Appeals to community and crime prevention

Abstract

This paper considers the growing appeals to the idea of “community” in criminal justice policy and the involvement of actual “communities” in criminal justice initiatives. It draws on a completed two year research study of a number of community-based crime prevention initiatives in the South East of England. The paper considers the nature of “community” to which appeals are made in criminal justice discourse and policies, the contribution of “community” to the practices of social order and the nature of “community representation” and participation in crime prevention initiatives. It is argued that appeals to “community” in crime prevention, and crime control more generally, embody shifts in what constitutes the legitimate responsibilities of individuals, collectivities and the state. This has a number of implications, the first of which is a redrawing of the cost of policing and security services. Additionally, there is an associated shift in blame for failure. Finally, actual “community” involvement in crime control gives rise to new structures and forms of local governance that evoke key questions about the regulation of social relations, the nature of conflict resolution, citizenship, democracy and social justice.