Introduction
Over the past few years, crime has greatly increased in society, particularly among young people. However, the American government has made an effort to develop policies in an effort to lessen crime in the nation. Enhancing education can be used as a key policy instrument in reducing crime because it has advantageous social and economic effects. It should be highlighted that criminal behavior is highly influenced by inadequate education, particularly in the area of law. Thus, it is crucial to improve education and training across society, which will in turn heighten social development and result in a drop in crime. Effective CPSD usually involves the implementation of programs which comprise a combination of risk factors.
Promoting Social Development
Promoting the well-being of children and youths through education, health, and social measures hugely impact positively on their social life. The intention of social development is to increase positive motivations, behavior, and aptitudes in individuals. This is because social development influences specific areas of a person’s life such as education, family life, recreation, housing, and employment. Therefore, the CPSD programs need to be coordinated in such a way that they can provide multiple solutions to multiple problems. Many scholars and researchers agree that among the many measures of reducing crime, education is the best option. Education involves enlightening the youths on the likely outcome of participating in criminal activities. In this regard, a CPSD program should target a specific group, coordinated through collaboration with other initiatives and accessible to the intended user (Hawkins et al., 2005).
Risk Factors and Crime
During the process of CPSD implementation of specific programs, it is essential to understand which underlying factors or risk contribute to crimes. Risk factors which usually lead to the development of anti-social behavior are connected to elements of exposure and influence. Also, it’s the combination of factors rather than an individual factor that contributes to criminal behavior. Therefore, factors such as age, poverty, race, gender, unemployment, poor parenting, history of family violence, negative peer influence, and substance abuse contribute mainly to crime. According to Jamieson (2008), it is vital for a community as a whole to engage in strategies that lead to a reduction of various crimes.
Strategies for Crime Prevention
Through social development, it is possible to come up with strategies and projects that can help reduce crime cases. Such policies include education and raising awareness of various crimes. In collaboration with service providers in the community, it is possible to educate the youths on the consequences of crimes and manner in which they can become more productive and earn a living. Also, crimes may be prevented by providing counseling centers, rehabilitation facilities and parenting classes especially for the pregnant teenagers in the society. Anti-crime agencies should as well offer more employment to the youths, involve the society in fighting crimes, provide anti-crime services to victims and strengthen families in times of difficulty (Kelly, Caputo & Jamieson, 2005). Moreover, one of the main aims of the CPSD is to offer employment opportunities in the society while providing better social services.
Personal Opinions
The fundamental role of CPSD involves achieving a secure society for all. Through the implementation of policies, programs, and social support, it can prevent the occurrence of crimes by dealing with factors that contribute significantly to victimization and crime. CPSD concentrates typically on secondary preventive measures. However, in my opinion, it would be better if CPSD incorporates primary precautionary steps so that the likelihood of the occurrence of a crime can be avoided.
Importance of Community Development
It should be noted that not only do kids and youths from poor backgrounds engage in criminal activities, but also those from well-off families are mostly charged with drug trafficking and money laundry. Therefore, this small fraction should not be ignored, and awareness should be spread to all corners of the society. I would also suggest community development and empowerment as it would play a key role in pushing for projects and policies aimed at crime prevention.
Building a Strong Community
The community builds itself through rebuilding and re-strengthening by using problem-solving models. I believe by becoming each brother’s keeper; it is easier to correct one another appropriately and hence mitigate the possibility of criminal lifestyles. I also believe if we become friends to such youths who participate in criminal activities, we can change their behavior eventually by educating them on the negative impacts of their actions. Programs like citizen patrols within the society would play a huge role in decreasing the chances of a crime and hence make the community a desirable place to live (Vallée, 2010).
Understanding the Causes of Crime
In designing a CPSD program, it is vital to understand that an existence of a risk factor certainly does not lead to a criminal action. For instance, one of the risk factors for crime is poverty. But, in my opinion, poverty cannot be described as a cause of crime. This is because we would expect that most of the prisons globally have a high percentage of women compared to men, but this is not the case. It is known that women face more poverty challenges than men and especially for the single parents. Therefore, since a small portion of the poor women population commits crimes; then poverty should not be associated with criminal activities.
Moreover, the existence of white collar crimes such as embezzlement of funds and computer frauds suggest that the crimes can be committed by the rich in the society ruling out the sole association of crime with poverty. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the distinction between the causes and influences of crimes. For example, the notion that children from poor backgrounds have a high probability of engaging in unlawful activities is entirely inaccurate. Some of these children may be influenced by their social background and not poverty. In this regard, it is worth noting that not all kids from poor backgrounds engage in unruly activities, in fact, some are very responsible. For effective implementation of CPSD initiative, it is essential for the various risk factors to be considered; since in some instances, there may be a non-linear relationship between the risk factor and crime rates.
Conclusion
CPSD is a pro-active and long-term concept that prevents the occurrence of crimes. It is essential to understand that crime does not originate from a single cause but rather from multiple risk factors. Therefore, it’s up to the community to implement appropriate policies and programs that aim at preventing and curbing possible criminal activities.
References
Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R. F., Hill, K. G., & Abbott, R. D. (2005). Promoting positive adult functioning through social development intervention in childhood: Long-term effects from the Seattle Social Development Project. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 159(1), 25-31.
Jamieson, W. (2008). Factors related to successful mobilization of communities for crime prevention. IPC Review, 2, 11-33.
Kelly, K. D., Caputo, T., & Jamieson, W. (2005). Reconsidering sustainability: some implications for community-based crime prevention. Critical social policy, 25(3), 306-324.
Vallée, M. (2010). Crime prevention and community safety: A conceptual overview. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 1(1), 1-20.
