Crime: What We Fear, What Can Be Done (From On Second Thought: A Report on the 1986-87 National Issues Forums, P 6-8, 1987, Keith Melville, ed.)

• NCJ Number: 107309
• Author(s): D Chiddister
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: Public Agenda
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Issues Forums
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper summarizes 1986-1987 National Issues Forums (a network of forums in some 300 communities in 46 States) discussions on violent crime -- what causes it and what to do about it.

Abstract

A significant number of citizens were convinced that violent crime is fueled by lenient sentences for violent offenders which fail to deter them from future crimes. Almost 8 in 10 participants, however, believed by the end of the forums that unemployment and poverty are major factors in the high crime rate. Still, participants gave the highest priority to measures which would ensure swift and certain punishment for violent offenders and impose longer sentences for dangerous crimes. This policy was supported, however, with some ambivalent feelings about the criminalizing effect of long prison terms and the necessity of constructing more prisons to accommodate a policy of more and longer prison terms. Three out of four participants agreed there should be greater use of supervised probation and community service sentencing, but only about half said a high priority should be given to prison alternatives. There was strong support for also dealing with the crime problem by addressing poverty, illiteracy, and other social ills.