The phenomenon of security is highly cherished in the modern world due to the existence of high volumes of information, which require protection and continuous monitoring. Despite the clear understanding of the term security, the overall aspect is complex and implies the need for a sufficient theoretical background to determine the functioning of this aspect. In the context of this essay, the correlation of security with ‘broken windows’ and situational crime prevention theories will be described to highlight the complexity of the term. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarize the key findings and determine the importance of the definitions to the understanding of the conceptualization of security.
In this case, ‘broken windows’ theory implies that the prevention of the insignificant crimes contributes to the decline in the rise in wrongful and dangerous behavior in the community while “tolerating minor physical or social disorder in the neighborhood encourages serious violent crimes” (Greene, 2007, p. 112). It states that the initial and potential cultivator of the problem has to be diminished to avoid the development of adverse consequences in society.
Meanwhile, the primary function of security is to ensure safety and prevent crime from occurring (Purpura, 2013; Chen et al., 2009). It could be said that the conceptualization of ‘broken windows’ theory interferes with the initial goals of security while emphasizing that security is an original solution to the issue. Meanwhile, its scope has to be detailed to eliminate the occurrence of insignificant disorders and crimes and increase the overall safety of the community.
In turn, the situational crime prevention theory has to be described to understand its correlation with the principles of security, and it implies modifying the overall attitude about the commitment of the crime while underlying its wrongful actions and lacking the beneficial outcomes for the potential criminal (Gilling, 2005; Fisher & Lab, 2010). It could be stated that this approach views the improvement of the prevention strategy from the psychological and social viewpoints and highlights the importance of social opinion in the decision-making of the individual.
In this case, this framework has a connection with the ‘broken windows’ theory since it reflects the need to address the core of the problem, but the functioning methods tend to rely on different aspects such as social behavior and attitudes. In this case, the described theory complies with the initial intention of security and addresses the need to pay vehement attention to the common societal beliefs and values.
In the end, it remains apparent that the described theories have a reflection on the functioning and conceptualization of security while depicting the various approach to prevent crime. In this case, the ‘broken windows’ theory determines that the security manager has to pay vehement attention to details, as the insignificant disorders could be regarded as the primary drivers for the occurrence of the dangerous crimes.
In turn, the situational crime prevention theory supports the initial concepts of the ‘broken windows’ approach, but it has a tendency to prioritize the significance of the attitudes of the individuals to create a perception of a crime as a wrongful act. A combination of these theories highlights the aspects of security, which have to be monitored and improved on a regular basis to upsurge the overall level of protection and safety. It could be said that the described approaches could serve an important role in the development of the guidelines for the overall minimization of crime.
References
Chen, Y., Dimitriou, T., & Zhou, J. (2009). Security and privacy in communication networks. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
Fisher, B., & Lab, S. (2010). Encyclopedia of victimology and crime prevention. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Gilling, D. (2005). Crime prevention, policy, and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
Greene, J. (2007). The encyclopedia of police science. New York, NY: Routledge.
Purpura, P. (2013). Security and loss prevention: An introduction. Waltham, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.