Mike Sutton (criminologist)
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mike" Sutton (born 1959) is the originator of the Market Reduction Approach
(MRA) to theft. Described by Marcus Felson as classic research and as a simple idea, Sutton's MRA has had a significant influence upon theory and practice regarding stolen goods markets and markets for other illicit commodities. Influential criminologists have incorporated Sutton’s work on stolen goods markets to explain the issue of offenders’ capacity to commit crimes. Hopkins Burke writes of Sutton’s earlier work on the MRA: “He suggests that judges and their advisors should consider the social harm stolen goods markets do in stimulating the incidence and prevalence of theft - and the unintended consequences
of providing subsidies for the illicit sex and drugs industries.” The general MRA principles outlined by Sutton have influenced work beyond research into markets for theft of high volume consumer goods, since the MRA is described as underpinning recent research into illicit markets for cultural artefacts and as a useful method for tackling the trade in endangered species.
, Sutton was born in Orpington in Kent. On graduating with BA (hons) Law and PhD from the University of Central Lancashire in 1987, Sutton worked for 14 years as Senior Research Officer in the UK Government's Home Office Department for Research Statistics and Development, and later in the Policing and Reducing Crime Unit. Sutton was on the team that evaluated the unit fines experiment in the UK, the findings of which led the British Government to implement means related fines. At a national level the results proved disastrous as the legislation was rapidly repealed following a media outcry. In 1996, Sutton was part of the team that evaluated the £50m Safer Cities Project, finding it cost effective in reducing domestic burglary. Pease says of Sutton’s 1996 finding in his evaluation of the decision making by Safer Cities coordinators that many turned their backs on what worked in favour of what they believed should work as a “strikingly thought provoking result.”.
Sutton is also the founding General Editor of the open access Internet Journal of Criminology. He is Reader in Criminology, teaches hi-tech crime and crime reduction, and is founding Director of the Centre for the Study and Reduction of Hate Crimes at Nottingham Trent University
. In the field of Hate Crimes, Sutton has published journal articles on the subject of inter-racial relationships and violence.
Sutton's Market Reduction Approach is currently government recommended crime reduction practice in the United Kingdom, recommended by the United States government, and the Australian government. The New Zealand Ministry of Justice identified eight areas of good practice in using MRA techniques to tackle property crime.
who wrote that the theory remains sound but that the police implementing it in Kent (Medway towns) and Manchester in the UK experienced problems doing it properly due to particular policing management/organisational difficulties. Despite the fact that police forces are notoriously resistant to change, the so called Sutton Bible "Tackling Theft With The Market Reduction Approach" is currently the most popular policing guide to tackling theft by cracking down on thieves selling their loot in stolen goods markets. In addition, Sutton's MRA reveals how to identify and police various types of fence (dealers in stolen goods) and the wider buying public.
Sutton's initial five-fold typology of stolen goods markets was discussed by the Secretary of State in the UK Parliament in 2004.
In 1999 Sutton's virtual ethnography of a smart card hacking group was awarded (jointly with David Mann) the British Journal of Criminology annual prize for the article that most significantly contributed to academic knowledge. This article influenced the work of UK Government Foresight Panel on Crime in 2000.
Sutton's early research into vandalism identified Peer Status Motivated Vandalism as the seventh sub-type of vandalism that was missing from the typology created by Stanley Cohen (sociologist)
. Sutton's sub-type was identified years later by Mathew Williams (criminologist) in an article in the Internet Journal of Criminology as the most suitable explanation for the motivation behind the "virtual vandalism
" he studied in a 3D Internet community.
Sutton's Home Office funded Government research report Getting the Message Across on the best use of media for reducing racial prejudice and discrimination famously found that the UK Government, and many of its departments and funded bodies, have been wasting scarce resources on unproven and non-evaluated publicity campaigns that could well have backfired and made the problem worse.
Whilst fact checking a well known story about the impact of bad data on policy making, Sutton debunked a long standing academic myth about a misplaced decimal point in biochemistry research influencing the erroneous promotion of spinach
as a good source of iron.
Sutton is influential to criminologists, social scientists, police and crime reduction experts, as demonstrated by the number of police forces who use the MRA to tackle stolen goods markets in order to seek to tackle the root causes of crime: The MRA has been implemented in the UK by Kent Constabulary, West Mercia Constabulary, Derby City Constabulary, Nottinghamshire Constabulary, and Greater Manchester Police.
Sutton's MRA work Handling Stolen Goods and Theft: A Market Reduction Approach provides the most systematic and comprehensive research into stolen goods markets ever undertaken - revealing that in 1994, 11% of the population of England and Wales bought stolen goods in the past five years and outlining five key market types that show how the most commonly stolen goods are sold. The MRA suggests how these markets might best be policed to reduce both demand for stolen goods and their supply by theft.
Since the MRA is quite heavily based upon the Situational Crime Reduction (SCP) approach and utilises key elements from Routine Activities Theory (RAT) to seek to reduce the very markets that motivate thieves to steal in the first place, it uniquely solved the problem faced by "administrative criminology" regarding earlier academic and practitioner criticisms that SCP and RAT failed to tackle offender motivation as well as opportunity. Both SCP and RAT have evolved to now incorporate elements from MRA research.
Market Reduction Approach
In 1796, the London magistrate Patrick Colquhoun observed that "It rarely happens that thieves go upon the highway, or commit burglaries, until the money they have previously acquired is exhausted," and that "...without a safe and ready market he [the thief] is undone." Recognizing the key role...
(MRA) to theft. Described by Marcus Felson as classic research and as a simple idea, Sutton's MRA has had a significant influence upon theory and practice regarding stolen goods markets and markets for other illicit commodities. Influential criminologists have incorporated Sutton’s work on stolen goods markets to explain the issue of offenders’ capacity to commit crimes. Hopkins Burke writes of Sutton’s earlier work on the MRA: “He suggests that judges and their advisors should consider the social harm stolen goods markets do in stimulating the incidence and prevalence of theft - and the unintended consequences
Unintended Consequences
Unintended Consequences is a novel by John Ross, first published in 1996 by Accurate Press. The story chronicles the history of the gun culture, gun rights and gun control in the United States from the early 1900s through the late 1990s...
of providing subsidies for the illicit sex and drugs industries.” The general MRA principles outlined by Sutton have influenced work beyond research into markets for theft of high volume consumer goods, since the MRA is described as underpinning recent research into illicit markets for cultural artefacts and as a useful method for tackling the trade in endangered species.
Early career
An alumnus of the University of Central LancashireUniversity of Central Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire is a university based in Preston, Lancashire, England.The university has its roots in The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge which was founded in 1828. In 1992 it was granted University status by the Privy Council...
, Sutton was born in Orpington in Kent. On graduating with BA (hons) Law and PhD from the University of Central Lancashire in 1987, Sutton worked for 14 years as Senior Research Officer in the UK Government's Home Office Department for Research Statistics and Development, and later in the Policing and Reducing Crime Unit. Sutton was on the team that evaluated the unit fines experiment in the UK, the findings of which led the British Government to implement means related fines. At a national level the results proved disastrous as the legislation was rapidly repealed following a media outcry. In 1996, Sutton was part of the team that evaluated the £50m Safer Cities Project, finding it cost effective in reducing domestic burglary. Pease says of Sutton’s 1996 finding in his evaluation of the decision making by Safer Cities coordinators that many turned their backs on what worked in favour of what they believed should work as a “strikingly thought provoking result.”.
Sutton is also the founding General Editor of the open access Internet Journal of Criminology. He is Reader in Criminology, teaches hi-tech crime and crime reduction, and is founding Director of the Centre for the Study and Reduction of Hate Crimes at Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University is a public teaching and research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as a new university in 1992 from the existing Trent Polytechnic , however it can trace its roots back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design...
. In the field of Hate Crimes, Sutton has published journal articles on the subject of inter-racial relationships and violence.
Sutton's Market Reduction Approach is currently government recommended crime reduction practice in the United Kingdom, recommended by the United States government, and the Australian government. The New Zealand Ministry of Justice identified eight areas of good practice in using MRA techniques to tackle property crime.
Research
Described as a valuable analysis in the Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Sutton's Market Reduction Approach to theft was independently evaluated by criminologists from the University of KentUniversity of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
who wrote that the theory remains sound but that the police implementing it in Kent (Medway towns) and Manchester in the UK experienced problems doing it properly due to particular policing management/organisational difficulties. Despite the fact that police forces are notoriously resistant to change, the so called Sutton Bible "Tackling Theft With The Market Reduction Approach" is currently the most popular policing guide to tackling theft by cracking down on thieves selling their loot in stolen goods markets. In addition, Sutton's MRA reveals how to identify and police various types of fence (dealers in stolen goods) and the wider buying public.
Sutton's initial five-fold typology of stolen goods markets was discussed by the Secretary of State in the UK Parliament in 2004.
In 1999 Sutton's virtual ethnography of a smart card hacking group was awarded (jointly with David Mann) the British Journal of Criminology annual prize for the article that most significantly contributed to academic knowledge. This article influenced the work of UK Government Foresight Panel on Crime in 2000.
Sutton's early research into vandalism identified Peer Status Motivated Vandalism as the seventh sub-type of vandalism that was missing from the typology created by Stanley Cohen (sociologist)
Stanley Cohen (sociologist)
Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
. Sutton's sub-type was identified years later by Mathew Williams (criminologist) in an article in the Internet Journal of Criminology as the most suitable explanation for the motivation behind the "virtual vandalism
Virtual vandalism
Virtual vandalism is any attack on the virtual property of another, with the sole intention of causing disruption or destruction to said virtual property.- Research into vandalism :...
" he studied in a 3D Internet community.
Sutton's Home Office funded Government research report Getting the Message Across on the best use of media for reducing racial prejudice and discrimination famously found that the UK Government, and many of its departments and funded bodies, have been wasting scarce resources on unproven and non-evaluated publicity campaigns that could well have backfired and made the problem worse.
Whilst fact checking a well known story about the impact of bad data on policy making, Sutton debunked a long standing academic myth about a misplaced decimal point in biochemistry research influencing the erroneous promotion of spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
as a good source of iron.
Sutton is influential to criminologists, social scientists, police and crime reduction experts, as demonstrated by the number of police forces who use the MRA to tackle stolen goods markets in order to seek to tackle the root causes of crime: The MRA has been implemented in the UK by Kent Constabulary, West Mercia Constabulary, Derby City Constabulary, Nottinghamshire Constabulary, and Greater Manchester Police.
Sutton's MRA work Handling Stolen Goods and Theft: A Market Reduction Approach provides the most systematic and comprehensive research into stolen goods markets ever undertaken - revealing that in 1994, 11% of the population of England and Wales bought stolen goods in the past five years and outlining five key market types that show how the most commonly stolen goods are sold. The MRA suggests how these markets might best be policed to reduce both demand for stolen goods and their supply by theft.
Since the MRA is quite heavily based upon the Situational Crime Reduction (SCP) approach and utilises key elements from Routine Activities Theory (RAT) to seek to reduce the very markets that motivate thieves to steal in the first place, it uniquely solved the problem faced by "administrative criminology" regarding earlier academic and practitioner criticisms that SCP and RAT failed to tackle offender motivation as well as opportunity. Both SCP and RAT have evolved to now incorporate elements from MRA research.