The development of rational models of crime prevention: A critique of the situationist commonsense in rural contexts

• In Event: Roundtable: Rural Crime Prevention: Theory, Tactics and Techniques

Abstract

This paper traces the theoretical origins of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, Situational Crime Prevention and other modalities of crime prevention linked broadly to the Rational Choice Theory. It considers the global spread of these ideas and their particular prominence in the Anglophone world. The rationalities and technologies of CPTED and related models have a problematic relationship with rural communities given the hardened nature of the urban context where there is an emphasis on the ‘built environment’. We develop a case study from rural Ireland to discuss the way in which usage of recent technologies such as SMS alerts, WhatsApp and social media are being adopted to widen ‘guardianship’ in rural areas. We develop a critique of the dominant rational choice model with reference to two concepts: (i) Garland's (2001) observations on 'responsibilzation', the ways in which citizens are being asked to take responsibility for own security, while public policing services are withdrawn; and (ii) Bourdieu's concept of doxa or accepted commonsense, to explore how a situationist doxa takes hold. We critically examine the way in which SCP, CPTED and RAT are practically accommodated rather than fully embraced in local contexts.

Authors

• Matt Bowden, Dublin Institute of Technology

• Artur Pytlarz, Dublin Institute of Technology