Cime criminology and modernity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cime criminology and modernity - Essay Example When a bank makes a mortgage loan it is balancing risk with probability of repayment in an attempt to maximize profits. Firms engaged in international trade may hold reserves in a variety of currencies to minimize the risk of currency fluctuations. In each of these examples the company in question is trying to minimize risk. The following discussion will focus on the emerging term of risk management and risk minimization in the context of criminology. Initially, the term will be defined. Then the development of the concept will be outlined. Subsequently, the implications of the emergence of the risk minimization paradigm will be explored. Finally, a concluding section will examine the broadest implications of risk minimization for criminology and the future of the view of criminology as the art and science of reducing risk. Risk Management Defined More recently, the term has been adopted by the criminology field. In criminology risk management focuses on assessing the risk to society a given-offender presents and allowing that assessment to define the response of the criminal justice system. For example, offenders identified as the greatest risk to re-offend are treated more harshly and incarcerated or most closely supervised. Those presenting less of a risk are less closely supervised. The idea is to target the majority of resources and interventions at those most likely to act anti-socially in the future. Risk management is deemed to be a useful tool for determining the allocation of resources in the criminal justice system and a useful tool for determining the level of intervention (incarceration, length of incarceration, supervision, and level of supervision) necessary for a given offender. According to Kropp and Kropp (2002) risk management is prevention oriented approach as it attempts to match interventions with the level of risk (of recidivism) that individuals present.2 They define risk assessment as â€Å"the process of speculating in an informed way about the aggressive acts a person might commit and to determine the steps that should be taken to prevent those acts and minimize their negative consequences.†3 In criminological terms seeks to match resources to needs in an effort to minimize risk to society by matching intervention to the likelihood of an individual to commit future anti-social, violent or criminal acts. Robert S Cormier provides a useful summary of the range of contemporary risk assessment:4 Risk assessment has been commonly used to classify offenders in order to place them in suitable levels of institutional security.... Assessments are also done to assist in decisions regarding when and under what conditions an offender might be released from prison into the community, and are used to determine the appropriate treatment interventions and the level of supervision required to maintain an offender safely in the community. Risk assessment is the measurement tool, risk management is the act of pairing interv ention to level of need, and risk minimization is the objective of the risk management school of criminology. The Origins of Risk Management Kropp and Kropp acknowledge that risk management in criminology was initially crude, impoverished and inaccurate.5 Historically, â€Å"