The theory behind SNUG is that social workers, former criminals, will be mentors
to those who are on the edge of committing or have committed a crime, in gangs or while
using guns, to try and make them turn a “new leaf.” A lot of the locations of SNUG are
place right in the Hot Spot areas in which crimes are being committed to try and deter
crime. The criminological theory that SNUG is most closely affiliated with is the
Deterrence Theory. The Deterrence Theory tries to make potential criminals balance the
costs and benefits of crime. Theorists believe that by doing this, the potential criminal
will see that crime isn’t worthwhile and they would be deterred from following through
with the criminal act. I believe this has a lot to do with the program SNUG because
SNUG is all about talking to potential crime committers and trying to deter them from
following through with current or future criminal acts.
