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Crime and Design
last edited by Connor MCARTNEY on Tuesday, 10/05/2010 4:53 PM
Crime and Design
Connor Mcartney
Graphic design

Summary
Crime and design covers a wide variety of areas and touches upon a great deal of the design disciplines, if not them all. Each discipline has their own unique view point and brings something new to the table in the form of new ideas, research techniques and ways to implement there findings. However the one constant throughout this, is the link and bond between both crime and design. Each dictating the others actions for example designers create the concept of chip and pin, ware as criminals invent a ‘skimmer’ a device that is able to steal valuable banking data.
This is an on going wheel that will forever be turning, each side creating new ideas to out do the other. Design trying to protect and help to keep the levels of fear to a minimum allowing the public to carry on with the day to day, as well as putting into action these said idea in such away that our landscapes, surroundings and lives can carry on in relative continuity without any disruption.
Crime will forever be a thorn in designs side, taking up its time to deal with new and existing threats as well as try to spread fear amongst the public

History

Crime and design has been around since 1960s, this was when woman by the name of Elizabeth wood. Developed guidelines for addressing security issue while working with the Chicago housing authority, placing emphasis on design features that would support natural sureillability’
Her guidelines were never implemented but stimulated some of the original thinking that led to the crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED).

A criminologist by the name of C. Ray Jeffery first used the phrase CPTED. The name became familiar after Jeffery published his book with the same name.

Jeffery's work was based on the precepts of experimental psychology represented in modern learning theory. (Jeffery and Zahm, 1993:329) Jeffery's CPTED concept arose out of his experiences with a rehabilitative project in Washington, D.C. that attempted to control the school environment of juveniles in the area. Rooted deeply in the psychological learning theory of B.F. Skinner, Jeffery's CPTED approach emphasized the role of the physical environment in the development of pleasurable and painful experiences for the offender that would have the capacity to alter behavioral outcomes. His original CPTED model was a stimulus-response (S-R) model positing that the organism learned from punishments and reinforcements in the environment. Jeffery "emphasized material rewards . . . and the use of the physical environment to control behavior" (Jeffery and Zahm, 1993:330). The major idea here was that by removing the reinforcements for crime, it would not occur. (Robinson, 1996)

Jeffery’s work wasn’t taken on board until an architect by the name of Oscar Newman added the emphasis on specific design features that Jeffery had missed. Newman came up with a concept called ‘ defensible space’ this helped to change the CPTED design field and two years later he was awarded federal funding to demonstrate and study the defensible space concept.
Defensible space should allow people to see and be seen, this helps to lower fear among the residents because the know a potential criminal can be easily observed, identified and thus arrest the culprit. Second, people must be willing to report a crime when it happens. By making and increasing a sense of security were people work and live, it makes them want to take responsibilities and control of their environment and assume ownership. When people feel safe in their environment they are more likely to communicate with one another and stop criminal activities when they occur. This theory is further backed up in Malcolm Gladwells ’ ‘The Tipping Point’. In a chapter called ‘How little thing make a big difference’ P30-34 and P140-151 shows a study that was taken place called ‘The broken window theory’. This theory was thought up by two criminologists George Kelling and James Q. Wilson who were describing an epidemic in New York in the 1990’s-“ if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes.” This helps to convey the message that taking control and responsibilities leads to fewer criminal activities.
This is a diagram of Newmans concept.


Relevance
Crime and design is the most important aspect that spans across all design disciplines. This provides the building blocks for every one to work from and build upon. It allows people to feel safe and secure in their surroundings as well at their relationship with the world around them. Many people have taken inspiration from the research and findings that link the two, and put their own stamp on it. Examples such as CCTV, communal gardens, outward facing windows, any product or service which helps to eliminate the threat of criminal activities in specific areas has or at some point will touch upon the link between crime and design.
Walk out into the world and really open your eyes. Everything around you has been designed a certain way. Why? To cut down crime? To look pleasant?
In fact both, everything from ware the entrance is place, ware the windows face and the height of a building all factor into making the everyday person feel safer in the surroundings and able to go about there daily routine. The link between crime and design will never diminish and will only become more pronounced with the ongoing work of companies such as CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design), DOCA (design out crime association) and the design council will continue to push the boundaries and propel onward to bigger and better things.

References

Gladwell, Malcolm (2002) The Tipping Point. How little things can make a big difference, Feb. 2002.

Stollard, P. (1991) Crime Prevention Through Housing Design, Cornwall: T.J Press

Jeffery, C. Ray. (1971). Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Robinson, Matthew B. (1996). "The Theoretical Development of 'CPTED': 25 Years of Responses to C. Ray Jeffery". Appears in: Advances in Criminological Theory, Vol. 8. Url last accessed on May 6, 2006

Ronald v. Clarke, Graeme R. Newman (2005) Designing out crime from products to systems. Willan publishing

R V G Clarke, P Mayhew (1980) Designing out crime. Her Majesty’s stationary office.

Design council. How can design help us make our homes more secure? 2010[online] available at www.designcouncil.org.uk/crime [accessed 27th September 2010