NCJ Number
172921
Journal
Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 31-60
Date Published
1998
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Environmental criminology is a rapidly growing field within criminology and criminal justice, one that explores how actual criminal events involve interactions between motivated individuals and social, economic, legal, and physical surroundings.
Abstract
The field of environmental criminology is growing as theoreticians and researchers actively explore crimes as diverse events that can be understood when explored by jointly considering potential offenders and their proximal and distal surroundings. Theoretical approaches developing within the field of environmental criminology are reviewed and analyzed. Based on these theoretical approaches, the movement of research findings into urban planning and architecture is discussed. Links between environmental criminology and urban planning are examined, with specific examples provided. The authors conclude urban planning and architecture shape physical and social surroundings that create the backdrop for crime. 158 references, 16 footnotes, 2 tables, and 2 figures