TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing Incarceration Rates in Australia Through Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Crime Prevention
AU - Battams, Samantha
AU - Delany-Crowe, Toni
AU - Fisher, Matthew
AU - Wright, Lester
AU - McGreevy, Michael
AU - McDermott, Dennis
AU - Baum, Fran
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - In Australia, incarceration rates have steadily increased since the 1980s, providing an imperative for crime prevention. We explored the extent to which Australian justice sector policies were aimed at preventing crime, using a framework for “primary, secondary and tertiary” crime prevention. We analyzed policies and legislation (n = 141) across Australian jurisdictions (a census was undertaken from May to September 2016, with policies spanning from 1900 to 2022). We found a strong focus on tertiary crime prevention, with recidivism rather than root causes of crime problematised. We also found little focus on primary crime prevention, despite some high-level cross sectoral strategies designed to prevent crime. In this paper, we will use the framework of Bacchi’s “what’s the problem?” approach, considering levels of crime prevention, social determinants of health, and discourses surrounding crime. We discuss policy implications and make suggestions for policy reform and accountability mechanisms to reduce crime and incarceration.
AB - In Australia, incarceration rates have steadily increased since the 1980s, providing an imperative for crime prevention. We explored the extent to which Australian justice sector policies were aimed at preventing crime, using a framework for “primary, secondary and tertiary” crime prevention. We analyzed policies and legislation (n = 141) across Australian jurisdictions (a census was undertaken from May to September 2016, with policies spanning from 1900 to 2022). We found a strong focus on tertiary crime prevention, with recidivism rather than root causes of crime problematised. We also found little focus on primary crime prevention, despite some high-level cross sectoral strategies designed to prevent crime. In this paper, we will use the framework of Bacchi’s “what’s the problem?” approach, considering levels of crime prevention, social determinants of health, and discourses surrounding crime. We discuss policy implications and make suggestions for policy reform and accountability mechanisms to reduce crime and incarceration.
KW - crime prevention
KW - crime reduction
KW - criminal justice policy
KW - policy implications
KW - research and policy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106044478&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DP160100244
U2 - 10.1177/0887403420979178
DO - 10.1177/0887403420979178
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106044478
VL - 32
SP - 618
EP - 645
JO - Criminal Justice Policy Review
JF - Criminal Justice Policy Review
SN - 0887-4034
IS - 6
ER -