Over the past 50 years an increasingly-influential school of criminology
has argued that finding "the causes of crime” or "solutions to the problem of
crime” is not possible. The best we can do, they argue, is manage and limit the
extent of crime.
Situational Crime Prevention, in this respect, involves a range of
strategies based broadly around the idea that many forms of crime -
particularly street crime - can be effectively managed through the control of
physical space.
In Britain, Painter and Farrington's seminal Stoke-on-Trent
street-lighting study has been an influential demonstration of the way
continuities and changes in the built environment can influence many types of
criminal street behaviour and this film draws on exclusive interview data with
Painter to both outline the study and explain its implications for our
understanding of the management of crime.
The short film is designed to integrate into crime and deviance lessons
by providing a simple empirical example of how situational crime prevention can
be applied to our understanding of the theory and practice of crime control.
Rent (7 days): £0.75
Buy: £3.76