Abstract
Fieldwork in the inner-Sydney postcode area of Glebe (New South Wales, Australia) sought to understand how local community workers conceptualise crime causation and the approaches adopted to prevent crime. Observation of more than 30 inter-agency meetings, 15 interviews and two focus groups with diverse local workers revealed that social-welfare or ‘root’ causes of crime were central to explanations of local crime. Numerous crime prevention measures in the area respond directly to these understandings of crime (a youth diversion program on Friday and Saturday evenings, an alternative education program, a police-youth exercise program, and so on). While other more surveillant forms of crime prevention were evident, the findings of this research suggest a significant social-welfare orientation to crime prevention. These findings echo Brown’s (2012) observations of the resilience of penal-welfarism in Australia.
Highlights
Brown (2012) observed that:... at least in the Australian context, and I suspect elsewhere, conversations with frontline criminal justice workers ... often quickly turn to the material force of the social and economic determinants of crime, albeit not in the exact same terms
Research was conducted over an 18-month period in Glebe, a densely populated inner city suburb of Sydney (New South Wales, Australia)
Local Government Area (LGA) is the geographical marker that is often used for crime prevention planning purposes
Summary
Brown (2012) observed that:... at least in the Australian context, and I suspect elsewhere, conversations with frontline criminal justice workers ... often quickly turn to the material force of the social and economic determinants of crime, albeit not in the exact same terms. This article explores, through the use of a local case study, explanations of crime and the responses to local crime by workers directly engaged in or indirectly contributing to the delivery of programs that seek to prevent crime. In focusing on the perspectives of workers engaged directly or indirectly in localised crime prevention initiatives, it will be possible to determine of Brown’s comments apply more broadly to this group of practitioners. Local Government Area (LGA) is the geographical marker that is often used for crime prevention planning (and other service delivery) purposes. I argue that the often vast areas covered by LGAs are too large for useful analysis of crime and understanding of crime prevention activities
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