Crime reduction strategy: support families, give hope and opportunity to children

Here's an excerpt from an article posted by Dr. Carol Matusicky online by United Way community partner BC Council for Families:

To reduce crime, we must support families and provide opportunities for children.

The things that make communities safer from crime lie beyond the criminal justice system: they lie beyond the jurisdiction of law enforcement, courts, corrections. The criminal justice system can react to crime and can provide crime control; it cannot prevent it from happening in the first place.

True crime prevention must focus on the root causes of crime and victimization and be committed to a social development approach to addressing crime and safety. 

Both research and experience into antisocial behaviour indicate that the roots of crime and victimization lie, in large part, within the social and economic environment of the child.

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