After reading Reducing Violence Without Police: A Review of Research Evidence, there are certain recommendations that are most effective in regards to the reduction of violence. One of the recommendations is to increase pro-social bonds as well as anti-violence norms across communities, particularly when the message comes from community-based programs staffed by familiar and credible messengers (Reducing Violence Without Police: A Review of Research Evidence, 2020). This approach can be very effective because it targets the basic and fundamental structure of society and thus solves crimes before they are even conceived. This particular strategy is directed towards those with the potential to do the crime, and thus it is very effective in eliminating or reducing crime as it takes a down-top approach, thus targeting the roots and potential source of crimes. The second strategy is that which recognizes that violence is more prevalent in areas where residents have severe financial stresses, and thus providing targeted and timely financial assistance can significantly aid in decrease the violence rates. This strategy can be very effective because it targets one of the most significant causes of violence, which is money. Most people who undertake crime have a financial reason to do so, especially in poor neighborhoods, and thus providing financial assistance to such individuals can significantly decrease the crime rates.
One of the things that I found unrealistic regarding the research evidence that provides strategies to reduce crime via the creation of green spaces like adding parks, planting trees, etc. I believe that this strategy is not effective considering that people barely think of their environment when undertaking crime as most crimes are usually a result of personal problems and issues, especially financial problems (Coleman, 1992). In addition, considering the congested nature of poor neighborhoods, it would be impossible to create such areas, and thus this particular strategy will have minimal to no effect on the reduction of crime.
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After reading all the materials in the course, one of the things that I have never thought about before is how policing has become more invasive, even in areas that do not require their service, especially over the past 40 years (Donnella, 2020). For instance, currently, the police are being asked to address every social problem in the US, which is not sustainable. For instance, even though they do not have the right skillsets and resources, policing is happening in schools and is also happening in relation to social issues like homelessness, untreated mental illness, as well as youth violence, and this should not be the case because they are not the right people to be dealing with such domains. This is especially considering how aggressive they have been in handling nonviolent encounters.
References
Coleman, J. W. (1992). Crime and money: motivation and opportunity in a monetarized economy. American Behavioral Scientist , 35 (6), 827-836.
Donnella, L. (2020). How Much Do We Need the Police? NPR Cookie Consent and Choices. Retrieved 27 April 2021, from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/03/457251670/how-much-do-we-need-the-police
Reducing Violence Without Police: A Review of Research Evidence. (2020). John Jay College of Criminal Justice. New York.
