Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Br J Sociol. 2010 Mar;61(1):63-82. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-4446.2009.01302.x.
It has been well documented that owing to the vulnerability inherent in their situation and status, the homeless experience high rates of harassment and criminal victimization. And yet, the question of whether CCTV surveillance of public and private spaces - so frequently viewed by the middle classes as a positive source of potential security - might also be viewed by the homeless in similar ways. Within the present paper, I address this issue by considering the possibility that CCTV might be seen by some homeless men and women as offering: a) a measure of enhanced security for those living in the streets and in shelters, and; b) to the extent that security is conceived of as a social good, the receipt of which marks one as a citizen of the state, a means by which they can be reconstituted as something more than 'lesser citizens'. To test these ideas, I rely on data from interviews conducted with homeless service users, service providers for the homeless, and police personnel in three cities. What is revealed is a mixed set of beliefs as to the relative security and meaning of CCTV.
已有大量文献表明，由于无家可归者处境和地位的固有脆弱性，他们遭受骚扰和犯罪侵害的比例很高。然而，一个问题是，公共和私人空间的闭路电视监控——中产阶级通常将其视为潜在安全的积极来源——无家可归者是否也会以类似的方式看待。在本文中，我通过考虑以下可能性来解决这个问题：闭路电视监控可能被一些无家可归的男女视为：a）为那些生活在街头和收容所的人提供更高程度的安全保障；b）在安全被视为一种社会公益的情况下，获得这种保障标志着一个人是国家的公民，是将他们重新定义为不仅仅是“二等公民”的一种手段。为了验证这些想法，我依赖于对三个城市的无家可归者服务使用者、无家可归者服务提供者和警察人员进行的访谈数据。结果显示，对于闭路电视监控的相对安全性和意义，存在着一系列复杂的看法。
