Social crime prevention in late modern Europe a comparative perspective

Abstract

During the 1990s social crime prevention (aiming at addressing the root causes of crime) was an important inspiring concept in crime prevention discourse, policy and professional practice in many Western European countries. Does this hold true for the first decade of the 21st century ? Is social crime prevention still a central concept in European scientific discourse ? Is there in the recent developments of prevention, safety and security policies in Europe still a place for social crime prevention ? Which kind of social causes of crime are actually tackled in social crime prevention ? How did professionals committed to social crime prevention react to the recent changes affecting the welfare state ? Are we confronted with the same trends in different European countries or can we detect some similarities and differences between the countries? These are some of the questions explored in this volume through the contributions of leading experts from twelve countries of Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern Europe. Furthermore the editors draw some comparative lines regarding the evolution of social crime prevention discourses, policies and practices across the twelve countries.