Social Crime Prevention à la Thatcher

Abstract: Social crime prevention, like ‘the crime problem’ and crime control, is constructed in ways which promote and sustain the political objects of governments. This article compares the forms social crime prevention policies have taken in France and the United Kingdom. It presents a more detailed account of such prevention initiatives under the Conservative government which it sees as extensions of more general Conservative policies. Finally, it hazards some predictions as to the future of crime prevention in the United Kingdom.