Crime Prevention: From Early Policing to
Modern Strategies – Comprehensive Final
Exam Review Verified Questions Provided
with A+ Graded Rationales Latest Updated
2026
Lex Talionis (early crime control)
retributive punishment = an eye for an eye
Obligatory policing in England (premodern crime control)
male citizens had formal obligation to band together in groups and police themselves
Watch and Ward systems (premodern crime control)
-rotated responsibility for keeping watch over town, village, or other area
-hue and cry
-assize of arms
-contable
hue and cry (watch and ward system)
men rotate watching over town at night, raising alarm if threat identified
assize of arms (watch and ward systems)
all freeman required to have weapons available to assist if needed
constable (watch and ward systems)
unpaid positions to organize watch and ward systems
vigilante movements (premodern crime control)
-arose on frontiers (ex: United States)
-a group of men - a "posse" - would be organized when an offender needed to be
apprehended and punished
early paid private police (early organized approaches)
-parochial police forces hired to protect homes and property of wealthy
-often involved private police forces for industries
,-ex: merchant police of England established to protect the wool industry
-ex: thames river police established in 1798 by West Indian merchants in response to crime
thief takers (early organized approaches)
-professional bounty hunters emerged
-ex: highwayman act of 1692
early detectives (early organized approaches)
-bow street runners were private detectives who would investigate and detect crimes
-private but paid by and (attached to) to local magistrate
metropolitan police act of 1829 (modern policing)
-established the first professional state organized police force funded through local (London)
taxes
-hierarchical command structure
-focus was on prevention of crime through systematic patrolling
hierarchical command structure (metropolitan police act of 1829)
-superintendents, inspectors, sergeants
-unlike patrols in Europe, not military (sometimes unarmed)
parens patriae (juvenile court)
- "father of the country"
-jurisdiction over delinquency
Chicago Area Project
-first documented initiative in the US that measured crime prevention
-early community project aimed at preventing crime caused by social disorganization
-sought to improve sense of pride and community in socially disorganized neighborhoods in
Chicago suffering from high delinquency rates and gang activity
-included less than 20 programs developed for youth
-unclear if effective but it makes beginning of modern era of crime prevention
Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study
-first delinquency prevention experiment
-"friendly mentoring" by adult role models
-650 boys (average age of 10) placed in 325 matched pairs and randomly allocated to
experimental or control group
-experimental group boys received monthly visits from counselors who acted as positive role
,models
-follow ups revealed null effects and iatrogenic effects
-without rigorous scientific design, negative intervention effects would not have been
discovered
-in later interviews, treatment group men reported that the program had helped them
Why did the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study fail?
-many competing hypotheses
-theory failure=mentoring not effective
-implementation failure= intervention not well focused
-deviancy training hypothesis=deviant peers bonded during summer camps
early programs (federal funding for crime prevention)
-based on social structure theories aimed at community level prevention
-NYC based mobilization for youth (MOBY)
-head start
NYC based mobilization for youth (MOBY)
integrated approach to community development based on different opportunity theory
head start
national preschool program begun in 1965 under Johnson admin
Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Admin of Justice Produced Report
crime cannot be controlled without informal social control
National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence
-established task forces on how best to prevent crime and violence
-major conclusion was that host of criminogenic risk factors "pulled" toward crime
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals
-first formulations of national criminal justice standards and goals for crime reduction and
prevention at the state and local level
-issued 6 reports with "best practices" authored by task forces on major topics, building on
prior reports
1.national strategy to reduce crime
2.criminal justice system
3.police
4.courts
, 5.corrections
6.community crime prevention
during the tough on crime era, why was there a decline in emphasis on prime prevention?
crime began to rise during the 1960s and continued to rise grammatically through the 1990s
and research on crime control efforts by the CJ system generally showed little effect, crime
prevention became seen as "soft"
1994 crime bill (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994)
-passed under Clinton admin
-largest crime bill in US history
-funding for new state and local police officers
-funding for new prisons and FBI/DEA
-funding for prevention programs (was controversial, created a rift between crime control -
"tough on crime" - and crime prevention - "soft on crime"
evidence based crime prevention goals
embraces prevention sciences commitment to the use of the most scientifically valid methods
to evaluate programs
retribution
punishment aims to provide "just deserts"
general deterrence
-punishment prevents public from committing crime
-evidence suggests little or no connection between sanction SEVERITY and general crime rates
-some evidence suggests that CERTAINTY of punishment decreases crime
specific deterrence
-punishment prevents offender from committing future crimes (focuses on prevention
through differential reinforcement)
-little evidence that IMPRISONMENT reduces subsequent offending
-the likelihood of recidivism diminishes as the severity of punishment increases
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment
-testing specific deterrence
-results showed arrests were strongly associated with lower recidivism
-replications have failed to find the same deterrent effect
Modern Strategies – Comprehensive Final
Exam Review Verified Questions Provided
with A+ Graded Rationales Latest Updated
2026
Lex Talionis (early crime control)
retributive punishment = an eye for an eye
Obligatory policing in England (premodern crime control)
male citizens had formal obligation to band together in groups and police themselves
Watch and Ward systems (premodern crime control)
-rotated responsibility for keeping watch over town, village, or other area
-hue and cry
-assize of arms
-contable
hue and cry (watch and ward system)
men rotate watching over town at night, raising alarm if threat identified
assize of arms (watch and ward systems)
all freeman required to have weapons available to assist if needed
constable (watch and ward systems)
unpaid positions to organize watch and ward systems
vigilante movements (premodern crime control)
-arose on frontiers (ex: United States)
-a group of men - a "posse" - would be organized when an offender needed to be
apprehended and punished
early paid private police (early organized approaches)
-parochial police forces hired to protect homes and property of wealthy
-often involved private police forces for industries
,-ex: merchant police of England established to protect the wool industry
-ex: thames river police established in 1798 by West Indian merchants in response to crime
thief takers (early organized approaches)
-professional bounty hunters emerged
-ex: highwayman act of 1692
early detectives (early organized approaches)
-bow street runners were private detectives who would investigate and detect crimes
-private but paid by and (attached to) to local magistrate
metropolitan police act of 1829 (modern policing)
-established the first professional state organized police force funded through local (London)
taxes
-hierarchical command structure
-focus was on prevention of crime through systematic patrolling
hierarchical command structure (metropolitan police act of 1829)
-superintendents, inspectors, sergeants
-unlike patrols in Europe, not military (sometimes unarmed)
parens patriae (juvenile court)
- "father of the country"
-jurisdiction over delinquency
Chicago Area Project
-first documented initiative in the US that measured crime prevention
-early community project aimed at preventing crime caused by social disorganization
-sought to improve sense of pride and community in socially disorganized neighborhoods in
Chicago suffering from high delinquency rates and gang activity
-included less than 20 programs developed for youth
-unclear if effective but it makes beginning of modern era of crime prevention
Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study
-first delinquency prevention experiment
-"friendly mentoring" by adult role models
-650 boys (average age of 10) placed in 325 matched pairs and randomly allocated to
experimental or control group
-experimental group boys received monthly visits from counselors who acted as positive role
,models
-follow ups revealed null effects and iatrogenic effects
-without rigorous scientific design, negative intervention effects would not have been
discovered
-in later interviews, treatment group men reported that the program had helped them
Why did the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study fail?
-many competing hypotheses
-theory failure=mentoring not effective
-implementation failure= intervention not well focused
-deviancy training hypothesis=deviant peers bonded during summer camps
early programs (federal funding for crime prevention)
-based on social structure theories aimed at community level prevention
-NYC based mobilization for youth (MOBY)
-head start
NYC based mobilization for youth (MOBY)
integrated approach to community development based on different opportunity theory
head start
national preschool program begun in 1965 under Johnson admin
Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and Admin of Justice Produced Report
crime cannot be controlled without informal social control
National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence
-established task forces on how best to prevent crime and violence
-major conclusion was that host of criminogenic risk factors "pulled" toward crime
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals
-first formulations of national criminal justice standards and goals for crime reduction and
prevention at the state and local level
-issued 6 reports with "best practices" authored by task forces on major topics, building on
prior reports
1.national strategy to reduce crime
2.criminal justice system
3.police
4.courts
, 5.corrections
6.community crime prevention
during the tough on crime era, why was there a decline in emphasis on prime prevention?
crime began to rise during the 1960s and continued to rise grammatically through the 1990s
and research on crime control efforts by the CJ system generally showed little effect, crime
prevention became seen as "soft"
1994 crime bill (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994)
-passed under Clinton admin
-largest crime bill in US history
-funding for new state and local police officers
-funding for new prisons and FBI/DEA
-funding for prevention programs (was controversial, created a rift between crime control -
"tough on crime" - and crime prevention - "soft on crime"
evidence based crime prevention goals
embraces prevention sciences commitment to the use of the most scientifically valid methods
to evaluate programs
retribution
punishment aims to provide "just deserts"
general deterrence
-punishment prevents public from committing crime
-evidence suggests little or no connection between sanction SEVERITY and general crime rates
-some evidence suggests that CERTAINTY of punishment decreases crime
specific deterrence
-punishment prevents offender from committing future crimes (focuses on prevention
through differential reinforcement)
-little evidence that IMPRISONMENT reduces subsequent offending
-the likelihood of recidivism diminishes as the severity of punishment increases
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment
-testing specific deterrence
-results showed arrests were strongly associated with lower recidivism
-replications have failed to find the same deterrent effect
