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Safe haven laws as crime control theater
Michelle Hammond1, Monica K Miller1, Timothy Griffin1
1University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA.
Child Abuse & Neglect
|July 15, 2010
Summary
Safe haven laws, designed to prevent infant abandonment, function as "crime control theater." These policies create an illusion of safety but may be ineffective and distract from addressing root causes of child endangerment.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Public Policy Analysis
- Sociology
Background:
- Safe haven laws permit parents to legally abandon infants.
- These laws are often enacted as responses to perceived threats of child abandonment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate if safe haven laws align with the concept of "crime control theater."
- Crime control theater describes policies that appear effective but lack real impact.
Main Methods:
- Applying the principles of crime control theater to analyze safe haven laws.
- Examining if safe haven laws are reactionary, myth-appealing, and potentially ineffective.
Main Results:
- Safe haven laws exhibit characteristics of crime control theater, including high publicity and public appeal.
- Despite intentions, the effectiveness of safe haven laws in saving infant lives is questionable and may be counterproductive.
- Child abandonment is identified as a socially constructed problem with socially constructed solutions.
Conclusions:
- Safe haven laws are classified as crime control theater.
- Further research is crucial to assess the effectiveness and unintended consequences of safe haven laws.
- Longitudinal studies and data collection are recommended to improve understanding and policy development.
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