Welfare

Surveillance is around us every day of our lives. We’re monitored trough professionals, security cameras, guard’s electronic devices etc. However, the issue of safety and security has made surveillance an effective tool to control crime and make us feel safe and cared for. It is so widely spread in today’s world that many of us feel that they are being watch all the time which can make us feel intimidated. As crime rises people feel safer in a secure environment like shopping centres which are equipped with cameras and security guards. However, some people find it a bit intimidating. The area in which people live can change the perceptions of crimes, because the public perception of crime portrays fear of crime. Fear of crime is when people believe they are more likely to be a victim of a crime as opposed to the probability of being victimized. (The OU, 2008, DVD1, Chapter 1). Only groups of five children are allowed at a time within the shopping centre, anymore than that are asked to leave, where as a large group of adults are able to walk around the shopping centre, this in away is making young people feel, as if people are expecting them to cause problems. Children will "act normally" when they know the CCTV camera is on them. However they will only behave the certain way when they know they're being watched. So therefore has the shopping centre really managed to have a better environment. However, they’ve opened a learning centre that has changed young people’s life’s and helped find alternative way, of motivating children, to stop them from be excluded from school. Will Heeson, has not continued his education and is helping other kids with similar issues. This was due to his own social Welfare and this illustrates the ‘entanglement’ within crime control and social Welfare by supporting parents and protecting children. ..(The OU, 2008, DVD1, Chapter 1). Children are one of the most vulnerable groups, in society and need extra care and nurture in order to grow up as well balance adults. Certain polices, such as the universal services have been set up to help children and parents to support them in difficult times. That has allowed for professionals, to monitor families in order to help them to overcome difficulties, but also to make people more responsible for the way their children are brought up. By doing this they try to insure that the child grows up as a responsible adult rather than trouble making teenager. In Michel’s story, she didn’t know that her child would be taken away from her, until she proved that she is capable of looking after her child and be responsible for him. She found this very intimidating but also rewarding, as she was pushed to make these changes and become a much more responsible parent. This does show how surveillance plays a big role in safeguarding children, making sure that children are safeguarded; by monitoring there parents and change there mind sets and bring diversity to the community.(The OU, 2008, DVD1, Chapter 2). Gated communities are not a new concept this is linked to fortification of community has been an on-going trend among the middle and upper class. Crime and fear of crime are the main causes of emergence of fortified enclave or gated community, which segregate itself from the outside with physical boundary (e.g. wall, fence, empty space) and surveillance systems (e.g. security guard, surveillance camera).(The OU, 2008, DVD1, Chapter 3). South Africa, initially opposed to gated communities, has backed down and could consider applications for suburbs to be fenced off and access controlled by booms or gates. Even though it does feel like segregation it’s not about race it’s, who can afford to live within in gated community it does have a negative side as the lower class of the community would like a gated community but can’t afford it and feel it’s unfair. Migrants are monitored and asked for identification if they wish to travel, by means of a passport and proof of residence. Migrants are monitored by CCTV and there are plans for tougher controls on immigration into the European Union including a satellite surveillance system monitoring, because of illegal immigration. (The OU, 2008, DVD1, Chapter 4). I’ve come to the conclusion that within the DVD there are some good examples of how CCTV has helped perhaps not always to prevent but certainly to detect crime and as such it has been very useful. In terms of antisocial behaviour, I do not think necessarily that people out on the streets sometimes causing mayhem look at where the cameras are or behave differently because of it, but I do think that it does enable prosecutions and, as such, is very useful. Word count 797 References The OU, DD208 Welfare, Crime and Society, Surveillance, (2008) Angel Eye