1st Edition

Surveillance, Closed Circuit Television and Social Control

By Clive Norris, Jade Moran Copyright 1998
    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    304 Pages
    by Routledge

    The rise of CCTV camera surveillance in Britain has been dramatic. Practically every major city now boasts a CCTV system aimed at, among other things, preventing, detecting and reducing the fear of crime. Increasingly these developments are mirrored in villages, shopping malls, residential estates, transport systems, schools and hospitals throughout the country. In short, for the majority of citizens it is now impossible to avoid being monitored and recorded as we move through public space. Surveillance, CCTV and Social Control represents the first systematic attempt to account for this phenomenon. It brings together leading researchers from the fields of anthropology, criminology, evaluation, geography, sociology and urban planning to explore the development, impact and implications of CCTV surveillance. Accordingly attention is directed to a number of key questions. How does CCTV fit with the trends of late modernity? Does CCTV reduce crime or merely shift it elsewhere? How should CCTV be evaluated? What is the significance of CCTV for women's safety? How adequate is the regulation of CCTV? In the light of recent technological developments what is the future of CCTV surveillance?

    Contents: Introduction: Introduction: power and vision. CCTV and Social Theory: Closed circuit television and the city; Beyond Foucault: towards a contemporary theory of surveillance. CCTV in Context: The panopticization of shopping: CCTV and leisure consumption; Towards the fifth utility? On the extension and normalization of public CCTV; From another angle: police surveillance and football supporters. Evaluating CCTV: Evaluating the effectiveness of CCTV schemes; Evaluating Scotland's first town centre CCTV scheme; Crime reduction, displacement and diffusion: evaluating the effectiveness of CCTV; CCTV and shop theft: towards a realistic evaluation. Questioning CCTV: What's the problems, girls? CCTV and the gendering of public safety; Public support for town centre CCTV schemes: myth or reality?; Restraining big brother? The regulation of surveillance in England and Wales. CCTV - The Future and the Past: CCTV: a new battleground for privacy; Algorithmic surveillance: the future of automated visual surveillance; A brief chronology of photographic and video surveillance.

    Biography

    Clive Norris, Jade Moran

    ’...an important volume...The sixteen, up-to-date and highly informed chapters will be an enormously important resource for anyone involved with the practical but measured introduction of CCTV but also the critical assessment of the effects and the limits of this ever-expanding aspect of our social and physical environment.’ Ian Taylor, University of Salford, UK ’...addresses many practical topics and issues of importance for the CCTV industry.’ CCTV Today ’...a thoughtful and very well written collection that offers a thorough exposition of the subject...a very readable and important contribution to the literature of social control...will provide an important source of material for students and academics from a variety of fields.’ Journal of Civil Liberties ’...the most significant collection of work on CCTV that has been produced in this country. It provides students, researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive basis to explore the many issues that arise.’ LCCJ Newsletter. ’...a really comprehensive and diverse set of intelligent and informative papers on CCTV...a collection of essays which ought to be of long-standing value for the next generation of CCTV researchers and urban community safety practitioners...we have here a fine, all-too-rare example, of the real value that can be added to public knowledge and debate.’ Urban Studies ’...provides much needed information to the reader...well-organised, comprehensive and clear...written for ease of understanding for those individuals nor familiar with CCTV...would be appropriate at either the undergraduate or graduate level in a crime prevention course.’ Law and Politics ’...well argued and contains much useful factual information. It is true that there has been very little serious debate on the value of CCTV and its effects on our lives - this book certainly goes some way to correcting this.’ Local Government Studies ’...an excellent source for the researcher...I wo