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Greening and Governance of Crime Control

NCJ Number
205213
Journal
Criminal Justice Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 5-28
Author(s)
Barry Vaughan
Date Published
February 2004
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article examines the suggestion that crime control policy should emulate environmental regulation by concentrating on the alteration of fundamental incentive structures.
Abstract
Crime control policy fails to act upon the structures that provide the incentives to commit offenses. Environmental policy is alleged to provide incentives that cause people to behave in a more environmentally friendly manner. If crime control policy is to have a significant effect, it must be “greened” and embrace the alteration of incentive structures as a fundamental goal. The school of policymaking and regulation derived from the work of Mary Douglas is explored to see what implications it might have for criminal justice policy. Mary Douglas’ institutional theory of culture suggests that recognition of risk is a product of a commitment to a certain form of social organization, rather than a detached assessment of the likelihood of harm occurring. People designate certain events as risky that threaten the social organization of which they are a part and this recognition reaffirms their commitment to this organization. An environment initiative that is less “state-centric” and moves toward a system of “holistic governance” is examined. It is argued that the state’s role is one of persuasion that is geared towards aligning policies with the institutional perceptions of each solidarity. These insights are applied to some current debates surrounding policing and crime prevention. The role of the state vis-a-vis emerging security networks is discussed, as well as how security issues might be addressed without succumbing to short-lived solutions or excessive policing, by examining progress made by multi-agency partnerships under the auspices of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in England and Wales. 2 figures, 9 notes, 72 references