Value for money? A review of the costs and benefits of situational crime prevention
In recent years, in the United Kingdom and other industrialized countries, there has been a growing interest in the economic costs and benefits of efforts to prevent crime. Little is known, however, about the economic value of the principal strategies. This paper reviews the costs and benefits of si...
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1999
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| In: |
The British journal of criminology
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Availability in Tübingen: | Present in Tübingen. IFK: In: Z 7 |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | In recent years, in the United Kingdom and other industrialized countries, there has been a growing interest in the economic costs and benefits of efforts to prevent crime. Little is known, however, about the economic value of the principal strategies. This paper reviews the costs and benefits of situational crime prevention. Thirteen situational crime prevention studies permitted the calculation of benefit to cost ratios, enabling an assessment of programme efficiency. In general, benefits were calculated more conservatively than costs. There were no consistent relationships between the studies' benefit-cost ratios and either the primary intervention technique employed or the primary crime targeted by the intervention. Current knowledge suggests that situational prevention can be an economically efficient strategy for the reduction of crime. However, future evaluations need better designs, more adequate estimates of costs and benefits and longer follow-up periods |
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| ISSN: | 0007-0955 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/bjc/39.3.345 |