Deterrence Theory Essay
Juvenile delinquents were committing 13 percent of the violent crimes such as homicide, robbery, rape, kidnapping, and aggravated assault. It was not up until the mid-1990s that those rates started to decline, there are experts who say that the surge of violence came from the children of baby boomers entering what they called "prime crime" years. There are also experts who say the opposite, crime rates will increase by nearly twice as much by 2010. The two completely different predictions lead to the experiment of different strategies to control the violent youth. Soon after these two predictions, problem oriented policing was enforced; it is a mechanism of strategies enforced in order to address problems with disorganized communities. It
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is law enforcement that focuses on weeding out the innocent juveniles from the delinquents to address and help with underlying problems that they may be experiencing (Siegel & Welsh, 2014, pg 331). It can be effective when using the right laws and policies such as maintaining focus on illegal weapons. Pulling levers policing is closely related to the problem oriented policing strategy that follows the same core principles as the deterrence theory.
This theory was popular during the cold war with regard to the use of nuclear weapons but overall it was a strategy intended to persuade an adversary from taking action first. Deterrence theory assumes that crime can be prevented if potential offenders weight the pros and cons of the crime (Zimring and Hawkins 1973). Three concepts that play an important role in deterrence theory are the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment. The deterrent effects of crime prevention programs and policies are a function of a potential offender’s perceptions of the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment (Nagin 1998). First, the focus typically begins with an intense focus on specific types of crime and the offenders that are most responsible for carrying out those crimes, most of which involve gun violence. Second, the focus is often referred to as “pulling levers” strategies because they seek to apply every lever available, whether it is formal or informal. Third, which may alter objective sanction risks unlike any of the other two strategies, focus is to seek direct influence perceived sanction risks among offenders by communicating directly with them about the consequences of their
actions.
An important part of altering perceived risks among offenders is making sure they are processed through the system quickly and smoothly so potential offenders can observe the immediate consequences of their actions, in hopes that it intimidates and scares juveniles from wanting to follow in the same footsteps. Finally, since many of these strategies target groups like street gangs rather than individuals, another key element is the idea of collective responsibility. This means all members of the group are responsible for the actions of any individual member. Together, these program elements are meant to influence the possible risk of sanctions among potential offenders, which alters their decisions about whether or not to carry out an offense.
Modern day policing uses this system to reduce the target delinquency problem in the United States. The main focus of this program is to target juvenile gang violence, shutting down drug markets, serving warrants, enforcing probation restrictions and making disorder arrest. When looking over the date and analyzing the statistics Anthony Braga and David Weisburg found that it is an effective program (Siegel & Welsh, 2014, pg 345). One of the ways pulling levers policing is enforced is through “operation ceasefire” enforced in Boston. Operation ceasefire was first implemented in 1996, a city wide strategy focused on deterring juvenile and gang use of firearms. It operates as a system that implements interventions that require the cooperation from all agencies within the criminal justice system. This program was developed by the Boston Police Department’s Youth Violence Strike Force (YVSF), an agency of 62 sworn officers who worked closely with the Attorneys, institutions and representatives of neighboring states. This collaboration included the Federal State, local law enforcement, parole and probation officers, the mayor, and several universities
is law enforcement that focuses on weeding out the innocent juveniles from the delinquents to address and help with underlying problems that they may be experiencing (Siegel & Welsh, 2014, pg 331). It can be effective when using the right laws and policies such as maintaining focus on illegal weapons. Pulling levers policing is closely related to the problem oriented policing strategy that follows the same core principles as the deterrence theory.
This theory was popular during the cold war with regard to the use of nuclear weapons but overall it was a strategy intended to persuade an adversary from taking action first. Deterrence theory assumes that crime can be prevented if potential offenders weight the pros and cons of the crime (Zimring and Hawkins 1973). Three concepts that play an important role in deterrence theory are the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment. The deterrent effects of crime prevention programs and policies are a function of a potential offender’s perceptions of the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment (Nagin 1998). First, the focus typically begins with an intense focus on specific types of crime and the offenders that are most responsible for carrying out those crimes, most of which involve gun violence. Second, the focus is often referred to as “pulling levers” strategies because they seek to apply every lever available, whether it is formal or informal. Third, which may alter objective sanction risks unlike any of the other two strategies, focus is to seek direct influence perceived sanction risks among offenders by communicating directly with them about the consequences of their
actions.
An important part of altering perceived risks among offenders is making sure they are processed through the system quickly and smoothly so potential offenders can observe the immediate consequences of their actions, in hopes that it intimidates and scares juveniles from wanting to follow in the same footsteps. Finally, since many of these strategies target groups like street gangs rather than individuals, another key element is the idea of collective responsibility. This means all members of the group are responsible for the actions of any individual member. Together, these program elements are meant to influence the possible risk of sanctions among potential offenders, which alters their decisions about whether or not to carry out an offense.
Modern day policing uses this system to reduce the target delinquency problem in the United States. The main focus of this program is to target juvenile gang violence, shutting down drug markets, serving warrants, enforcing probation restrictions and making disorder arrest. When looking over the date and analyzing the statistics Anthony Braga and David Weisburg found that it is an effective program (Siegel & Welsh, 2014, pg 345). One of the ways pulling levers policing is enforced is through “operation ceasefire” enforced in Boston. Operation ceasefire was first implemented in 1996, a city wide strategy focused on deterring juvenile and gang use of firearms. It operates as a system that implements interventions that require the cooperation from all agencies within the criminal justice system. This program was developed by the Boston Police Department’s Youth Violence Strike Force (YVSF), an agency of 62 sworn officers who worked closely with the Attorneys, institutions and representatives of neighboring states. This collaboration included the Federal State, local law enforcement, parole and probation officers, the mayor, and several universities