Getting a Handle on Street Violence: Using Environmental Criminology to Understand and Prevent Repeat Offender Problems
Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Environmental criminology suggests that crime problems can be conceptualized as problems of repeat victims, repeat offenders, or repeat places of crime.There have been considerable theoretical and empirical developments in environmental criminology to examine problems of repeat victimization and repeat places of crime.Repeat offender problems, however, have received less attention within this paradigm.In particular, the application of handlers to serious repeat offender problems has been neglected.This dissertation explores whether environmental criminology and handlers can be used to explain and prevent serious repeat offending problems.To address this, a model of handler effectiveness is proposed to identify the characteristics which influence the likelihood of crime prevention through handling.This model is then used to explore the possibility of using handlers to control a specific crime problem, street group violence.In addition, the implications of engaging handlers as a crime prevention strategy are discussed.Specifically, hypotheses are proposed regarding the circumstances under which displacement and diffusion of benefits are most likely to occur.The ethical implications of engaging handlers through encouragement and coercion are explored, and a set of ethical guidelines are proposed.Various methodological issues associated with studying handlers are also discussed.In closing, this dissertation examines how the concept of handling relates to other criminological theories, and suggests future directions for research in environmental criminology.iii
Author: Marie Skubak Tillyer
Institution: University of Cincinnati
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: University of Cincinnati
OpenAlex ID: W2601174222