Where Now for European Social Democracy? - Policy Network

88WHERE NOW FOR EUROPEAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY?not least, the general public are called upon. First of all, preventionmust be accomplished locally, that is, in the community. Family, preschool,school, and the living environment all play an important role,as do social support services such as youth welfare services, generalsocial services, and the activities of charitable organisations. Children,for example, must be taught values and have boundaries demonstratedin pre-school and in school. Free time possibilities and involving youthin sport associations are also important topics. Similarly, preventionplays a role through technological means – it affects the externalconditions of possible criminal environments and is therefore aimed atreducing opportunities for crime or making the commission of thecrime more difficult – for example, through security locks or electronicimmobilizers for automobiles. Industry can also contribute toprevention here.In the Federal Republic of Germany we are happy to see that crimeprevention is becoming increasingly more important. Of particularimportance is working across areas of responsibility to aggregate strengthsand to utilise, network, and distribute accumulated knowledge.The state can and must also contribute to prevention. This isprimarily through the solving of crimes – because this also haspreventative effects. A high proportion of solved crimes is a greaterdeterrent than the threat of punishment. Severe punishments are nota universal tool of deterrence. Countries in which they are used oftenhave crime rates that are many times higher than in Germany. Thisapplies, for example, to the USA, where a significantly higherpercentage of the population serves prison sentences and where thepenal system as a rule is much more severe than in Germany. Thereflexive demand for harsher punishment is, thus, not target-oriented.Another important point: the punishment must take place quickly.The more time between the offence and the punishment, the moredifficult it is to have an effect on the offender by means of criminallaw. Particularly in the area of criminal law relating to juvenileoffenders, which is influenced by the notion of education, swiftpunishment for the offence remains significant today.Also the possibility of a suspension of the prison sentence whilegranting probation can have an overall preventative effect in