Newman (1972) agreed with the basis of Jacobs ideas but furthered her theory and created what he called his “Defensible Space Theory”. The term defensible space is what Newman used to describe the semi – private spaces around peoples homes, for example, parks, small open spaces, courtyards, gardens etc. These spaces are often claimed by the residents and therefore they will act as they deem necessary to protect that area leading to a reduction of crime in general as there is a form of surveillance in action but petty crime such as vandalism will reduce significantly as the community care enough to prevent this from happening. A boundary even as small as a picket fence on a garden clearly shows ownership of the space and is more likely to deterre a person from crossing that boundary. Newman further suggested that modern developments such as high rise blocks reduce the amount of defensible space and effectively depersonalise them leading to a lack of ownership thus creating a rise is crime and vandalism. Newman then went on to identify three reasons for why he believed that there was a lack of supervision in some urban developments, these included; the high rise apartment blocks having multiple entrances and exits, making it more difficult to create relationships between neighbours thus making it more difficult to monitor who was a stranger in the building so a criminal is unlikely to be identified, the open spaces between the buildings were not owned by the residents and therefore were not monitored making them more attractive to vandals and criminals and the open spaces between the tall buildings were often too narrow to allow effective supervision to take place.
Newman made some recommendations that he believed would increase the quantity of defensible space in modern urban developments, these were; introduce boundaries as this would encourage the residents to take ownership of semi-public spaces, placing windows in strategic places that would allow the residents to monitor the open spaces this would increase natural surveillance in the buildings and to build the new developments so that they were facing the street as this too is a natural form of surveillance and would encourage residents to see what was happening in and around the building and to place the new builds in a low crime area.
Newman backed up his theory when he looked at 100 housing estates in New York and found a negative correlation between the amount of defensible space and crime for example as defensible space decreased the crime rate increased and as the defensible space increased the crime rate decreased. These findings show that Newmans theory had substance to it but does not directly prove that defensible space actually creates a reduction in the crime rates. Newman only proposed the correlation between the two variables existed, he may have overlooked other variables such as whether the buildings in question housed people who were of a poorer status, whether the areas where these buildings were built were poverty stricken, whether there were a large number of children living in the buildings and if there were any activities available for the children to engage in.
The theories mentioned in this essay contribute greatly to the understanding of environmental crime prevention. We can see that some of the steps recommended have been taken and often work. Steps such as visual aids can be seen everyday for example; cctv, neighbourhood watch, house alarms and signs of dogs on premises. It is important to consider other factors such as family life and school life as a reason for criminality rather than just the environmental factor.
As well as looking at the ways in which crime can be prevented, the ways in which the offenders of crime can be treated is explored and will be assessed in this essay. For an offender to be rehabilitated they are regularly required to undertake a treatment program or some type of therapy which can differ accordingly these methods include but are not excluded to; Behaviour modification or Token Economy Programs, Social Skills Training Programs and Anger Management Programs. Behaviour Modification is the use of behaviour change techniques to achieve improved behaviour in the individual concerned, this includes altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative of adaptive behaviour and/or the reduction of through , this is based on Skinners theory of Operant conditioning (1958). A key feature of the behaviour modification programmes is the use of the Token Economy as this is present in the real world. The token economy consists of acting desirabley to earn tokens that can be exchanged for a selection of privileges, if a person was to act in an undesirable way then the tokens are withdrawn and this is a very powerful negative reinforcements especially when used in a prison. Hobbs and Holt (1976) found that the token economy had the desired effects when tested on young male delinquents and compared their findings with a control group of young male delinquents who were not put on to a token economy. It is clear to see that the token economy has many advantages not only to those directly involved but has a positive outcome on society as a whole, this does however raise the question of what disadvantages come with the token economy for example there is a very small amount of evidence to show that the benefits last after release from the institution, a lot of commitment is needed from all involved in order for the token economy to work and can be very difficult to operate correctly in a prison setting due to threats from other inmates, peer pressure applied to the individual and also the fact that there are other reinforcements operating in a prison setting.
Interaction between people is easier when they have the required social skills such as making and maintaining eye contact, being aware of personal space and allowing others to speak during a conversation. Social skills training is a way of improving and developing the offenders interaction skills. The social skills programs are based on two assumptions being that the offender lacks social skills and thus predisposes them to criminal activity and obtaining these social skills will reduce the rates of re-offending. The social skills training program works of the principles of cognitive- behavioural therapy. The program works through different stages of the gaining social skills usually starting with the teaching of Non-verbal skills such as making and maintaining eye contact and working on gestures and postures. The next stage is to work on maintaining a conversation and interacting with members of the opposite sex. Throughout the program the offenders are encouraged to perform and practise their gained skills in a variety of situations. It is evident that having positive social skills will benefit the individual greatly in many situations but the skills learnt are only short term changes and there is no eveidence that would suggest that the benefits last over the longer term, Hollin (1990) stated that social skills training would possibly be good for personal development but not as a cure for crime.
It is clear that the offender treatment programs are a positive aspect of a prisoners life, the treatments such as the token economy make life easier for the prison gaurds which in turn makes life safer for many. The offender treatment programmes are evidentley successful in changing specific behaviours but this appears to be the case only when under controlled conditions such as the prison. There is not much evidence for these programs benefitting the individual upon their release from the institution and therefore they require the individual to actively participate in the program and to practise any new found skills when appropriate. These methods are a better alternative to offering nothing to offenders and some will benefit widely from the treatments given.
