The British Home Office has recognized for a number of years that crime prevention is centrally important and that criminal justice responses alone are insufficient as policy against crime. Although the level of crime in the United Kingdom is low compared to the United States and the British inner-city riots of the 1980s have been on a much smaller scale than the American riots of the 1960s, community organization is an initiative that both countries can use in reducing public disorder and more serious violence. At the same time, we cannot pretend that a few extra community workers will solve inner-city problems. More structural change is needed.
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References
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1. Lynn A. Curtis, ed., American Violence and Public Policy (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985).
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2. Sir Brian Cubbon GCB, “Crime—Our Responsibility” (James Smart Lecture, 1985).
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3. Public housing is of far greater importance for historical reasons in the United Kingdom than in the United States. In certain inner-city areas, up to 90 percent of the housing stock is in public ownership.
