This research was done in response to the recent increase of crime in schools and the vicinity of schools. The main purpose of this study is to find an effective approach to prevent crimes in schools and the community by changing the physical environment. The need for a change of social perception, citizen's attitudes, and the economic environment affecting crime is necessary. [Is this past sentence ok?] There is a large emphasis on the importance of the concept of the second generation of crime prevention through environmental design(CPTED) in this study.
To suggest detailed CPTED strategies for schools, experts from the field of criminology, architecture, police administration, and education collaborated to create four sub-project papers and one summary paper. This paper is the summary paper for the four sub-projects.
Past research primarily focused on physical crime prevention. However, this study centers on the implementation of CPTED guidelines (sub-project 3), and examined social-cultural strategies for crime prevention such as social disorder, collective efficacy, informal social-control in terms of second generation of CPTED (sub-project 2). To support the lack of expertise of applying CPTED principles in Korea, we invited a CPTED expert from the US to help with the implementation of the school CPTED guideline for school planning and maintenance (sub-project 4). In addition, we uated the efficacy of CPTED strategies for the schools and the community which already adapted the CPTED principles to some extent.
For the methodology of sub-project 2, we surveyed students and community residents of 30 schools in Seoul and Kyonggido. The final data consisted of 1,763 students and 1,620 residents. The research results show the level of disorder in schools, collective efficacy in schools, perception toward crime prevention for specific CPTED strategies, fear of crime, safety level in schools, witnesses of crime scenes, experiences of crime victimization, offenses of crime or delinquent behavior, risk and protective factors on crime victimization, and offense and fear of crime for students and community residents.
For sub-project 3, the purpose was to uate the level of safety of school facilities and maintenance programs. We surveyed 30 schools (each of the 10 schools included elementary, middle, and high schools) and interviewed students, teachers and school personnel. The uation was done using both the quantitative and qualitative research methods. Throughout the research, we acknowledged the low sensitiveness on crime, lack of education programs for crime prevention, need of regular maintenance, need for a close network with the police and private security companies, and adaptation of school CPTED guidelines in the field. Based on the research results, we set up a modified CPTED guideline to be used as an advisory tool adjusted for school environments in Korea.
For sub-project4, consultation was provided by Richard Schneider, a professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at University of Florida. The consultation report provides a snapshot uation of physical and management of security conditions related CPTED and situational crime prevention principles based on site surveys of nine Korean elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul and Kyonggido completed in May 2010. The results provide extensive ation on security challenges and opportunities at the schools and offer 30 recommendations relating to improvements to security system planning and more specifically for sites, buildings, interior space, system equipment and spaces. The report focuses on the relationship between design, management and guardianship in achieving a constructive change to security.
For sub-project 5, there are two purposes to the research. The first is the perception on efficacy toward CPTED for students and teachers. The second is a case study for the efficacy of CPTED strategies for ten schools in Korea. A total of 2,150 students and teachers participated in this survey. The results indicate that the specific CPTED strategies (CCTV installation) in schools decreased the crime rate up to 32% compared with other schools. Students believe system of the school police could increase the level of safety and decrease the fear of crime in schools. The research on the efficacy of CCTV installations in schools revealed that CCTV installations failed to reduce crime in schools at a significant level.
In conclusion, we believe that a wide range of CPTED strategies could be created and adapted based on the basic CPTED principles. These principles should be expanded to all schools to ensure the right of students and teachers to be safe. Although there are limits in this study, we expect that this investigation will help to provide constructive discussion on the issue of safety in schools in Korea. A detailed conclusion and policy implications will be presented.