“Reducing the Future Risk of Crime”

Crime Prevention Through Social Development

Alberta Community Crime Prevention Association

Much valuable work has been done in our communities in Alberta concerning crime prevention.  Unfortunately, there still appears to be a relatively reactive stance to crime prevention taken by our politicians and by the general public.  This paper is our way of informing people about what can be done – and is being done -- to reduce “… the future risk of crime.”¹

Essentially, all aspects of crime prevention attempt to reduce the future risk of crime.  However, the two main types of crime prevention, situational and social development, take very different approaches to this goal.

Many of these factors can be found in combination in the lives of our at-risk youth and young adults, and must be dealt with in a coordinated and long-term manner in order to improve their quality of life.  Short-term quick fixes will not work.⁴

CPSD is:

• Proactive

• Long Term

• Guided by Socio-economic factors that give rise to crime

CPSD must be:

• Targeted at those who at high risk for future offending

• Coordinated with other crime prevention initiatives

• Accessible to individuals and families⁴

Different types of CPSD strategies have been introduced in Canadian communities:

• Individual level strategies: These programs focus on addressing existing problems that may place a person at risk.  Many of these programs target children and youth.

• Family oriented strategies: These programs work at strengthening the family.  Programs that provide parenting support, and training parents of young at risk children are examples of this type of strategy.

• Community level strategies:  These seek to strengthen local capacity to prevent crime.  These usually involve partnerships, and help build connections among individuals, or could involve community outreach programs.⁵ 

CPSD Initiatives in Alberta

Many communities in Alberta are developing programs using the principles of CPSD.  These programs are as many and varied as the communities themselves – but they all have something in common.  They are dedicated to increasing the capability of the people most at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity.  The following are examples of the many initiatives available throughout the province of Alberta.

Success by Six

 Success By Six is a community-wide effort in Edmonton, dedicated to ensuring that every child starts grade 1 ready to learn.  Success By Six is a collaboration of sectors and services to help children succeed in their first year of school.

The initiative is currently involved with eight geographically linked neighbourhoods in Edmonton’s inner city.  Although there are different needs in every community, many services work together to bring prenatal services, parenting groups and supports, early literacy, preschool education and kindergarten to young people and their families.

Opening Doors

Opening Doors is a multi-agency initiative in Calgary that has designed and implemented collaborative and integrated services for children and their families.  Professionals and administrators from the health, social services, education, and justice sectors have worked with community members and families to find new ways of doing business.⁶

Aboriginal Headstart

This initiative was launched in May of 1995.  Aboriginal Headstart projects assist parents in contributing to their children’s mental, emotional and social development.  There are now over 100 AHS projects operating across Canada.  They typically run 3-4 days per week in a kindergarten setting.  Aboriginal culture and language, pre-school education, nutrition, health promotion and direct parental involvement are vital components of these projects.⁷

Terra Association

The Terra Association is an agency in Edmonton that deals with the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenting.  This Association has a number of programs and services that works toward enhancing the health and self-worth of pregnant teens, and their partners.  These programs provide long-term health, school and housing support services, as well as life skills and career planning, and parenting education. 

How Does CPSD Fit Into the Overall Crime Prevention Picture?

CPSD can work easily with other types of crime prevention.  A comprehensive crime prevention approach for a safer community could feature both situational and social development components.  It would address the short-term goal of protecting the public, and the longer-term goal of using targeted social programs to reduce the risk factors associated with criminal behaviour. ⁸

Are CPSD Programs Cost Effective?

It is important to examine the costs associated with the current approaches to controlling crime to determine if there could be money saved in long term targeted programs such as CPSD. 

 Direct Costs of the Current System

• It costs $40,000 to $80,000 each year to keep one adult in a correctional institution

• It costs up to $100,000 a year to incarcerate a juvenile offender.

• Spending on police services, the courts, legal aid and corrections was $9.7 billion in 1994-95.⁹

Indirect Costs of the Current System

The National Crime Prevention Centre conservatively estimates that costs and expenditures associated with crime in Canada is about $46 billion annually.  However, these are not the only costs that must be taken into account. Public fear of crime is a large factor.  In 1996, 50% of Canadians felt less safe than they did 5 years before.¹⁰

Another cost to Canadian society is inherent in “saddling more people with criminal records by increasing arrest rates…” ¹¹ possibly creating a cycle of marginalization, unemployment, and further criminal activity.  As well, it must be remembered that prisons are violent, and the inmates learn to survive in that forum – which may make them more violent.  So, putting people in prison may create conditions that could contribute to crime.  As well, there is a focus on young people as a major problem of crime control – which increases fear and alienation of our youth.¹²

Cost Savings Through CPSD

There have been studies that have looked at the costs and benefits of social development programs, and have seen a clear cost saving in the long term.  For example:

• The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study on the cost of having one child participate in a preschool program compared to the savings over the life of that child found that for every $1 U.S. spent, $7.16 U.S. has been saved by the time the person reached the age of 27, because the young person was much more likely to do well in school, to live a life free of crime and free from the need for social assistance, and to be employed, and paying taxes.

• The St. Lawrence Youth Association, a community based program for high-risk youth, found that for every dollar spent in the community, $1.50 was saved in residential corrections costs.

• Saskatchewan was paying 80% of resources for youth crime on 20% of the young people who came into contact with the justice system, with most being spent on custody.  Saskatchewan developed the Family and Youth Plan, developing community services to prevent youth from becoming more deeply involved in the justice system.  It cost $1.7 million to put the initiatives into place, to run and to evaluate them.  However, it was predicted that $2.5 million in custody costs would be saved.  Over the fiscal year 1995/96, none of the group of first offenders or young people at risk of offending ended up in custody.¹³

 Although some longitudinal studies in Canada have been done, more must be completed to determine the long-term effects, as well as the cost savings.  However, it is evident that CPSD programs can save money, even in the short term.  And they will save lives.  They will save the lives of our children and youth.

Conclusion

CPSD addresses the factors associated with crime, rather than reacting to crime.  In every city and town in Canada, there are agencies, community groups and government departments providing services to those in need.  However, these initiatives must be targeted, coordinated and integrated, and based on a long-term vision of a safer community.

It is important that we as Albertans educate ourselves about CPSD, and recognize the good work being done in our communities.  We must pressure the policy makers at all levels of government to make the factors associated with crime and victimization a priority, and to begin developing a coordinated approach to CPSD.  And we must do something ourselves to further the good work being done.  We must develop programs specific to CPSD in our communities, and we must give our time and our expertise to CPSD initiatives, so that we can begin saving lives – and reducing crime and victimization. 

 References

1. “Mayor’s Task Force on Safer Cities,” 1992, cited in Crime Prevention Through Social Development, A Literature Review, 1995.

2. John Howard Society of Alberta, Crime Prevention Through Social Development: A Resource Guide, 1995.

3. National Crime Prevention Centre, Crime Prevention Through Social Development.

4. Alberta Justice, Crime Prevention Through Social Development, 1999.

5. John Howard Society, Crime Prevention Through Social Development: A Resource Guide, 1995.

6. John Howard Society of Alberta, Crime Prevention Through Social Development, “Defining Crime Prevention Through Social Development”.

7. National Crime Prevention Centre, Government of Canada, Crime Prevention Through Social Development.

8. National Crime Prevention Council of Canada, Prevention and Children Committee: A Compendium of Approaches From Across Canada, 1996.

9. John Howard Society of Alberta, Crime Prevention Through Social Development, “Crime Prevention in Native Communities: The Aboriginal Head Start Initiative”.

10. John Howard Society of Alberta, Crime Prevention Through Social Development: A Resource Guide, 1995.

11. National Crime Prevention Council Canada, Safety and Savings: Crime Prevention Through Social Development, 1996.

12. National Crime Prevention Council Canada, The Dollars and Sense of a Comprehensive Crime Prevention Strategy for Canada. 1997.Ibid.John Howard Society of Alberta, Crime Prevention through Social Development, “Getting Started: Implementing a CPSD Initiative”.