Effectiveness of CPTED from criminals' viewpoint

A preliminary report of questionnaire survey to criminals incarcerated in a detention centers

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) from the viewpoint of criminals. A questionnaire of 382 criminals who were incarcerated in detention centers showed that only a few criminals performed preliminary inspection of target locations before the commission of their crimes. Furthermore, the analysis of the questionnaire responses indicated that CPTED can increase the number of factors that can prevent crimes. Finally, the analysis also showed that "natural surveillance" by neighborhood residents is effective in preventing crime. To conclude, we discussed the effectiveness of natural surveillance from a theoretical standpoint.