False security or greater social inclusion? Exploring perceptions of CCTV use in public and private spaces accessed...

It has been well documented that owing to the vulnerability inherent in their situation and status, the homeless experience high rates of harassment and criminal victimization. And yet, the question of whether CCTV surveillance of public and private spaces - so frequently viewed by the middle classes as a positive source of potential security - might also be viewed by the homeless in similar ways. Within the present paper, I address this issue by considering the possibility that CCTV might be seen by some homeless men and women as offering: a) a measure of enhanced security for those living in the streets and in shelters, and; b) to the extent that security is conceived of as a social good, the receipt of which marks one as a citizen of the state, a means by which they can be reconstituted as something more than 'lesser citizens'. To test these ideas, I rely on data from interviews conducted with homeless service users, service providers for the homeless, and police personnel in three cities. What is revealed is a mixed set of beliefs as to the relative security and meaning of CCTV.