Organised Crime & Crime Prevention - what works? - Scandinavian ...

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NSfK´s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 improved, or the failure is attributed to society (or to discrimination) which results in the individual questioning the legitimacy of system thereby reducing his sentiment. ”The democratic ideology of equality of opportunity creates constant pressure for formal criteria of evaluation that are universalistic rather than particularistic, achieved rather than ascribed-that is, for a structure of opportunities that are available to all on an open competitive basis rather than the proprietory right of a select group and that are achieved by one’s own effort rather than acquired by the mere fact of birth into a particular race, religion, social class or family.”(ibid p.119). ”Yet there are often significant discrepancies between the criteria which should and those which do control social evaluations. Even in a democratic society, for example, where the dominant ideology stresses criteria based on social equality, talent, skill, knowledge, and achivement, many competitive selections and judgments take account of such nonuniversalistic criteria as race, religion, family prestige, wealth, social class, and personal friendship.”(ibid p.115) The level of strain a person perceives has effects on his choice of routine activities and lifestyle as well as on his long-term crime potential or Propensity. 1.3.1 Propensity The individual’s propensity to make criminal choices is a combination of the degree of selfcontrol that the individual is able to exercise, and, his or her readiness to utilize rationalization techniques for self-justification of criminal behavior. Individual propensity is the grand total of a persons conscience and the strain under which he or she lives. An individuals propensity to commit crimes does change over time, but is relatively stable in relation to others of the same age cohort. Gottfredson & Hirschi (1990) ascribe stable individual differences in criminal behavior to self-control (p.87). They mention six elements of self-control, of which four are either irrelevant or subcomponents to the two remaining, that low self-control facilitates immediate and simple gratification of needs and desires. Rationalization techniques are self-justifications for breaking the rules that;”is based on what is essentially an unrecognized extension of defenses to crimes, in the form of justifications for deviance that are seen as valid by the delinquent but not by the legal system or society at large.”(Sykes & Matza 1957 p.666) Rationalization precedes deviant behavior, thus making it possible. A person with a low level of self-control and a high readiness to apply neutralization techniques will have a very high propensity to make criminal choices. However, we should note that this box of the model presupposes that;”If the deviant is committed to a value system different from that of conventional society, there is, within the context of the theory, (this box) nothing to explain.” (Hirschi 1974 p.23). 186
NSfK´s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 Figure 4 Motivational and Situational Drives 1.3.2 Routine Activities versus Lifestyle Routine activity is influenced by the level of strain, and in part by the propensity to pursue immediate satisfaction of desires, which is closely linked to the propensity to make criminal choices. The level of self-control (or ability to delay or divert gratification) plays an impotent part in explaining what kind of lifestyle, as well as what kind of activities a person, regardless of lifestyle, is likely to carry out. Routine activity is defined as any activity repeated with some regularity. Driving a car is a routine activity, being involved in a car crash is not. Usual routine activities are working, commuting, sleeping, watching television, dining out, etcetera. The reason for including what some would label a ’non-activity’, sleeping in the concept is it being the best example of the observation that;”The assumption, widely shared, is that a person can be simply too busy doing conventional things to find time to engage in deviant behavior.”(Hirschi 1974 p.22) In contrast, lifestyle is a set of personal preferences that effect the qualitative content of routine activities, home furnishing style etcetera. Going to a bar, or to the cinema is a routine activity, as opposed to the the choice of what to wear, choice of bar/film to see, or who to go with, and individual interaction pattern on the selected location(s) which are expressions of lifestyle. An individual involved in a lifestyle that also attracts crime-prone individuals is more exposed to crime opportunities than other individuals, and therefore more likely to commit crimes as well as to be victimized by others. Routine activity and lifestyle strongly influence the creation of situations in which the individual finds herself/himself. 1.3.3 Situation The lifestyle and routine activities of the individual has a strong impact on the situations in which the individual finds himself. This model’s concept of situation has been strongly influenced by Ekblom (1994). A situation consists of a) a place, b) the presence or absence of at least one potential offender and a crime target (object or person), and c) of modulators. 187
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Organised Crime & Crime Prevention
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Rådsmedlemmer: Flemming Balvig, Da
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