Has crime prevention gotten out of hand?

(Photo © panyajampatong)

By Claus Rosenkrantz Hansen, CBS Library

Not many leave their front door unlocked when they head to work in the morning. Completely in keeping with recommendations from the Danish Crime Prevention Council people make an effort to thwart burglars as much as possible.

But crime prevention goes far beyond that. People’s health, how courtyards are set up and the colour of stairwells are just a few examples of what the Danish Crime Prevention Council’s efforts involve to curb crime.

But can crime prevention go too far? Professor Christian Borch, Department of Management, Philosophy and Politics, CBS, thinks so. He has just published the book Foucault, Crime and Power: Problematisations of Crime in the Twentieth Century, where he examines our perception of crime in the twentieth century from a historical perspective.

Crime prevention comes at a price
Borch’s analysis shows that, today, when we take aspects of crime and crime prevention efforts as a matter of course, doing so is in reality not that natural. Ideas about criminality arose within a specific historical context; they are conditioned by history. In other words, it does not necessarily have to be the way it is.

According to Borch this conclusion ought to make us question what crime prevention efforts comprise because we forget to consider the accompanying price we pay when things seem obvious or natural.  

“I think the Danish Crime Prevention Council puts far too few limits on its work. The council’s efforts, which are too excessive compared to the issues in question, are beginning to resemble a totalitarian biopolitical endeavour, where intervening in all of life’s aspects is valid in the name of crime prevention. I believe that this development limits people’s freedom, which is why we have to examine how far the council should be allowed to go,” says Borch.

Precautionary response to rising crime
Borch’s book describes how the idea of crime prevention took off around 1970 during a period when crime in Danish society had grown significantly. The aggregate number of crimes reported rose from 126,367 in 1960 to 260,072 in 1970.

This increase let to the perception that crime was changing. Prior to 1970 it was commonly thought that only a few individuals were criminals. After 1970, however, crime became viewed as the norm. You, me, the baker, the bicycle repairer, anyone could turn into a criminal under the right – that is to say – the wrong circumstances.

This development led to the rise of the notion of crime prevention and the Danish Crime Prevention Council was founded in 1971.

“It was no accident that the Danish Crime Prevention Council was established at that time as the crime rate had risen and the mindset on crime that had been prevalent since 1930 was no longer considered as a viable solution to the problem of crime. People felt that the risk of ending as a victim of crime was on the rise, consequently leading to a focus on crime prevention methods,” explains Borch.

And that brings us to today, where we look at not just methods for preventing crime but rather operate based on the principle that more is better. Borch’s historical analysis pushes the boundaries of this perception.

“We need to consider whether the price we pay for how we manage the problem of crime is too high,” says Borch.