The idea of prevention refers to the actions that are carried out to avoid a later problem . A crime , meanwhile, is an act that violates what is established by law .
Crime prevention , in this way, involves the development of various tasks with the aim of minimizing the occurrence of criminal acts . The notion is linked to the work carried out by governments to try to guarantee security .
It is important to highlight that crime prevention can be approached from various perspectives. The objective is to deter people from engaging in illegal acts that generate all types of damage and cause numerous victims .
For a crime to be committed, there must be a person willing to adopt conduct that is contrary to what is legal . Said individual also has to have the necessary resources (material and symbolic) to commit the act, which he will use when presented with an opportunity to act .
This means that crime prevention has to prevent subjects from considering the possibility of breaking the law . In addition, it must take away tools from criminals and eliminate their opportunities for action. That is why it is necessary to complement the efforts of educational establishments and security forces , for example.
Fight against school dropouts ; favor access to the labor market; promote cultural and recreational activities with free and open access; combat drug trafficking and drug consumption; increasing street surveillance and forging a fast and efficient judicial system are some of the guidelines that can be part of a crime prevention plan.
Going deeper into this concept, we can see at least three types of crime prevention, depending on the moment in which it is carried out, something similar to what happens in the field of public health . The first stage is precisely what occurs before a person becomes a criminal, before he or she feels the motivation or desire to take part in an act prohibited by law.
As mentioned above, education is one of the fundamental points, since it gives us tools so that we can live in harmony with society, so that we can access a job and legally support ourselves financially. Additionally, through education we learn to treat ourselves and others in a respectful manner, and this can avoid potential problems with drugs, family violence , and acts of vandalism, among other punishable behaviors.
Secondary crime prevention is based on the application of techniques focused on young people who are likely to engage in crime , especially those who drop out of school during adolescence or begin to join a gang . The neighborhoods in which these strategies are put into operation have a very high crime rate, and that is why there is an endless discussion between those who consider that these people do not deserve a second chance and those who fight to give them one.
When the crime has already occurred, not all is lost but tertiary prevention comes into action, which aims to prevent recidivism . What stands out in recent history is the crime prevention that took place after the terrorist attacks that hit the United States in 2001. In these cases, the focus is on opportunities to commit crimes, and specialists try to reduce them by all means. . Two clear examples are the increase in the difficulty or risks that the commission of a given crime would entail; In simple words, a fence makes it more difficult to break into a house and if we electrify it, physical harm is added to the risk of imprisonment.