The Effectiveness of Juvenile Curfews at Crime Prevention
- Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, May 2003
Juvenile curfew laws have become a pervasive and popular strategy for controlling juvenile crime. Public opinion is solidy behind the use of curfews, and the primary basis for this support is the notion that curfews make streets safer. This article provides preliminary results from a systematic review of empirical research on juvenile curfews, concluding that the evidence does not support the argument that curfews prevent crime and victimazation. Juvenile crime and victimiazation are most likely to remain unchanged after implementation of curfew laws. Other aspects of curfew research, such as efficiency at detecting criminal acticity, costs of enforcement, crime displacement, counterintuitive findings, and characteristics of curfew violators also are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered
Juvenile Curfew; Juvenile Crime; Crime Prevention; Law Enforcement