GeoCriminology

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GeoCriminology
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Outline

• Traditional Criminology vs. GeoCriminology
• What is GeoCriminology
• GeoCriminological Correlates of Crime
• Evolution of GeoCriminology?
• Theoretical Developments
• Policy Implications

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Traditional Criminology vs. GeoCriminology

• Mainstream Criminology has focused on explaining
  the causes of crime, the relationship between law
  and behavior, victimization, the interaction of
  criminal justice system components. In other
  words, the primary focus has been on the
  offenders, victims, the law, and the system.
• A parallel perspective that recently is gaining
  considerable attention is GeoCriminology. Rather
  than an intense focus on the offender, attention
  is being directed toward those criminogenic
  factors in the environment that make some places
  hot beds of crime, and other locations buffered
  safe havens.

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Traditional Criminology

• Individual Theories of Crime
• Micro level theoretical perspectives that examine
  individual correlates of crime personality,
  intelligence, child rearing, frustration-aggressio
  n, rate of maturation, biological factors
  genetics, diet, hormones (Banduras Social
  Learning Theory, Psychodynamic Theory, A B
  PIC-R, Biological theories)
• Structural and Processural Theories of Crime
• Theoretical perspectives that examine the
  relationship between societys social structure
  and culture and how this relationship is mediated
  by socialization and other developmental
  processes friendship networks, social class,
  informal and formal control levels, child parent
  relationships, social bonds (Social
  Disorganization, Differential Social
  Organization, Social Control, Differential
  Association, General Strain Theory)

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Traditional Criminology, contd.

• Conflict and Marxist Theories of Crime
• Theoretical perspectives that explore how
  economic factors, unemployment, poverty,
  mobility, power differentials, social threat and
  its relationship to control, and other macro
  level correlates affect societal crime rates
  Contributions by Kornhauser, Messner and
  Rosenfeld, Chamlin, Cochran, Spitzer, Tittle,
  Liska, Marx
• Integrated and Lifecourse Theories
• Theoretical perspectives that explore the
  interaction between criminological correlates
  (macro and micro) from many disciplines, as well
  as, the impact of life events on individuals over
  the course of their lifetime Gluecks research,
  Sampson and Laub, Gottfredson and Hirschi,
  Thornberry, Mazerolle, Moffit and many others.

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What is GeoCriminology

• Keywords environmental criminology, crime and
  place, ecology of crime
• Df developing theoretical tradition that
  explores the impact of features and facilities on
  crime and examines the clustering of behaviors
  temporally and spatially
• Df the study and research on the spatial and
  temporal dimensions of crime

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What is GeoCriminology, contd.

• Features and facilities?
• Physical Factors, Structural Factors, Social
  Milieu?
• EXAMPLES?
• How is crime distributed temporally, what
  temporal dimensions influence crime
  distributions?
• How is crime distributed spatially, what spatial
  dimensions influence crime distributions?

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Temporal Distribution - factors involved?
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How would we expect crime to be distributed
spatially across the United States (i.e.,
population, age, gender, race)?
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Total Population Proportion Population by Area
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Gender Proportion Male by Area
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Race Proportion African American by Area
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Age Proportion Aged 18_29 by Area
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Renters Proportion of Rental Properties by
State
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Regional Crime Rate 1997
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How would we expect crime to be distributed
spatially across Florida (i.e., population, age,
gender, race)?
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Total Population Proportion Population by Area
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Gender Proportion Male by Area
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Race Proportion African American by Area
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Age Proportion Aged 18_29 by Area
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Crime Rate by County
1997
1997
 
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Drug/Prost 600 am
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Drug/Prost 1200 pm
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Drug/Prost 1600 pm
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Drug/Prost 1000 pm
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Drug/Prost 200 am
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Evolutionary Developmentreducing the level of
resolution

• Early French Scholars (Guerry and Quetelet)
• Police Precincts, Urban Areas, Regional
  Differences
• Early English Scholars (Mayhew and Tobias)
• Variation within regions, rookeries
• 1940s-1950s (Chicago School)
• Variation within cities, migration and city
  growth patterns
• 1960s 1970s (Jacobs, Angel, Jeffery, Newman)
• Building layouts, architectural designs, street
  patterns
• 1980s (Brantinghams and Taylor
• Began to focus heavily on behavioral settings,
  places
• 1990s Present (Sherman, Eck, Taylor,
  Brantingham)
• Hot spots, blocks, face blocks, intersections,
  land parcels)

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Theoretical Development

• CPTED (crime prevention through environmental
  design)
• Jeffery, Crowe
• Defensible Space
• Oscar Newman, Jacobs
• Social Disorganization Theory (some say)
• Shaw and McKay, Bursik,
• Routine Activities Theory
• Cohen and Felson, Eck
• Lifestyle Theory
• Garofolo et al.
• Crime Pattern Theory/Hotspot Analysis
• Sherman, Eck, Taylor

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Policy Implications?