crime and community psychology

 

When a person is caught stealing or committing other crimes  it is assumed rather quickly to be the work of their personality or nature but what we usually tend to overlook is that social situations play an important role in determining the likelihood of a certain action being taken. For example, if you see a woman giving money to a homeless person you would attribute that action to her altruistic personality; but what if she was only doing that to impress her boss who was standing across the street? In the same manner; criminals are not born evil, it is their situation or environment that makes them act that way.

What is community psychology and how is it related to crime?

Community psychology focuses on the inter relationship between communities and the individuals within it; its aim is to improve the quality of life by promoting social justice and preventing social problems. Criminal activity has a tremendous impact on the well-being of a certain community. It increases the overall level of stress among individuals and decreases the feeling of safety and comfort within the environment which in-turn has an impact on the community as a whole. Since crime hinders the functioning of a community, this field of  psychology strives to prevent it and mitigate the damages caused by it. Through this blog we will explore the different roles of community psychology in relation to crime.

Roots of criminal activity

Before delving directly into prevention, community psychology aims to understand the reasons behind an individual engaging in criminal activity which helps in eradicating the problem directly from its roots. Several causes like unequal employment, economic conditions, substance abuse, increased urbanisation etc have been found as motives to commit crime. It is a mixture of social, psychological, economical and cultural factors that drive a person to indulge in criminal activity which further strengthens the belief that no one is born a criminal, rather circumstances force them into becoming one.

Residential block designs and crime

You may have noticed that crimes often occur in places that seem to be in a disordered state;for example you would expect pickpockets to occur in an area which is poorly maintained or has dirty pathways. Neighbourhoods that have proper lighting, several well-maintained residential buildings would typically have a lower crime rate. The broken window theory suggests the same and reports that disorder breeds more crime. As criminals evaluate the setting of an area before committing a crime they often look at vulnerabilities like poor lighting, accessibility and visibility; thus the focus of community psychology is to build better neighbourhoods by encouraging individuals to preserve their built environment and planning areas in a way that discourage the possibility of criminal activity. Here, an amalgamation of community and environmental psychology comes into play to reduce the rate of crime in a particular block.

Prevention is better than cure

We repeatedly say that humans are social animals, by which we mean that humans cannot exist without social connections and if they tend to live in isolation there are high chances for them to develop such criminal tendencies. Social cohesion is an important aspect of community psychology which ensures that people who have a sense of commonality, emotional attachment, and information exchange within their community are less likely to engage in criminal activities. In addition to that, developing a sense of community aids in fulfilment of basic emotional needs of humans which in turn provides them with a sense of security and safety. Community psychologists have emphasised on the sense of community  repeatedly, as it gives people a purpose to live their lives and provide them with a safety net to lean on. Every community follows its own norms, laws, mores and traditions which the individuals within are expected to conform to and the fear of isolation or social rejection which they might face in a time of non-conformity may also abate the chances of them committing a crime.

Criminal intervention

Criminal ideation often starts right around the time of adolescence; it might be due to peer pressure, struggle with social identity or social environment around an individual during this stage.So what do we understand by the term intervention? Have  you ever thought of doing something irrational and somehow your mother asked you not to indulge in the exact same thing? Well, that is exactly what intervention is. It is when someone stops you from doing something that you will end up regretting later (you know how in ‘how I met your mother’ they conducted interventions for everyone!). Intervention typically should take place at the very beginning of a problem to avoid it from turning into a bigger problem. Hence a researcher held interventions with high school bullies to reduce such mis-conducive behaviour which were also proved to be successful later on. Community psychology aims to implement the same by recognizing early signs of criminal behaviour and remediating it immediately to avoid further conflict. 

In conclusion, community psychology is an interdisciplinary field and plays an important role in crime prevention and understanding. Moreover, it is a field which needs to be explored more and has unlimited potential. Crime is a pervasive aspect of a community or society and community psychology deals with the aftershock of the same by maintaining community resilience and solidarity. In the end your social net is all you have got as a human.

References

• https://www.britannica.com/science/criminology/Major-concepts-and-theories

• https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community-a-definition-and-theory

•  Greenberg, S.W., Rohe, W.M. & Williams, J.R. Safety in urban neighbourhoods: A comparison of physical characteristics and informal territorial control in high and low crime neighbourhoods. Popul Environ 5, 141–165 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01257054

• https://lexpeeps.in/the-influence-of-the-environment-on-the-rate-of-crime-in-india/

•  Pablo Fajnzylber, Daniel Lederman, Norman Loayza, What causes violent crime?, European Economic Review, Volume 46,Issue 7,2002,Pages 1323-1357,ISSN 0014-2921,  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(01)00096-4.

• Olweus, D. (1991). Bully/victim problems among school children: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 411–448). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

• https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/handcuffs-wooden-gavel-crime-violence-concept-1885320832 

About the Author

Parishi Shah, Subhead, Psycreative column

Psychology committee, SDSOS, NMIMS

Parishi Shah is a first year student, currently pursuing her B.Sc in applied psychology from NMIMS. She is an aspiring psychologist who aims to also write a novel someday. She believes in the little moments that define your life and make it special. She loves reading, writing poetry and holds a special place for Sylvia Plath in her heart. She is diligent, hardworking and mostly altruistic. In the era of texts and tech she believes in honest conversations and letters. Her simple ideology is getting through one day at a time until she knows that she made it.