than 13 separate RCTs, some showing reductions in crime of 60 percent.

Finally, a third program is the Youth Inclusion Program designed for mentoring and getting youths involved in curricular activities. This is to keep their minds and themselves occupied and help deal with anger management, dealing with gangs, and drug related problems. The impact of this program has displayed a significant amount of positive results. It has reduced the youth arrests by 65%; it has reduced overall crime in neighbourhoods by 16% to 27%, and has reduced school expulsions by 27% . 3. Measures to Prevent Violence, Particularly Against Women

There have been immense research done on this particular subject to prevent violence against women, but conclusions seem rather unproductive. For example, WHO and the National Research Council made it apparent of the lack of research on how to prevent violence against women. Usually, the action is taken after the violence has occurred rather than on prevention of violence. However, such measures have also been taken fourth by including school programs to educate students on how to resolve conflicts peacefully.

As well as showing them the difference between men and women in relation to violence and sexual assault. These types of programs can help youths even at an early age to prevent violence against women as they get older. However, because not enough research has been there to support violence before it happens, such campaigns against women can be created and maintained in helping women’s voices to be heard. For example, in 2004, Amnesty International launched its global Stop Violence against Women Campaign to help break the silence around this pandemic.

Their aim is to stop violence and support the work of women’s human rights advocates around the world. I believe Ontario should keep such campaigns constant, because it will show that the right of women is to be free from violence. Another way to help women that are victims of violence is to allow women to also work in police stations. This was to assist ordinary women who were victims of violence to have more confidence that they would be treated fairly and seriously when they went to the police station. Moreover, actions to prevent violence against women are attended usually after the fact.

However, women can also reduce violence by empowering women and girls by reducing discriminatory practices, fostering women’s networking, and improving women’s self-esteem. It should also be noted that these preventive strategies are relevant in the United States as in Canada or England. 4. Measures to Reduce Opportunity for Crime In order to reduce the level of crime, you must tackle the risk factors. A risk factor is anything that increases the probability that a person will suffer harm. Depending on the social setting and age, there are many risk factors that can be identified.

For instance, the WHO illustrates an ecological model made up of four social settings: environment, community, family, and individual. To reduce any opportunity for crime, neighbourhood watches have been known to be the large movement for crime prevention. Equally important, community crime prevention programs are also helpful in reducing such issues. Citizens are trained in how to intervene if they saw someone for example who was suspicious looking, including getting an agreement from their neighbours to confront the person and call police.

As well as, how to make their residences look as if someone was inside, such as using a dog, or timers that turn radios and lights on and off. This strategy shows a community unity that neighbours are aware of themselves and each other when it comes time for help. In addition, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design; known as CPTED is a crime prevention strategy organized by planners, architects, police officers, and security professionals. CPTED focuses on the layout and designs of buildings to ensure proper design and effective use of the built environment, which can lead to the reduction in the incidence and fear of crime.

The emphasis is focused on the physical aspect and surroundings, use of space, and behaviour of people to create such environments that are absent that cause opportunities of crime to occur. 5. Ways to Improve the Effectiveness of Policing In terms of improving the effectiveness of policing, Ontario should adapt the strategy that Chicago had implemented in which generated a smarter policing approach. The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy was about improving relations between the police and community by getting police officers to interact more with the public and take part in neighbourhood meetings.

Second, this strategy leads to smarter policing because it involved an effort in bringing police, citizens, and community agencies together to prevent crime rather than to simply react to it. This strategy will assist in leading to smarter policing because it will bring police services closer to various minority groups in the city who are disappointed in how they are treated by police. The program involves assigning police officers to particular areas of the city so that they get to know their local communities who to some extent would also get to know the police officer.

It also includes community meetings where police officers inform citizens of their priorities so the police can deal with neighbourhood disorder problems such as drug sales or prostitution because these were the issues bringing communities together around crime. A second strategy in improving the effectiveness of policing is also increasing the number of police on streets and focusing more on zero tolerance on petty offenses and clearing up broken windows. This approach illustrates preventing citizens from such offenses like not paying for public transfer, jaywalking, and urinating in public.

I recommend that the Ottawa Police should be reorganized to involve a combination of law enforcement, and social agencies as well as various community groups which will allow for multiple people to work together to reduce crime. I recommend that the police service invest in organizing partnerships with social agencies in the community as well as with local universities. Prevention programs such as street social workers outreaching to youth in gangs to mediate disputes and help the youth and families access social services should be implemented.

In addition, there should be programs to increase job training and local firms should be mobilized to create jobs. Partnering with local universities will allow for a cost-effective analysis of the various programs that are put into place. The implementation of these programs and the collaboration of the police with social agencies providing these programs would prevent crime more cost effectively. This is because some prevention programs are proven to have the same costs of paying police officers and they target risk factors at an early age so as to reduce the hances that a child will become an offender. 6. Ways to Protect the Needs of Victims In order to protect the needs of victims, one of the many ways in doing so is installing cameras in buildings to increase the level of security more. For example, based on the UK experience, the purpose of the cameras in the UK was hoped that it would create a discouragement to prevent crime rather than help the police know what happened after a person was victimized. The cameras were better after the fact for identifying who did the crime rather than for preventing crime.

Even though the camera’s resulted in crime reduction of about 4%, it still operates doing justice in aiding police officers in delivering a visual crime scene to solve and take action against. Also, CCTV should be used in Canada in certain high-defined crime areas in an attempt to prevent victimization. Also, Canada should budget themselves and have a limited spending in the beginning when investing in this application. Therefore, more money can be utilized to in prevention programs and lower victimization rates.

A second approach would be to use private security systems and alarms in homes, apartment buildings, and businesses. Private security systems are a good investment and can be cost-effective for providing protection to those that can afford it. Other ways can also be to keep a watch dog that scare off any intruders or offenders. Alarms are also good in protecting both personal and commercial property. This allows a sound to be triggered that is connected to a central security firm on the permission of the owner. As well as, cell phones have become an important figure in crime prevention.

The features of taking photos and videos have enhanced the capacity to be able to capture such events on cell phones. After-effects can be seen through the victim’s mobile phones which they can record what is happening. 7. Ways for Cities to Reduce Crime In order for cities to reduce crime an office can be set up in Ontario for crime prevention. When planning a crime prevention office, there are five elements to consider. They are: a joint planning board and secretariat, a safety diagnosis, a business plan, implementation and evaluation. A smart ity will establish an office that will support a permanent and ongoing planning process and increase investment in programs for youth at risk to outlaw violence, to improve ways to watch over property, and to produce a smarter police service. The planning board must consist of staffs that manage a process of diagnosing the main crime problems experienced in the particular city. Since victimization is caused by a variety of different risk factors, it is important that the board consist of people from key agencies that influence these particular factors.

Successful programs that tackle risk factors and cause victimization require an investment in diagnosing the problem. I would recommend as well for Ontario to focus on the key risks that lead to youth crime first and after curricular activities for youths to be busy in. Such key risks include unemployment, passive-income. A mentoring program is what I would also suggest and also advise to keep these strategies consistent. Another important suggestion is to develop a program targeted towards high school dropouts and circumstances that students would face and things of that nature.

This will help in reducing crime for the future and moulding youths to handle such situations differently and avoiding violent behaviours or actions. To emphasize more on such ways for cities to reduce crime would be to engage local efforts that are supported by national policies that provide stable, direct, and timely funding and allow for local flexibility in programs designed for prevention. Another can be to involve national strategies to prevent crime by going beyond the support of police.

Finally, to also engage in international efforts that provides local officials with successful models for prevention and expertise. 8. Key Recommendations for a Political Vision to Improve the Situation in Ontario One of the key recommendations I suggest is the 10 percent allocation of investing for the shift from law and order to prevention and victim support. It is crime prevention that targets key risk factors, training and data systems to sustain the shift, and victim support and justice. I believe that an allocation to prevention and planning programs irst are targeting key risk factors that is most important because these programs have proven that they are able to reduce crime significantly in high-risk areas by 50% or more. Investing should be used to set up and allow an office to develop an investment plan with the goal of reducing crime and victimization so that the city knows where its crime problems are located and what can be done to tackle these problems. The second step would be to have the funds allocated to training and data systems. Therefore, colleges and universities need to develop programs for people to become professionals in crime prevention.

Funds should be put into developing data systems because it has been proven that successful prevention comes from analyzing problems and identifying how risk factors causing crime can be tackled. As we have seen with the example of Bogota, an in-depth analysis of the distribution of violence as well as a diagnosis of the risk factors causing crime allowed the city’s crime prevention office to implement interventions to reduce the most prominent crimes in the city. I believe that victim support should receive funding last because the main goal should be preventing crime rather than reacting to it, which will ultimately reduce victimization.

The funding should also not be taken away from victim support because crime victims experience more than financial difficulties, a lot of them experience emotional difficulties. This is why it is important to provide funding to focus on how to protect potential victims such as through courses on crime prevention and community safety. A final vision to improve the situation in Ontario would be to have a province that is inclusive, proactive, and innovative in response to improving the crime rate and support to victims.

This means, such strategies and approaches should be victim-centered; systematic focus means having to identify certain behaviours that facilitate them. Also, such incidents should be accommodated and acknowledged and taking addressing each incident differently and having different financial capacity to support victims. In conclusion, these are some of the recommendations and measures Ontario can use and implement in their crime prevention strategy to improve the situation and the crime rate. These approaches can assist in reducing Ontario’s crime level and help create more prevention programs and keeping them consistent.