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A Social Strategy for Crime Prevention in Canada
(Executive Summary)
CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ASSOCIATION
in association with
The Canadian Council on Social Development
The Canadian Council on Children and Youth
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The National Association of Friendship Centres
Ottawa, August 1989
WHY A STRATEGY?
Safety in our homes and on our streets is a vital part of the quality of Canadian life. The relative safety of our major cities is part of our national identity.
However, more must be done to make our communities safe. Reported levels of crime have been substantially higher in the 80's than in the 1960's and early 1970's. Action is needed urgently to reduce those levels of crime. While law enforcement and physical protection must be a part of that action, we must go further by strengthening those strategies that tackle the social situations that breed crime.
The Canadian Criminal Justice Association has mapped out such a strategy in "Safer Communities: A Social Strategy for Crime Prevention in Canada", highlights of which will be set out below. This was developed in association with five major national organizations concerned with policing, social development, children and youth, natives, and municipalities.
The strategy calls for different orders of government, police, citizens, voluntary organizations, and private enterprise all to take responsibility. It calls for targeted improvements in social services, housing, education, employment, and race relations to make Canadian communities safer. It stresses the need for greater coordination of the delivery of social development programs at the community level.
The strategy is inspired by an accumulation of long term research - some of which has taken place in Canada - which has linked specific social experiences in early childhood, school and adolescence with persistent delinquency. This longitudinal research follows the development of infants from early childhood through adolescence to adulthood.
The social strategy is also inspired by recent developments in Europe, where Prime Ministers have made new commitments to make communities safer. France, for instance, has established national and municipal structures which are designed to prevent crime by attacking many of the social experiences associated with persistent delinquency through collegial action coordinating housing, social services, police, schools, and voluntary agencies.
WHY DO PEOPLE TURN TO CRIME?
Research has identified many factors associated with crime. Some of these suggest that certain routine activities of Canadians may be associated with greater risk of being a crime victim. Using this knowledge, we may protect some Canadians from those offenders who are tempted into the occasional offence. However, this only displaces some persistent offenders to another victim.
Longitudinal studies of child and personal development have identified some of the factors associated with this "persistent" delinquency. It is clear that persons involved in a wide range of different crimes, particularly personal threat to other persons, are more often young males born into economically disadvantaged situations. Further, there is a sub-group of such males who are responsible for most offences committed by such males. This sub-group tends to have experienced inconsistent and uncaring parenting, difficulties in school, and a lack of positive friends. These disadvantaging experiences tend to be particularly frequent for Native Canadians.
It is these same life experiences that predispose Canadians to excessive drinking and use of illicit drugs, which may increase the nature of their involvement in crime. Though the precise importance of such factors as diet or violence on television is not known, these are unlikely to be as important to crime as the early and adolescent social experiences identified in the longitudinal studies.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN CANADA?
All these experiences can be affected in whole or in part through focused and targeted social policy and programs. Hence, the strategy makes recommendations for improvements in programs such as:
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PARENTS AND FAMILIES: Financial independence and self esteem for disadvantaged parents; family support services and crisis intervention; enriched child care; positive parenting; sex education in schools; positive media programming on parenting.
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SCHOOLS: Early identification of behavioral problems; remedial programs; life skills; positive peer pressure; programs that involve the student.
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SOCIAL HOUSING AND NEIGHBOURHOODS: Integration of social housing into market housing; involvement of disadvantaged residents in the community; accessability of services needed by the disadvantaged.
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EMPLOYMENT FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH: Employment preparation; protected opportunities to acquire skills. |
WHO SHOULD DO IT?
As all Canadians have a stake in safe communities, all Canadians must play their role where necessary. Set out below are the types of responsibilities that must be taken by different orders of government, voluntary associations, private enterprise, and individual citizens focused on the social situations that breed crime.
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THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: National leadership; creation of a National Crime Prevention Council; safer communities as a priority of departments concerned with issues such as child welfare, drug abuse, housing, race relations, citizenship, youth employment, and policing; inter-ministerial coordination; research and development; public education; support Native communities own systems of maintaining peace; increase the availability of preventive and support services for Natives.
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| B. |
PROVINCIAL AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT: Provincial/Territorial leadership; creation of structures to promote safer communities; safer communities as a priority of departments concerned with issues such as health, education, leisure, social services; education and training; increase the availability of preventive and support services for Natives.
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MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT: Community leadership; integration of the inter-sectoral and inter-governmental strategies into a community whole; analysis of the nature of their crime problem, followed by collegial action.
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POLICE: Support and cooperation; sharing of planning data; avoiding increasing fear.
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VOLUNTARY AGENCIES: Advocacy, policy development; public education.
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PRIVATE ENTERPRISE: Education on the importance of safer communities to quality of life and economic development; protected job opportunities; financial support.
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CITIZENS: Volunteer to assist fellow Canadians; public education. |
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Our strategy will require a concerted effort at all levels of government. It will require time and commitment from many professionals and volunteers in dozens of fields. What it will require mainly is the maintenance of currently successful social programs, the reallocation of certain human and financial resources toward redefined objectives and perhaps a small additional investment to achieve these objectives.
We owe it to ourselves and our quality of life in Canada to make our communities as safe as they can be. The Canadian Criminal Justice Association strongly believes in this approach and invites governments, institutions and the public to join in a collective effort to make it happen.
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