Crime Prevention in Criminal Justice System - Research Paper Example

? Crime Prevention in Criminal Justice System Crime Prevention in Criminal Justice System Crime rates in US cities and metropolitan areas have portrayed varying statistics across the country. Some of the factors that contribute to increasing crime rates include unemployment rates, availability of guns and other weapons, disparity in income levels in some cities makes low income earners to be congested in certain areas among others, with violent crimes and burglary being the highest recorded cases. The crime fighting body, the FBI in each year compiles a comprehensive report that details all reported crimes in the US, which are grouped in crime rate per 100,000 residents across states and cities. Such crime data offers the basis on which decisions can be made on the approaches needed to lower or prevent crimes in different areas. There are a variety of methods that authorities use to deal with and prevent crime, the common one being incarceration of criminals in jails and other rehabilitation centers, which has not proved effective in Springfield. Therefore, to deal with crime on the long term, a risk-focused approach offers better results in that the method deals with possible factors that would lead to crime. Crime rates in Springfield, IL Springfield is one of the areas that lead in crime rates across US and has been ranked as the third most dangerous area in the entire country (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012). Springfield has a population of 206, 601 residents, one of the less populated metropolitan areas that have surpassed many areas in the level of reported crimes. In 2010, there were reported 855 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in Springfield IL, which made the metropolitan the third highest dangerous city in the US after Detroit and Memphis. Giuoffo noted that Springfield has an unemployment rate of less than the country’s average of 7% as of July 2011, implying that unlike other areas, economy in the city may not be blamed for the high crime rate as the city is above average compared to many other cities. The metropolitan has a young population, that 66% of all residents are 44 years old or younger, which has been perceived as a contributing factor to the high crime rate (Giuffo, 2011). In addition, the city has high usage of methamphetamine, a prevalent drug across the area. All the same, a law was passed in the last few years that made it difficult to buy the drugs, which according to FBI has considerably reduced the crime rates (FBI, 2012). In addition to drug use, Springfield has a much poorer neighborhood in the city’s suburbs that has been blamed for the high rate of crime in the metropolitan. Consequently, indications are that crime rates in Springfield have soared due to a young population, use of hard drugs and a poor neighborhood. Generally, Springfield, IL in 2011 had a total population of 210,802 residents with a crime rate of 711.6 per 100, 000 residents. The city had a lower murder rate at 4.3, with property crime rates, burglary and larceny theft recorded at 4,290.8, 1,118.1 and 3,034.1 per 100,000 residents respectively (FBI, 2012 Abilene in Texas has a population of 168,729 slightly less than Springfield with the rate of violent crimes recorded at 297.5 per 100,000 residents. Property crime in this area is highest at 3,029.7 per 100,000 residents with murder being the lowest at 3.0 per 100,000 residents (FBI, 2012). On the contrary, Alexandria, LA has a population of 155,330 residents with a crime rate of 662 per 100,000 residents. The highest crime in this area is property crimes at 4.050.7 and the lowest crime being murder at 5.0 per 100,000 residents. On the same note, Appleton in Wisconsin has a total population of 226,649 residents with the crime rate being 509.5 per 100,000 residents. The highest crime in the area is property crime at 4,271.3 with the lowest crime being murder at a relatively higher rate of 11.8 per 100,000 residents. Comparing this data to the national statistics, the national violent crime rate was at 386.3 per 100,000 residents, which according to FBI was a 4.5 decrease from 2010 figures. Property crimes on national level were 2,908.7 per 100,000 persons. In addition, the national arrest rates were 95.6 for burglary, 410.6 for larceny, 3.5 for rape and 6.3 for robbery per 100,000 residents (FBI 2012b). Crime prevention As indicated the crime rates in Springfield IL are almost double the national crime rates with burglary, property crimes and larceny having the highest reported cases. Three of the main factors that have been linked to increased crime rates are use of hard drugs, a young population and presence of poor community near the city where most of the crimes are reported. To prevent and lower these crime rates, risk- focused crime prevention would work best in this region. Any program that is set in place to reduce occurrence of a certain risk do as a result have a massive effect in reducing many other related problems, which saves the government significant costs in fighting crime (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). In other words, a strategy that succeeds in reducing a risk factor solves many other related social factors as a result. Research has portrayed that only risk factors that have a causal effect within individuals can actually change within these individuals (Kraemer et al., 1997), which would lead to a reduction in crime rates. For instance, one problem that causes crimes in Springfield is a poor community around the city. Consequently, unemployment acts as a risk factor that offends between individuals, as an unemployed persons are more likely to be offenders compared to employed persons (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). People are more likely to offend or being involved in crime due to increased unemployment, which supports the findings that most of crimes in Springfield emanate from a poor neighborhood. Consequently, a reduction in unemployment in this neighborhood would not only reduce the offenders, but will solve other unsocial behaviors that lead to crime. Risk-focused approach analysis Research has shown that children brought up in harsh and poor conditions tend to be involved in crime more than those in better neighborhoods, in addition to other unsocial behaviors such as drug taking (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). Risk-focused crime prevention approach solves a wide range of risks from childhood to ensure a child gets the right upbringing, which prevents the risk factors that would make such a child turn to crime. Piquero et al (2009) in a systematic review study noted that most risk- prevention programs are highly successful on the long term in preventing crime. In addition, Farrington and Welsh (2007) identified four programs that have a high degree of success in risk prevention among families, which include child skills training, parent management training, parent education and finally program to enrich the skills of children from an early age to adulthood. Case (2007) identifies risk-focus approach as one of the best methods used in Juvenile Justice Systems (JJS) due to its high efficacy, as the approach is evidence based intervention in most juvenile related crimes. In addition, though Gray (2005) critics the way the justice intervention system has been working in that it is more inclined towards pursuit of ‘responsibilisation,’ risk prevention approach according to grey may be very successful when the entire program is taken on a broader context. In other words, instead of perceiving crime as a practice of young offenders due to their low reasoning skills, antisocial behaviors in cases where unemployment and exclusion is rampant place, Gray recommends the broader approach of taking such a case as lack of resources to offer the youth the right foundation in skills, education and unemployment, which would reduce crimes such an area. In a review of risk-focused studies related to anti-social behaviors among the youth, Quinsey et al (2004) noted that despite there being credible knowledge about risk factors leading to juvenile criminal acts, there lacks a convergence of approaches that may be applied to deal with the risk factors uniformly. This is further supported by Hinshaw (2002) who emphasized on the difficulty of having a comprehensive approach towards dealing with antisocial behaviors. However, as has been noted, dealing with causal factors such as lack of enough education and unemployment among the youth would go a long way to solve many antisocial behaviors into their adulthoods. This will have the crime rates drastically reduce and the police committing minimal budgets to deal with such crime cases. The advantage of this approach is that though many crimes have been blamed on youth unsocial behaviors in the community despite most of the problems emanating from other causes (Farrington and Welsh, 2007), the risk-focused approach deals with any causal factors to prevent such problems from occurring. The effect of this approach would be better community integration as the entire community is brought at a convergence in fighting in social problems that are a precursor of such anti-social behaviors. This would solve the issue of drug taking, unemployment related problems and even family problems that are usually causal factors in leading people to crime. Alternative Approaches Other approaches used in US include the community based mentoring approach especially to the youth. A study carried out in US involving the Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) program observed mentoring to be a successful way of preventing crime among the youth when the duration of the contact between the mentor and mentee was significant (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). Moreover, a community based treatment program known as MST, which is an individualistic approach has been used with juvenile offenders across US. The approach basically deals with the individual’s family, personal and academic issues with research showing that for every dollar spent on this program, the government saved 13 dollars in criminal justice and victim costs (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). Other situational approaches that have been in areas such as Appleton include surveillance though CCTVs, improving street lighting and others. In all situational prevention approaches, nuisance abetment and improved street lighting have been the most effective in preventing crimes in this region (Welsh & Farrington, 2010). Anticipated outcome and social justice One way to increase social justice in the Springfield would be to improve and encourage participation r by all residents and improve their status through employment. This may be done through initiating more economical activities and industries in Springfield, IL and encouraging communal partnership in the area. Exclusion of individuals from making decisions that impart on their lives is one of the problems that lead to increased crimes, in that they feel left out from the society, which leads to antisocial behaviors. However, by inviting all to participate in decision making and projects through communal partnerships initiatives, the risk-focused approach would be more effective as this would eliminate the possible causes of crime. The community in such partnership and with support from the authorities would reduce the prevalence in use of drugs, which most young people turn to in unjust society that does not offer them a chance to contribute positively in economic activities through employment. In such communal programs, there is increased social justice in the community as all members have an increased sense of belonging to the community and would work towards making it better. This is unlike the current case where exclusion increases social injustice by preventing some from participating in decision making and development, which makes them feel like outsiders and use crime as the best way to express their needs and to gain status. On the short-term risk-focused approach may not have a high degree of success as it would take time to put in place measures to deal with the identified risk factors. The risk-focused approach emphasizes on putting in place measures that prevent causal factors; it is possible to eliminate the possibility of such crimes from occurring. Employment opportunities for the poor neighborhood would solve a number of antisocial behaviors and increase social justice in the community Recommendations and Conclusion Based on this review, risk-focused approach has emerged as the best approach to use in Springfield. This is because the area is less populated and three main causes have been clearly identified as the major causes of crime. These are a poor neighborhood, hard drugs and a younger population than other cities, the effectiveness of this approach would be in that the state of Illinois has to create more employment opportunities to absorb those in the poor neighborhood as well as supporting education programs impart children with quality education, which is necessary in preventing unsocial behaviors. Moreover, the state has to deal with the drug problem by passing laws that discourage the sale or use of the drugs. It is recommended that parents and the entire community be involved through adult education and communal partnership programs in preventing children from engaging in antisocial behavior. In addition, the state has to support parents in offering children better living and working conditions to reduce unsocial behaviors. Therefore, risk-focused approach is the best method to ensure long term benefits in preventing crime in this area, as it makes it possible to identify and eliminate any risks that would lead to crime. References Case, S. (2007) Questioning the Evidence of Risk that Underpins Evidence-led Youth Justice Intervention. Youth Justice, 7(2), 91–105. Farrington, D. P. & Welsh. B.C. (2007). Improved Street Lighting and Crime Prevention: A Systematic Review. Stockholm, Sweden: National Council for Crime Prevention. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2012).FBI Releases 2011 Crime Statistics. Retrieved from. http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2011-crime-statistics Giuffo, J. (2011). America’s Most Dangerous Cities. Forbes. Retrieved from. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efel45mde/flint-mich/ Hinshaw, S.P. (2002) Process, Mechanism and Explanation Related to Externalizing Behavior in Developmental Psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 30, 431–46. Kraemer, H., Kazdin, A., Offord, D., Kessler, R., Jensen, P. and Kupfer, D. (1997), Coming to Terms with the Terms of Risk. Archives of General Psychiatry 54, 337–43. Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D.P., Welsh, B.C., Tremblay, R.E. & Jennings, E.W. (2009). Effects of Early/Family Parent Training Programs on Antisocial Behavior and Delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology 5, 83-120. Quinsey, V., Skilling, T., Lalumiere, M. and Craig, W. (2004) Juvenile Delinquency: Understanding the Origins of Individual Differences. Washington DC: American Psychological Association Welsh, B.C. & Farringon, D.P. (2010).The Future of Crime Prevention: Developmental and Situational Strategies. Maryland: U.S. Department of Justice. Read More