7.2.3  Individual Self-Protection from Shortfalls in Governance

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

If people have reason to believe that they will not be protected by any of the four dimensions of formal governance, they may decide to 'take the law into their own hands' to protect themselves.  Individual Self-Protection can range from passive measures to having an armed response to threats:

·      The costs of law enforcement can be reduced if people are told what precautions to take to combat crime.  The police might find it cost-effective to conduct publicity campaigns from time to time, to remind people to take precautions to secure their homes; the population takes responsibility for a level of Self-Protection and then pays less tax as a result of the reduced cost of policing.

·       ‘Neighbourhood watch’ schemes became popular in the UK,[1] for example, and have the advantage of increasing community cohesion as well as helping to deter crime.  Potential criminals know that it is more likely that neighbours would notice suspicious activity and that the police are more likely to be called where such schemes are in operation.  Some insurance companies offer reduced premiums in neighbourhood-watch areas – reflecting their effectiveness.

·      The increased use of private security guards, by contrast, reduces social cohesion and increases fear and distrust; it is a reflection of increasing inequality in societies where gated communities have become fashionable.[2]  Some private security guards have guns.

·      There are individuals who want to protect themselves with guns, whereas others believe that this is a more appropriate role for a police force.  Opinion in America is divided between having more or less gun control – a debate which resurfaces every time there is another massacre in a school.[3]  Statistics suggest that people are safer in societies with fewer guns,[4] but the National Rifle Association (which has a financial interest in gun sales) argues that possession of a weapon makes people safer.[5]

·      An individual who feels threatened, or insulted, may have no recourse in law and might therefore resort to violence.  Such individuals place themselves outside the law.

·      The most dangerous form of 'self-service' in policing is the formation of vigilante groups or militia.  Some militia, which are created by ethnic groups to protect themselves, provide a ready means of turning ethnic tensions (6.7.4.2) into violence.

It might seem that these forms of Self-Protection are a matter of individual choice, but weapons in private hands constitute a risk to the rest of society: they can inflict a death penalty without the safeguard of a court of law.[6]

© PatternsofPower.org, 2014