What Are The Three Levels Of Crime Prevention?

Many national plans on public safety and security now include crime prevention as an essential component. The concept of prevention is based on the idea that various fundamental variables influence crime and victimization. So how to prevent crime, and what are the possible reasons for people going against the laws.

Various causes and circumstances that impact the lives of individuals and families as they grow up and the local surroundings and conditions all push an individual towards wrong-doing. People must be aware of how to stop crime and the possible crime prevention programs to make the implementation of these programs more accessible.

What Is Crime Prevention?

Crime prevention is the duty of contemporary society to prevent crime at a preliminary phase or even before it occurs. An attempt to prevent crime is made in all state and federal areas.

All governmental and private initiatives, including programs and preventative measures that address crime as a phenomenon occurring in society or an individual occurrence, try to minimize or decrease the risk.

Adverse consequences include mental, physiological, or financial effects and the terror of crime, particularly the phobia of being a target. Policies to reduce crime are implemented to ensure that all the individuals living in a society are safe and can live with honor and freedom.

Variables Associated With Crime

Identifying the variables linked with various forms of crime can establish a set of policies and programs to modify those causes and prevent or reduce crimes. These underlying or causal factors are frequently referred to as risk factors.

They involve global problems and opportunities that affect the socio-economic conditions of the globe, parameters influencing individual nations, surrounding provinces, neighborhoods, and those affecting individuals.

Effective crime prevention programs are of significant importance in the context of the security cycle as it covers state institutions and non -profit organizations. These programs typically involve the research, identification, and consequences of a crime on the environment and the people.

Three Levels Of Crime Prevention:

Crime prevention may be divided into three phases or levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

Primary Crime Prevention

Primary crime prevention aims to eliminate a problem before it occurs. It could necessarily involve:

limiting possibilities for criminal activity;
enhancing community and social frameworks
Primary prevention deals with social and situational variables.

Social crime prevention tries to target variables that impact an individual’s risk of breaking the law, such as poverty and unemployment, bad health, and poor educational achievement.

School-based programs and community-based programs (for example, local residencies) are examples of prevention. (For example, resident action organizations that encourage mutually shared investment and management and crime prevention security systems)

The environment is addressed through situational crime prevention.

Secondary Crime Prevention

The secondary level aims to transform people, usually those at high risk of being involved in criminal activity. The following topics may be highlighted:

Early interventions that are both quick and successful (for example, youth programs);
areas of high risk (for example, neighborhood dispute centers).

Tertiary Crime Prevention

The third and last level of crime prevention is concerned with the operation of the criminal justice system and offending after it has occurred. The primary emphasis is to keep a constant check on the lives of known criminals to ensure they don’t get involved in any crime again.

Community youth conferencing systems, incapacity, and individual deterrence through community-based punishments and therapeutic interventions are a few examples.

Fig 2: Public Health Prevention model

This simple concept for crime prevention has undergone several modifications and adjustments. The three stages of prevention are frequently subdivided into four sub-categories and five different strategies discussed below.

Types Of Crimes:

There are many different types of crime prevalent in the community. They may occur on a small or large scale; however, whatever the means or causes, they must be addressed promptly to maintain law and order.

Verbal Abuse

Verbal Abuse represents the use of aggressive and vulgar language to someone and harshly insulting them. Abuse of this nature causes psychological trauma to the victim. Domestic violence is common in families, as well as in society and public spaces.

To avoid this type of crime, a person who frequently verbally abuses is given an explanation and warning not to do so. Make him clear that if he doesn’t stop hi lose communication terms, then people stop interacting with him.

Physical Abuse

When an individual is abused by causing physical injury, this is referred to as physical Abuse. It is done by beating, shoving, punching, or hurling items at the individual to injure him. Physical Abuse is mainly experienced by vulnerable groups of people who are unable to speak up for themselves.

These people include domestic helpers who come from impoverished families and migrate to cities searching for work. Especially children who are frequently physically abused by their step-parents and other people.

Theft

The activities such as theft, burglary, robbery, and shoplifting are all discussed under this kind of crime. In this situation, the individual is generally exposed to the criminal court system. When people are involved in theft cases, there are a variety of reasons for this.

For example, if a person is inadequate and does not have food to eat, he would take food to fulfill his hunger.

It is essential to implement some infrastructure changes. For example, proper street lighting, regulating access to buildings, reducing traffic and pedestrian movement, and segregating residential spaces into recognizable zones to avoid theft.

Murder

Murder or killing someone is a crime that is uncommon in society, but the number of murder cases increases in the past few years. People commit murder mostly when they are out of sentiments of fury, anger, and resentment. There have been cases where domestic assistants or employees have been engaged in the murder of their employers.

It has happened inside the family. Where couples murder one other, parents murder their children or vice versa.

As a result, this illegal conduct occurs between known and unknown persons; there is a high incidence of this crime, which often submits an individual to the criminal court system.

Sexual Harassment

Harassment occurs when people torment, irritate or annoy others. Men in society frequently harass and annoy women. In this situation, victims either seek criminal justice or warn males who engage in such actions.

Harassment is a crime that most women face from vulnerable and educationally backward parts of society.

Crime Prevention Strategies:

Crime prevention security systems comprise various strategies used by people, communities, companies, and non-governmental organizations to address different social and environmental issues. The following are the many types of crime prevention strategies:

Environmental Crime Prevention

This kind of strategy covers both contextual and long-term planning activities. The primary goal is to effect adjustments and modifications to the environment to reduce crime possibilities. The techniques focus on recognizing, influencing, and regulating the situational or environmental elements contributing to crime’s incidence.

For example, there is a community prone to thieving and theft. Thus, in this situation, street lighting and locks and alarms, and the presence of a security guard should be provided.

Social Crime Prevention

Social crime prevention techniques are generally time intensive in delivering the intended results. It may include actions to enhance health, housing, and educational outcomes and increase community solidarity through community development.

The primary goal of social crime prevention is to devise specific methods and procedures that will improve persons’ social living situations. Education, for example, provides individuals with knowledge and information to help them avoid crime and pursue the path of justice and truth.

Urban Design and Planning

Developing methods for transforming the built environment to produce safer areas that are less vulnerable to crime or make people feel comfortable all come under this strategy.

The significant issues are creating public spaces to promote big crowds and enable more natural investigation or building thorough pedestrian fares that are well-lit and have no locations for prospective criminals to hide.

Developmental Crime Prevention

The concept of acting early in a young person’s development can result in considerable long-term social and economic advantages. The primary goal of developmental crime prevention is to engage in an improved lifestyle, not to become involved in any criminal activities.

There have been situations where individuals become involved in illegal actions at a young age; hence, they must follow the appropriate route and not offend others.

Community Development

Changing the physical or social organization of a community may influence the people who live there. The chance of becoming engaged in crime or violence or being ill-treated is higher in societies that practice high levels of social elimination or where social solidarity is lacking.

It is also evident that crime in a specific community is not only or entirely the consequence of a small number of inclined individuals, which is why the community development strategy is vital. The growth of a community includes developing areas such as education, employment, resource supply, health care, public facilities, etc.

Conclusion:

There is no one best solution to stop crime, but a well-planned strategy will balance and employ various measures to address specific crime and victimization issues in the short and long term.

A plan of this type will address the demands of all segments of society without increasing the social or economic marginalization of specific groups. It will encourage respect for the rule of law. CWP

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