Visit to PC Mark Biggs at Secured By Design

On Friday I visited PC Mark Biggs at Southwark Police Station. Mark specialises in security in the built environment and took some time to explain the different aspects of how buildings can control crime rates.

Useful outcome:

Understanding of what elements of buildings and environment nurture crime, as well as which ones deter it.

Understanding of offender mindset and possible reasons for why they commit crimes.

Increased knowledge of existing products that are used to try and deter crime and their benefits and shortcomings.

Gateway

The gateway went pretty badly as the tutors were concerned that my project is suddenly going in a different direction to the way it was going before.

Gateway presentation link: http://www.box.net/shared/jjizfu9xvl

The key now is to understand the insights gained from the experiments I've done and either:

a) Justify my project direction more strongly and continue on this route.

b) Re-evaluate my position and find a direction more fitting with my initial one.

The important thing is that I figure it out soon and stick to it in order to maximise the time I have available to me and get some good work out of it.

Mystery box mark II (or 4)

This was my second attempt at the Mystery Box experiment. I used 4 boxes this time and filled the bowls with jelly, which was not only pretty, but also very slimy.

I managed to coax a few people to do the experiment and it was helpful in some respects, but it actually gave me all the information it was going to give me after only a few tries. It was flawed as everyone who I asked to do the experiment knows me and so there was never really any great risk to them and they knew it. However, with Sam, knowing that it was my experiment actually made him see the risks as higher and he outright refused to put his hand into any of the boxes.

Santi - seemed pretty comfortable just going for it

Sam (pictured left) - refused to put his hand in the boxes

Marjan - she eventually talked herself into going for it

Overall I learned what I needed to know fairly quickly, and the experiment acted as an interesting talking point about why people do some things and not others, and the relationships that boost and weaken their resolves.

More experiments done today...

Places that people felt afraid

I asked people to tell me about places where they had experienced anxiety, uneasiness or fear. Below are a selection of some of the places that were brought up.

Some of the pictures show areas where violent crimes were committed, some where robberies occurred and others show where a person or people simply felt uncomfortable.

Can you guess which was which?

Which do you find most intimidating? What I find interesting is that even though they are mainly photographed in the day, some of them still feel oppressive.

Experiments done today...

Homeward Bound A

Participants were asked to draw their route to their fictional home from a fictional bus stop. No information was provided other than the time and the map shown below.

The idea was to see whether people would take the shortest route, or whether they would take any other factors into consideration, such as the number of street crossings, etc.

Homeward Bound A

Homeward Bound B

Like HB-A, except that in this scenario the participants are provided with much more information as to what's going on around them in the mapped area.

This experiment hoped to show how people's attitudes changed to an area when they knew what else inhabited it with them.

Given the new information, many of the responses changed, and the most obvious change was seen when the time was changed from 8pm to 2am.

Homeward Bound B

Homeward Bound C

This experiment presented participants with a choice of shortcuts to their fictional home in a housing estate. The shortcut went through a forested area, but directly linked the local tube stations to the house. This scenario allowed exploration into how far out of their way people were prepared to go in the search for safety, and provided fertile topics for further conversation on the subject.

Homeward Bound C

Mystery Box Dare

The mystery box awaits you!

This experiment focused on finding out whether people learn from their mistakes, and just how trusting they are willing to be. I asked people to put their hand into a nondescript box and tell me what was inside. Some people refused, and some people were happy to do it right away. Others took a bit of persuasion and in the end their curiosity tended to get the better of them.

When they put their hand into the box it was submerged in a bowl of water. This didn't get the reaction I was looking for, but I carried on with the experiment anyway. The next step was to get people to put their hand in the next box, despite the first one having been a trick one.

When I repeat this experiment tomorrow I'm going to use 4 boxes, and put some horrible (but harmless) objects in the first box...

Quick survey on perceived Risk

Hey everyone. It'd be great if you could have a quick go at this questionnaire for me...

Updated Risk project mapping