We can conceive two basic theoretical perspectives to explain criminality: the culturalist and the rationalist. From the first one derives public policies aimed to decrease criminality through actions on the social disorganization. The second one emphasizes a strategy in which the main role of the state is to dissuade the offender of the criminal practice. This paper reviews the literature, making evident several myths concerning the crime and the activity of the police. Two models of police action, one more traditional and reactive and the other more preventive, will be discussed, in an attempt to show that the rationalism gives more theoretical support to public safety policies that value the promotion of a sense of citizenship.
Public safety; Policing; Citizenship; Urban violence