Politi og arkitekters forebyggingslogikker: Forståelser av kriminalitetsforebyggende arbeid i offentlige rom

Abstract

This article focuses on crime prevention through architecture, environmental design and other situational modifications to public space. Today’s crime control is characterized by a continuously expanding focus on prevention and the proliferation of new contributions to preventive work. In the literature, the situational crime prevention approach is an acknowledged and well-known field in which strategies have been used to reduce crime in public spaces for decades. In Norway, however, this remains an area of crime prevention with little empirical data. The current study therefore attempts to fill this gap in Norwegian research. Based on interviews with architects and police personnel, the article explores these actors interpret and understand prevention through architecture, environment and physical design. The main aim is to examine approaches to crime prevention in public spaces in regards to safety, security, risk and social control.