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  • © 2018

Neighbourhood Watch in a Digital Age

Between Crime Control and Culture of Control

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Explores the digital surveillance revolution and how social media and smartphones have changed the landscape of public safety
  • Draws on original data to examine how neighbourhood watch groups have developed in the Netherlands and how their actions contribute to lower crime levels
  • Questions whether community crime prevention should be seen as a welcome civic instrument or a phenomenon adding to an undesirable culture of control

Part of the book series: Crime Prevention and Security Management (CPSM)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Neighbourhood Watch in the Netherlands: Introduction and Figures

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
  3. To the Streets: Four Ethnographic Case Studies

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35
    2. Watch Group 2: Countering Burglars

      • Vasco Lub
      Pages 57-72
    3. Watch Group 3: A Team in Need

      • Vasco Lub
      Pages 73-98
    4. Watch Group 4: Suburban Diligence

      • Vasco Lub
      Pages 99-121
  4. Conclusions and Discussion

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 123-123
    2. Conclusions

      • Vasco Lub
      Pages 125-138
    3. Discussion

      • Vasco Lub
      Pages 139-144
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 145-150

About this book

Drawing on data from 340 municipalities in the Netherlands as well as ethnographic fieldwork, this book presents original research on neighbourhood watch groups to illustrate how their actions contribute to collective efficacy and lower crime levels. Technological developments like social media and smartphones have changed the landscape of coproduction in public safety, and this book addresses the resultant issues involved with creating effective policy. While digital innovations and securitization have made neighbourhood watch groups effective, they have simultaneously increased the risk of vigilantism, and Lub reveals how stigmatization, ethnic profiling and excessive social control are very real issues, especially in suburban middle-class districts. 

Crucially, this study raises questions about how the increasing popularity of community crime prevention in a digital age should be framed: as a welcome civic contribution to crime control, or as a social phenomenon adding to an undesirable culture of control. Criminologists, city officials, policy makers and anyone studying neighbourhood activism will find this a fascinating work on crime control. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Erasmus University Sociology, Bureau for social argumentation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Vasco Lub

About the author

Vasco Lub is an independent Dutch scholar (affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam) who works at the intersection of sociology and policy research. He publishes both nationally and internationally on urban issues, social policy, neighbourhood safety, civic participation and social research methodology.  

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access