Policies and regulation of crime prevention: contrasting the Anglo-American and Spanish experience
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Law
Abstract
Over the last 30 years politicians and civil servants in the UK and the US have developed a growing concern with crime and its control. This has resulted in the reform of laws and the creation of new public bodies with a remit to prevent crime. It has also changed the way we do social policy. Many authors feel that we have become too obsessed with crime and its control. There are some academics that think that these changes are very widespread and affect, not only the UK and the USA, but also most other industrialised countries. However, we do not really know the historical experiences of these other industrialised countries regarding legal and policy reform on crime prevention. This research aims to focus on the Spanish case to illustrate whether it has also adapted its response to crime in similar ways to those encountered in England and Wales or the USA.
Spain is often discussed as a successful transition from a dictatorship into a modern democracy. Yet we know very little about the development of security policies, the factors that shape them, and the degree to which they have matched international trends. Learning about the Spanish case may give us a better sense of the range of policy choices that are available to us in the UK. For example, the dictatorship past has given Spaniards a very different attitude towards the civil liberties that crime control policies in the UK and the USA often sacrifice for the sake of achieving security. On the other hand, both the UK and the US have devoted a significant amount of their government budgets to testing and experimenting different ideas for crime prevention. In these countries, there is a debate about policy impact that is absent in the Spanish context. Equally Spain is slowly becoming a more diverse country with an economic model increasingly similar to our own. Therefore, a comparison of policy paths taken between Spain, the UK and the USA may be of mutual benefit to politicians and citizens from each of these countries.
To do these comparisons, the author will read the work of Spanish, American and British academics, as well as policy documents from these countries, and consult with policy advisors and other experts. The result of the work will be a book and two journal articles. The author also aims to discuss his results with policy makers and politicians.
Spain is often discussed as a successful transition from a dictatorship into a modern democracy. Yet we know very little about the development of security policies, the factors that shape them, and the degree to which they have matched international trends. Learning about the Spanish case may give us a better sense of the range of policy choices that are available to us in the UK. For example, the dictatorship past has given Spaniards a very different attitude towards the civil liberties that crime control policies in the UK and the USA often sacrifice for the sake of achieving security. On the other hand, both the UK and the US have devoted a significant amount of their government budgets to testing and experimenting different ideas for crime prevention. In these countries, there is a debate about policy impact that is absent in the Spanish context. Equally Spain is slowly becoming a more diverse country with an economic model increasingly similar to our own. Therefore, a comparison of policy paths taken between Spain, the UK and the USA may be of mutual benefit to politicians and citizens from each of these countries.
To do these comparisons, the author will read the work of Spanish, American and British academics, as well as policy documents from these countries, and consult with policy advisors and other experts. The result of the work will be a book and two journal articles. The author also aims to discuss his results with policy makers and politicians.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Juan Medina Ariza (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Medina Ariza J
(2011)
Politicas y estrategias de prevencion del delito y seguridad ciudadana
| Description | This grant was part of the research leave scheme and it was granted to provide the space to write a book monograph about crime prevention policy, contrasting the Anglo-American and Spanish experience. The project identified a series of themes: 1. Despite the expansion of crime prevention as a policy and research field in the Anglo-American context, in Spain this remains an underdeveloped and under-researched area. In political terms crime prevention has tended to be equated with penal policy and the use of deterrence. 2. The institutional growth of psychology as a discipline has shaped developments in this arena. It was the work of psychologists that introduced notions of psychological treatment in correctional settings, adopting many of the ideas coming from Canada, and subsequently expanded into other areas of (secondary) prevention (e.g., parenting programs, bullying prevention programs). 3. The policing environment has remained committed to notions of crime control as the primary explicit rationale. To the degree that more expansive notions of the role of the police have come to be accepted, this has tended to take place within the organisational context of municipal police forces (which have primarily administrative and public order functions) but in a patchy way in locations with exceptionally forward thinking leaders. 4. Urban policy has also neglected issues of crime prevention. This is perhaps one of the areas where there is less evidence of any influence from Anglo-American initiatives or experiences. |
| Exploitation Route | The volume not only provides details about the extent of developments in Spain, but also disseminate information about a variety of schemes, approaches, and crime prevention models that have developed in the Anglo American context. In that sense, it provides Spanish speaking readers with ample information that can be used to explore issues of police transfer in this arena. |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | The monograph was widely distributed not only in Spain, but also across Latin America. In Spain its popularity among academics resulted on the monograph becoming mandatory/recommended reading in all Spanish universities offering criminology degrees. It has been widely cited by all subsequent Spanish publications in this area. It has also reached those practitioners interested in criminal justice reform, with several senior policy advisor in this area suggesting the book has informed their thinking in this arena. |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Guest Talk on "Prevencion y seguridad ciudadana en Espana" at the International Conference on Smart Cities and Crime Prevention |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk generated debate and started a discussion about potential avenues for collaboration. It has eventually contributed to the creation of a google group focused on discussion of environmental crime prevention with academics and practitioners from Spain and Latin America. The activity also sparked some stimulating exposure to the local activities of the local police in Castellon (Spain) which later inspired an application for a succesful Impact Acceleration Account resulting in the replication of Manchester of analysis aimed to provide a more granular mapping of antisocial behaviour. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Inaugural talk for the criminology undergraduate program (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) on crime prevention implementation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards. I was asked to write the talk for publication and use by UG students at the Open University of Catalonya. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Workshop on Crime Prevention and Geography of Crime (Barcelona) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk generated discussion about producing a particular research proposal for funding in Spain. Although plans were made to draft a research proposal for a case study in Barcelona, plans were subsequently abandoned for personal reasons of the lead PI in Barcelona. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |