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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:23 pm
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Results for personal safety
5 results foundAuthor: Bhairam, Robin Title: "Clark Kent drives my bus" - a study of safety and risk in public spaces through the narratives of young people Summary: This research explores the complexities of young peoples' personal understanding and experiences of violence and safety in public spaces. The research itself is constructed through establishing the interrelationships between the theories, practices and policies of safety and young people. Working through these links has facilitated an original framework for understanding by accessing data using young people's own experiences and views. There is a significant body of published research exploring young people as offenders but a real absence, especially in the UK literature, of young people as potential victims of violent crime. In particular children's own conceptualisations of risk, safety and victimisation are little understood. This research explores young people's thoughts on exactly this. The empirical research draws upon qualitative data derived from semi-structured interviews with 21 young people aged from 10 to 18 years old taken from a socioeconomically mixed area of London. The findings show that irrespective of age, the young people have constructed a very real understanding of safety and risk. Children, even at a young age have developed a myriad of personal safety strategies that involve awareness of teenagers, locations and individuals who they perceive as guardians. However, these strategies emerge without meaningful reference to police or government policy and are largely embedded in a world far away from those in reach of official community safety agents. This research suggests that there needs to be a move away from portraying young people as 'folk devils' who sit at the heart of many 'moral panics' towards involving them as significant actors and contributors to social policy making by giving them a voice on the political stage. Details: Portsmouth, UK: University of Portsmouth, 2012. 204p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 22, 2014 at: http://eprints.port.ac.uk/11967/1/Robin_Bhairam_Thesis.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://eprints.port.ac.uk/11967/1/Robin_Bhairam_Thesis.pdf Shelf Number: 132732 Keywords: Children and ViolenceChildren, Crime AgainstMoral PanicsPersonal SafetyPublic Space (U.K.)Victims of CrimeViolent CrimeYoung Adults |
Author: Birds, Jonathan M. Title: Perceptions of Disorder: Results from Two Las Vegas Tourist Locations Summary: Over the past 30 years, much has been written about the negative consequences that minor disorders and quality of life offenses can have on public places. The literature documents cases where disorder contributed to the deterioration of locations such as the New York City subways, the downtown Civic Center in San Francisco, and MacArthur Park in Los Angeles (Kelling & Coles 1996; Sousa & Kelling 2010). The literature also describes the process by which disorder leads to the decline of public places. According to the 'broken windows' hypothesis (Wilson & Kelling 1982), disorder can generate fear among citizens, causing them to avoid locations where disorder is a problem. These locations, which lack informal social control mechanisms, are potentially vulnerable to more serious forms of crime. Although research provides evidence of a link between disorder and fear, how one perceives disorder is largely "in the eye of the beholder." The literature suggests that an observer's perceptions of disorder depend on the context in which it occurs (Kelling & Coles 1996). Factors such as the amount of disorder, the vulnerability of the observer, and the observer's prior knowledge of the disorderly person or place, for instance, play a role in whether one fears disorder or considers it to be problematic. Given the potential for quality of life offenses to generate fear and cause other community problems, it is important to understand perceptions of disorder in public places. The purpose of this Research in Brief is to examine citizen opinions of personal safety, disorderly activity, and police presence at two locations in Clark County: The Fremont Street Experience and the Las Vegas Strip. These are two public locations that are known for tourism and are therefore important to the region's economy. This study also considers the demographic factors that may be relevant to individual perceptions of disorder, such as age, gender, race, and residency status (i.e., Las Vegas Valley local vs. tourist). Details: Las Vegas, NV: University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Center for Crime and Justice Policy, 2015. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Research in Brief: Accessed March 16, 2016 at: https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/27/CCJP-PerceptionsOfDisorder.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/27/CCJP-PerceptionsOfDisorder.pdf Shelf Number: 138265 Keywords: Disorderly ConductFear of CrimePersonal SafetyPublic AttitudesPublic PlacesTourism and Crime |
Author: Jordan, Jan Title: Skills for Safety: An evaluation of the value, impact and outcomes of girls' and women's self defence in the community Summary: This report presents findings from the 'Skills for Safety' project, an outcome evaluation of girls' and women's self defence courses run by the Women’s Self Defence Network – Wāhine Toa (WSDN-WT). WSDN-WT is a nationwide network of specialist trained accredited women teachers of self defence that has been in operation for 28 years. WSDN-WT has always been committed to evaluating the quality of their programmes and their ability to achieve their goals, with post course evaluation an integral part of the delivery of their courses. However, in the current climate of results based accountability, to ensure sustainable funding they recognised the importance of rigorous evaluation carried out by independent researchers. The 'Skills for Safety' research project has been completed by two independent researchers, Associate Professor Jan Jordan (Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington) and Dr Elaine Mossman (Adjunct Research Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington) and was made possible with funding provided by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Evaluation objectives Violence against girls/women is a major New Zealand problem with serious, sometimes fatal, consequences. The overwhelming health, social and economic impacts of violence against women have prompted a recent emphasis on identifying effective prevention strategies. Internationally there is now a sizeable body of evidence pointing to the value of self defence as such a strategy, including randomised control trials demonstrating reduced sexual victimisation following participation. This research aims to develop a better understanding of the unique role and impact of a New Zealand girls' and women's self defence programme in responding to this problem. The overarching objective of this evaluation is to understand and document the value and impact of self defence to the girls and women who participate in WSDN-WT self defence courses and to the communities they live in. More specifically, the research asks to what extent self defence courses can assist participants to: recognise sexual and family violence and abuse; understand that it is not okay (and not their fault); learn clear strategies for recognising, resisting and responding to specific violent/abusive events, disclosing abuse and seeking help, supporting other people who are victims of violence and abuse; and feel empowered and have their self-esteem enhanced. A further aim of the project was to investigate the extent to which short term/intermediary outcomes, if achieved, can reduce vulnerabilities to child abuse, sexual and family violence and re-victimisation, and stranger danger. Methodological approach An evaluation framework was developed by the independent researchers in collaboration with the WSDN-WT research team. A mixed method research design was agreed upon to assess the value of self defence for the two key target groups of WSDN-WT: (1) school age girls; and (2) women in the community Quantitative data were collected from a substantial sample of girls (n=2731) and women (n=115) who participated in a self defence course run in the first half of 2015, using pre and post course evaluation forms. These forms assessed the outcomes and experiences of the participants and included a mix of validated (e.g. Rosenberg Self-esteem) and programme specific questions (closed and open-ended). These quantitative data were combined with qualitative data collected from a series of interviews. Four separate groups were interviewed: key informants/stakeholders for the Girls' Self Defence Project courses (n=14); key informants/stakeholders for the Isolation to Empowerment women’s courses (n=15); women’s course participants (n=15); and WSDN-WT self defence teachers and chairperson (n=7). Interviews were conducted in four case study areas selected to include a mix of rural/urban locations, and communities with different ethnic makeup (two South Island and two North Island). Details: Wellington, NZ: New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, 192p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 16, 2016 at: http://wsdn.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Skills-for-safety-Evaluation-Report-18-March-2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: New Zealand URL: http://wsdn.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Skills-for-safety-Evaluation-Report-18-March-2016.pdf Shelf Number: 141180 Keywords: Personal SafetySelf Defense Violence against Women, Girls |
Author: Brennan, Iain Title: Weapon-carrying and the reduction of violent harm Summary: Criminology has much to offer activities to reduce the harm of violent incidents -- particularly by reducing weapon carrying and use - but the discipline's engagement with the harm reduction agenda has been limited. In addressing this, the paper identifies risk factors for carrying a weapon by a young person in England and Wales. It demonstrates that this decision is influenced by individual-, interpersonal- and community-level factors and that weapon carriers can be distinguished from other respondents using relatively few characteristics. The study also shows that defensive factors, such as victimisation and concerns about personal safety are relevant to understanding weapon-carrying, but they are outweighed by criminogenic factors such as violence, neighbourhood disorder and, importantly, lack of trust in the police. Details: Unpublished paper, 2018. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 9, 2018 at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/5kdrf/ Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/5kdrf/ Shelf Number: 150128 Keywords: Harm ReductionPersonal SafetyViolenceWeapons |
Author: Alemika, Etannibi E.O. Title: The Poor and Informal Policing in Nigeria: A Report on Poor Peoples Perceptions and Priorities on Safety, Security and Informal Policing in A2J Focal States in Nigeria Summary: The purpose of this study, therefore, was to provide documented evidence to inform programme development on the subject. It also fills the observed gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of the expectations, priorities and perceptions of people living in poverty in Nigeria with respect to safety and security in general and informal policing structures in particular. The research was undertaken in the four focal states of Access to Justice (A2J) in Nigeria: Benue, Ekiti, Enugu and Jigawa States. The methods of data collection used were a mixture of quantitative and qualitative, comprising interviews and focus group discussions. Debates about how to improve safety and security for urban communities and rural dwellers in Nigeria are beginning to pay increasing attention to informal policing structures (IPS), which are set up by people living in poverty in response to the apparent inability of the formal police to adequately protect them from crime. However, there is a dearth of literature on the types of informal policing structures that exist, the reasons and rationales underpinning their establishment, the nature of their activities and community perceptions of their work. Extant literature on IPS focuses often on documenting the experience of the victims of vigilantism (which is one typology of IPS) and examining the fidelity of their methods of operation to international human rights norms and standards. Hence, the hitherto ambivalence and uncertainties on the functions of the IPS and the role they could and should play in the poor peoples' quest for safety and security. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to provide documented evidence to inform programme development on the subject. It also fills the observed gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive understanding of the expectations, priorities and perceptions of people living in poverty in Nigeria with respect to safety and security in general and informal policing structures in particular. The research was undertaken in the four focal states of Access to Justice (A2J) in Nigeria: Benue, Ekiti, Enugu and Jigawa States. The methods of data collection used were a mixture of quantitative and qualitative, comprising interviews and focus group discussions. Caution is advised on the use of the findings of the study to generalize on perceptions of people in poverty on issues of safety, security and informal policing in the four states, given the small sample size studied and the exploratory nature of the research. However, the study provides substantial information and insights that have not been provided or analyzed elsewhere. Perceptions of Safety and Security -- The study found that the poor had capacity to identify and explain their safety and security concerns even though they might not be fluent in the language(s) used by policy makers. Their understanding of these concepts went beyond protection from criminal victimization as they saw safety and security as very vital to their ability to sustain their livelihoods as well as to the development of their communities as a whole. This was nicely articulated by a participant in the focus groups: Safety and security are very important in our communities ... It affects aspects of our health, family coexistence and our lives and properties... It affects everything! Without safety and security, everything would get spoilt. With the possible exception of Enugu State where the respondents feeling of safety was very low (36.6 %), the majority of respondents in Ekiti (96.6 %), Jigawa (81.7%) and Benue States (66.6%) felt safe. However, in spite of the relatively high level of feeling of safety and security in Ekiti, Jigawa and Benue States, a pervading fear of crime was reported in all the four states of study. Across the four states, at least three-fifth of the respondents expressed some fear of criminal victimization. However, the intensity of the fear varies across the states, with respondents from Enugu State being the most fearful (73.3 %). The responses of the participants in the study indicated that their priority safety and security concerns around which they expect assistance were: - Personal safety from criminals, especially armed robbers; - Protection from harm associated with political thuggery; - Prevention of violent conflicts; - Eradication of police corruption and brutality; and - Security of property from theft and destruction. Details: Lagos, Nigeria: Center for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN), 2004. 362p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 13, 2019 at: http://new.cleen.org/Poor%20people%20and%20informal%20policing.1.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Nigeria URL: http://new.cleen.org/Poor%20people%20and%20informal%20policing.1.pdf Shelf Number: 154946 Keywords: Citizen Safety Citizen Security Informal Policing Personal SafetyPolicing Poverty Rural Areas and Crime Urban Areas and Crime |