Surveillance, Closed Circuit Television and Social Control

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.