VUB University Press Social Crime Prevention in Late Modern Europe: A Comparative Perspective (Criminological Studies)

Preventing crime possibly consists of a wide array of techniques and practices inspired by various underlying theories of crime and crime reduction. Situational crime prevention (aiming at opportunity reduction) is probably the most widespread model of crime prevention across late modern Europe but also a highly debated one. How about alternative models of crime prevention? During the 1990s social crime prevention―aiming at addressing the root causes of crime―was an important inspiring concept in crime prevention discourse, policy and professional practice in many Western European countries. Does this hold true for the first decade of the 21st century? Some of the other questions explored in this volume include: Is social crime prevention still a central concept in European scientific discourse? Is there in the recent developments of prevention, safety and security policies in Europe still a place for social crime prevention? Which kind of social causes of crime are actually tackled in social crime prevention? How did professionals committed to social crime prevention react to the recent changes affecting the welfare state? Are we confronted with the same trends in different European countries or can we detect some similarities and differences between the countries? The answers are provided through the contributions of leading experts from twelve countries of Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern Europe.