Can you help shape our future priorities? Take a five minute survey now. Survey closes on 8 July.

Publication

Fortress Britain’: High Security, Insecurity and the Challenge of Preventing Harm

Published on 1 November 2012

High security is now institutionalised by means of required security ‘standards’. How and why did this become contemporary orthodoxy? How far does it help to prevent crime and fear of crime? Are current policies part of the solution or part of the problem? We explore these questions here, drawing upon a small field study and other research.

We look first at the history of private security and theories of defensible space. Next, we set out the findings from field research in a London housing estate. We then examine the dynamics of high security and conclude by drawing out lessons for the prevention of harm.

Authors

Share

Related content

Working Paper

Mining Legitimacy: Governing the Politics of Resource-Based Green Industrial Policy

IDS Working Paper 623

3 July 2025

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.