Refocusing crime prevention

by Steve Schneider

"In Refocusing Crime Prevention Stephen Schneider explores the capacity of disadvantaged neighbourhoods to organize around issues related to local crime and disorder. He identifies obstacles to community mobilization, many of which are strongly related to demographic and socio-psychological factors, including low socio-economic status and a lack of local social integration. Other obstacles stem from weaknesses in program implementation, such as inappropriate or ineffectual community outreach and communications, a lack of resources, and leadership voids. Many of these barriers flow from broader structural forces, including political and economic conditions that contribute to the concentration of poverty, crime, and apathy in certain areas; a culture of pervasive individualism; and a reliance on the welfare state for solving social problems. Based on extensive ethnographic research, Refocusing Crime Prevention identifies and critically examines the many factors that obstruct public parti