Reclaiming crime prevention in an age of punishment: An American history

Abstract

Crime prevention has long figured prominently in the scholarly and applied traditions of criminology. Using a socio-historical approach, this article examines the developments of and influences on the concept of crime prevention in the USA over the last century. We argue that crime prevention is a unique social and environmental strategy for reducing crime and is distinct from crime control or punishment. Prevention’s main characteristics include a focus on intervening in the first instance – before a crime has been committed – and operating outside of the formal justice system. The historical record of the scholarship and practice of crime prevention in the USA embraces this view. A more current perspective sees crime prevention as the full range of techniques, from prenatal home visits to prison sentences, defined more by its outcome – the prevention of a future criminal event – than its character or approach. A return to the original meaning of prevention is considered.