La sécurité privée : le phénomène, la contreverse, l’avenir

This article deals with four themes on private security. First, private security is defined as a protection supplied to organizations targeting the specific needs of any given organization. Second, the expansion of private security is seen as resulting from the convergence between a real demand for security and a superior supply than the one offered by the police. Third, the article deals with questions regarding private security involving private live-Finally, it is argued that the future of private security lies in two trends : (1) technologicial integration and (2) sophisticated planning and problem solving

Les zones urbaines criminelles

The study of criminal areas has been a longstanding tradition in sociology and criminology. It had its hour of glory during the publication of the works of Shaw and McKay of the University of Chicago. In this article — which is an account of the studies on the concentration of criminals in urban areas — we show that, since the XIXth century, large metropolises have relatively stable sectors where the social control is weak and opportunities to commit crimes are numerous. Networks of juvenile delinquents and adult criminals develop in these areas, fostering the transmission of criminal solutions. The article contains a description of the process that leads to the emergence of a crime zone. It ends with a critique on ecological studies and by an appeal for the study of conflicts within these criminal networks

L’effet structurant du contrôle social

The paper deals with the following question. To what extent do the human efforts at controlling crime succeed ? It starts by proposing an enlarged concept of social control. In the second part, a theory of choices made by offenders under the constraint of social control is put forward. In the last part, it is argued that social control can have four types of impacts :I — reducing the frequency of crime; 2 — reducing its severity; 3 — rendering obsolete some criminal tactics and stimulating the development of new ones; and, 4 — channeling offenders toward vulnerable targets. It is concluded that crime is shaped by the means used to control it, meaning that a given state of crime rates should be seen as the result of what people decide to do and not to do about crime

L’analyse stratégique et quelques développements récents en criminologie

Strategic analysis views crime as a confrontation and as a mean to an end. It is characterised by : 1) it concentrates on crime; 2) it takes cognizance of the circumstances under which the crime is committed; 3) it presents the crime as a decision influenced by its anticipated results. Felson's routine activity approach, which is similar to strategic analysis, is presented in this article. Other recent developments in criminology have made it possible to present several assertions with a view to explaining certain aspects of theft, in particular, the choice of target. These assertions are : 1) thefts vary according to the opportunities offered potential thieves; 2) opportunity is defined as the contact between a potential criminal and a suitable target; 3) the number of contacts between potential criminals and suitable targets varies directly with the number of targets and their accessibility; 4) the suitability of targets varies in direct proportion to their value and vulnerability. It varies in inverse proportion to their inertia

Autour de Croissance et décroissance du crime

Deux professeurs de l'École de criminologie de l'Université de Montréal réfléchissent sur l'évolution et les fluctuations de la criminalité. Leur débat se situe principalement autour des idées émises par Maurice Cusson dans l'une de ses plus récentes publications. Daniel Élie engage la discussion à laquelle répond ensuite l'auteur