Crime prevention series

Foreword

Published in:
Crime prevention for migrant communities
Kayleen M Hazlehurst
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990
ISBN 0 642 15514 3 ; ISSN 1031-5330
(Crime prevention series) ; pp. v-vi

In the past a rather gloomy picture of close-knit migrant communities, particularly in urban or industrial areas, has been painted. Biased media reporting and prejudice in wider society have depicted minority group enclaves as suffering from crime, disorder and inter-cultural conflict.

National prison statistics contradict this impression. Persons who were born overseas but who now reside in Australia, are actually under-represented in Australian prisons. This does not mean that members of immigrant communities do not frequently fall victim to the growing incidence of crime in their localities. Some of this crime is propagated by members of their own community.

Widespread media attention to crime, personal experience of burglary or assault, or threats of violence make residents particularly sensitive to the risks of their own environment. Living in a foreign country, with foreign laws, adds to this uncertainty. Some residents are virtually prisoners of fear.

Where friendly and supportive relations of 'community-life' already exist, however, there are particularly good opportunities for crime prevention. This handbook has been written to provide general information to ethnic and other community groups on community-based crime prevention approaches which can be used to remove some of this uncertainty.

Crime Prevention for Migrant Communities is not a handbook solely for the use of migrant communities. Many of the principles for crime prevention discussed in this booklet are tried and true approaches used widely in Australia and overseas, and could be useful to any community group or agency wishing to consider these techniques.

The handbook, however, does take into account specific problems and anxieties experienced by migrant minorities. It identifies these, and offers helpful suggestions for communities to overcome these difficulties through designing safer and more friendly environments.

Duncan Chappell
Director