Institute of Criminology Public Seminars: 'Child Sexual Abuse and the Ethics of Situational Crime Prevention'

Speaker: Professor Richard Wortley, Head, Dept of Security & Crime Science; Director, Jill Dando Institute of Security & Crime Science; Director, Security Science Centre for Doctoral Training (SECReT)

Situational crime prevention (SCP) entails efforts to control crime by altering aspects of the immediate environment that encourage or permit it to occur. While there is a growing catalogue of successful SCP interventions, the approach has attracted its share of critics who question its ethical bases. SCP has been portrayed as a politically conservative approach that promotes Orwellian solutions to crime problems. In this seminar Wortley argues that there is nothing inherently unethical about SCP, but like any social intervention, much depends on how it is carried out. Drawing on his research on the situational dynamic of child sexual abuse, he discusses some of the ethical dilemmas surrounding the implementation of SCP.

Richard Wortley has been Director of the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science since 2010. His research interests centre on the role that immediate environments play in criminal behaviour and the implications this has for situational crime prevention. He has had a particular interest in applying situational prevention principles to child sexual abuse.

This seminar starts at 5.30pm, and will be held in Seminar Room B3, Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA. A drinks reception in the basement foyer will follow this seminar for attendees

The IoC Public Seminar Series is open to all interested in attending, with no ticket required. If you wish to be added to the seminar mailing list, please contact: Joanne Garner, on: jf225@cam.ac.uk