Environmental Criminology

"Crime Mapping Case Studies: From Research to Practice provides a series of key examples from practice and research that demonstrate applications of crime mapping and its effect in many areas of policing and crime reduction. This book brings together case studies that show how crime mapping can be used for analysis, intelligence development, monitoring performance, and crime detection and is written by practitioners for practitioners. Leading researchers in the field describe how crime mapping is developing and exposing analytical methodologies and critiquing current practices. Including global case studies that demonstrate a particular application, analytical technique or new theoretical concept, this text offers a truly global overview of this rapidly growing area of interest."

Scientists and policymakers intend worldwide emissions reduction of up to 80 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the next four decades to stabilize atmospheric concentrations (TRB 2011). Henceforth, an immediate response from the transportation sector, one of the largest producers of GHGs (up to 30 percent in the U.S.), is critical for GHGs reduction. Possible long-term solutions towards cutting back on emissions from transportation are increasing supply-of/demand-for more energy/fuel efficient vehicles and to substantially improve the transit system (high-speed rail, passenger rail, metro) to reduce reliance on private vehicles and air travel for short trips. However, the markets are still struggling to produce supply-of/demand-for energy efficient vehicles and public debate on potential ridership of high speed rail is ongoing in the U.S. Another feasible strategy that can prove to be effective is emission pricing. Recent advancement in Intelligent ...

After the earthquake and tsunami occurred in Chile on February 27th 2010, the Technical University Federico Santa Maria was asked to contribute with reconstruction proposals for the commercial infrastructure destroyed in the town “San Juan Bautista”. Located 600 km (~370 mi) away from the continent, this town is not just the home of several endemic species, but is also located next to a National Protected Area and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Within this context, the design problem consisted on the development of a component-based strategy and prefabrication requirements, and to reduce to the minimum the implied logistics and environmental impacts of the new buildings. With a Studio of 23 final year students and the support of the Architecture Firms Association, 11 projects were developed using digital tools such as visual programming and digital fabrication. Finally, technical documentation was produced and delivered to the local and government authorities.

This study contributes to crime drop research on the security hypothesis. Using data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, it finds that the decline in attempted vehicle-related theft and domestic burglary was delayed by 2–4 years. Between 1993 and 1997, completed domestic burglary fell 21% but attempts by only 2.1%, while between 1993 and 1995 theft of cars fell 8% but attempts increased 3%. The delay is interpreted as consistent with rational choice theory and with some offenders continuing to try, but failing, to complete these crimes when faced with improved security. The subsequent decline in attempts is consistent with offenders, particularly new cohorts of adolescents, having been discouraged.

Despite the growth of domestic and international markets in second homes, there has been relatively little research on this issue in the Australian context. Yet several features of this context present interesting ways of extending the debates about second home ownership that have characterised social and policy discussions to date in the UK and Europe. In this paper we consider the overall extent, regional distribution and broader impacts of a form of second home ownership that has risen rapidly and which is facilitated by a range of fiscal and macro-economic settings. We present the results of two national surveys that asked about the ownership of holiday homes and which reveal extensive ownership across a range of social groups. We then move to a discussion of a case study in the island state of Tasmania and to the growing commodification of its holiday ‘shack’ market to add depth to discussions about the localised ramifications of second home ownership. We conclude by discussing our results in the context of the international literature and by considering the public policy issues that our data raise.

This is an earlier and substantially lengthier version of the European Commission’s Green Paper on Ports and Maritime Infrastructure, which I had prepared as a member of Commissioner Neil Kinnock’s wise men group.

The Green Paper has often been described as the most influential port policy document ever produced by the EC. The current version does not in any way commit the European Commission and interested readers are advised to refer to the final version of the Green Paper as published by the EC.

The present work requires careful and persistent reading so that the reader bypasses the necessary bureaucratic 'superficiality' and identifies my core arguments which, I am happy to say, have not changed to the slightest in the 15 years since its publication. Many of these arguments had been described as ‘politically dangerous’ and, consequently, did not find their way into the Green Paper. I quote one of them in p.7 (emphasis added):

…The Commission’s White Paper on the future development of the common transport policy  laid down a new vision for transport policy, following the principle of sustainable mobility; i.e. a strategy that acknowledges the need for a more balanced transport system that would fulfil its economic and social role while, at the same time, containing its effects on the environment. The overall objective of such an approach, as clearly described by the European Parliament , is to …promote sustainable, efficient transport systems which meet the economic, social, environmental and safety needs of European citizens; help reduce regional disparities; and enable European business to compete effectively in world markets… Again, the ‘challenge’ is apparent: a more balanced  pan-European transport system with the above objectives is in stark contrast with hub-porting; concentration of traffic to selected ports; longer distances; and consequent transport externalities. It is thus increasingly felt that the European Commission needs to depart from its all-pleasing ‘statements’ and make hard-nosed decisions in order to effectuate its cohesion and regional development objectives which are the overarching ones…(unquote).

A closing note of caution on my use of the word 'superficiality': With remarkable consistency, European institutions involved in the maritime sector have been focusing all along on issues such as safety and environmental protection; issues which, among others, have allowed the proliferation of various monopolies in the port sector. I believe this has not happened accidentally. I believe instead that the focus on the ‘secondary’ has obscured and diverted attention from the ‘primary’, which comprises the ‘politically sensitive’ issues of port pricing; infrastructure financing; state aids; transparency of port accounts; and, finally, a European ‘port governance’ model.

This article establishes a state-of-the-art review about the contribution of the community factors in the study of developmental trajectories of antisocial and criminal behavior. It aims to clarify and organize what the scientific discourse says about the relationships between community and behavioral trajectories. With this purpose, divided in two directions it presents, analyzes and discusses the most relevant: (1) theoretical perspectives and (2) empirical studies that can be found within the subject of Developmental Criminology. Before that, a brief passage through the theoretical foundations of this theme – historically speaking, they precede Developmental Criminology (DC) but DC actualizes them – towards a wider theoretical comprehension of the origins and conceptual and empirical games at stake in the present. We will jump towards this review with a starting shot built upon the following questions – to be answered along the article: Which community factors have an impact on antisocial development/life paths and how much do they matter? What interactions do they have with other systems of influences? At what periods in individual’s lives (timing) do communities make an impact? Does the weight of its influence vary across developmental stages or age?



Este artigo realiza uma revisão teórica da contribuição dos fatores comunitários para as trajetórias de desenvolvimento antissocial e criminal. Procura esclarecer e organizar o que diz o discurso científico sobre as relações entre comunidade e trajetórias comportamentais. Para isso, apresenta, analisa e discute, por um lado, as perspetivas teóricas e, por outro, os estudos empíricos mais relevantes encontrados na disciplina da Criminologia Desenvolvimental. Antes disso, faz uma breve passagem pelas fundações teóricas do tema que precedem historicamente esta subdisciplina da Criminologia – que vai beber deles – para uma mais abrangente compreensão teórica das origens e jogos conceituais e empíricos que se observam no presente. Saltaremos para este “estado da arte” com um tiro de partida que se formula pelas seguintes perguntas – a que se procura dar resposta ao longo do artigo: quais os fatores comunitários que impactuam nas trajetórias antissociais/percursos de vida e qual o seu peso? Que interações tecem com outros sistemas de causação? Em que períodos da vida dos indivíduos (timing) surtem as comunidades a sua influência? A magnitude do impacto comunitário varia consoante o estágio desenvolvimental ou idade?

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is an approach to understanding crime which focuses on the built environment and geography instead of simply a potential offender’s behavior or socio-economic characteristics. The theory of CPTED proposes that characteristics of the built environment can lower or increase the risk of crime at a location, based on the principles of Natural Surveillance, Natural Access Control, Territoriality, and Image. For this study, I investigated how CPTED characteristics had an impact on the property crime rate in Beaumont, Texas. I observed six Beaumont neighborhoods, and their houses and other buildings were rated according to an audit list I developed, consisting of 12 quantifiable CPTED characteristics based on the four principles. The houses and buildings of the six neighborhoods were rated by their individual parcels, according to a 0-4 based scale. These rated parcels were aggregated to a combined total of 134 residential blocks in ArcGIS, with each block being assigned the average of the CPTED ratings of the combined parcels. Maps of the six neighborhoods and their blocks were created which showed their vulnerability to crime, based on CPTED characteristic ratings. In addition to the CPTED vulnerability maps, I also developed maps which showed actual crime rates, which rated residential blocks within neighborhoods based on the number of crimes per 1,000 houses. The maps and spreadsheet data from the audit were used to determine the relationship of CPTED characteristics to crime rate. The research hypothesis was that neighborhoods that exhibit comparatively more CPTED characteristics will have fewer instances of crime than neighborhoods that exhibit fewer CPTED characteristics. The null hypothesis was that neighborhoods that exhibit more CPTED characteristics will not show a significant difference in crime rate compared to neighborhoods with fewer CPTED characteristics. The data was collected by slowly traversing each neighborhood by car, and using high-definition video cameras to record each individual house. The recorded video was later played back, and the CPTED residential audit was completed for each house. Information from the audit was documented in a spreadsheet, and also entered into ArcGIS software in order to create the CPTED vulnerability maps. ArcGIS was also used to create crime rate maps, based on data from the Beaumont Police Department. The neighborhoods were ranked from highest CPTED rating down to lowest CPTED rating; and from lowest crime count to highest crime count, to see if there were similar rankings in which high CPTED rating is closely paired with low crime-count. In addition to the ranking method, the CPTED ratings and crime counts for each block of the six neighborhoods were also plotted on a graph, to determine if there is a valid linear regression in which crime rate is determined by the CPTED rating. The results show that the neighborhood with the highest CPTED rating had the second lowest crime density, and the neighborhood with the lowest CPTED rating had the highest crime density. The ranks of the neighborhoods according to CPTED rating and crime count show that there likely is some relationship between these two variables. A regression analysis shows that there is an inverse relationship (y = -550.49x + 1254.5) in which an increase in the CPTED rating corresponds to a decrease in crime rate per 1,000, with an R2 value of .1805. The Spearman-Rho test indicates that there is a moderate correlation (R = .447) between CPTED rating and crime rate per 1,000, at the .05 significance level with a P value of 0.00000007. When looking at the CPTED rating maps of these neighborhoods alongside the crime count maps, many values of blocks in the CPTED maps correspond to similar values in the crime count maps. This phenomenon can better be illustrated by determining where similar rank values in CPTED rating and crime rating “overlap.” Although this process is more subjective compared to other methods, it is helpful in illuminating the areas in which the CPTED rating procedure most strongly predicted areas which are most at risk for crime, and which areas are most defended against crime. Even though this process of finding overlap was somewhat subjective, it was able to correctly predict 85 out of 134 blocks (63%) while the remaining 49 blocks (37%) do not show the relationship being sought, according to the hypothesis. The regression analysis and Spearman’s test showed this relationship in a more objective manner than the maps, illustrating that crime rate falls as CPTED ratings rise.

"La ausencia de urbanismo y falta de control arquitectónico son los elementos que definen los barrios como asentamientos de población, sin embargo, ante esta condición ¿es posible evidenciar algún orden en el progreso de la vivienda?

La respuesta a esta duda se desarrolla en el siguiente trabajo. Con una muestra de 251 casas, ubicadas en dos barrios de la ciudad de Caracas, se compuso un modo de proceder en el progreso de la construcción de la vivienda, tanto en su disposición habitacional como en la calidad de su estructura; explicitando un orden en la construcción progresiva de la vivienda en barrios ubicados en terrenos montañosos."

Why is support for marijuana legalization among African Americans notably modest given that such a policy would drastically reduce the number of African Americans arrested annually for nonviolent drug offenses? In this article I assess whether the urban frustration argument is an adequate explanation for Blacks’ generally low levels of support for marijuana legalization. I analyzed merged Supplemental Homicide Report and Drug Arrest data and General Social Survey data to determine the extent to which race-specific murder victimization rates and race-specific drug arrest rates in U.S. cities are predictive of support for marijuana legalization among Blacks and Whites between 1990 and 2000. Findings indicate that Blacks’ level of support for marijuana legalization is greatest in those cities with the highest Black drug arrest rates. Consequently, these findings provide no support for the urban frustration argument.

O que fez com que hoje nós não tenhamos a correta noção de como lidar com o fenômeno “crime”? O que faz com que tenhamos hoje um quadro gravíssimo de insegurança pública, mesmo tendo nossos governos investido tantos recursos nessa área nas últimas décadas? O que faz pensar que encarcerando uma parcela maior da sociedade estaremos combatendo eficazmente a criminalidade? O que ocasionou a nossa sociedade clamar por punições medievais e legitimá-las e as condições desumanas dos nossos cárceres, mesmo em pleno século 21? O que naturalizou e banalizou a violência cometida pelo Estado através de suas forças oficiais? Por que a Academia não consegue explicar e propor soluções viáveis a todo esse caos? E, ainda, quando são apresentadas tais soluções, por que não há utilização destas por parte dos agentes e agências (políticas) de poder? Onde foi que nós erramos?

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.

México (2020) se desarrolla una metodología cuantitativa para medir los niveles de dicha categoría. Siguiendo la criminología verde se define impunidad ambiental, en un sentido amplio, para integrar la imposibilidad de investigar, perseguir, enjuiciar, sancionar y reparar los delitos y daños en contra del medioambiente; el incumplimiento de objetivos de política ambiental y climática, así como la inexistencia de estrategias y programas de políticas públicas intergeneracionales. Los resultados del índice evidencian que el desempeño de los estados en México se encuentra por debajo de la mitad del puntaje máximo que podrían alcanzar, lo cual refleja una política ambiental muy frágil, insuficientes capacidades institucionales para proteger los ecosistemas y la imposibilidad de garantizar el derecho a un medioambiente sano. En este trabajo se argumenta sobre la importancia de medir grados de impunidad ambiental como una forma de operacionalizar problemas de justicia; se discute el alcance de dicho concepto; se explica la metodología estructurada en cuatro dimensiones, 42 indicadores y el modelo estadístico que componen el índice; y se analizan los resultados obtenidos de manera desagregada. Como conclusión se destacan la necesidad de desarrollar sistemas de indicadores más confiables en materia ambiental, el valor explicativo de las capacidades institucionales y la complejidad involucrada en la medición de los delitos y el daño ambiental.

That talk is never disinterested complicates the relationship between the environment and the claims people make about it. Talk about place, and one's self in it, is particularly complex when the environment poses risk or is otherwise problematized. This study, a secondary analysis of interview data, seeks to extend discursive work on place-identity by examining the ways in which 14 residents of a small English village talk about themselves and their locale. The locale accommodates an active quarry, and many residents had lodged complaints to the quarry about dust, noise and vibrations from blasting. Attention to the interactional context of the interviews illustrates the ways in which (simply) interviewing people about their locale can threaten self- and place-identity. When asked about life in the village, interviewees oriented to two main dilemmas in protecting self- and place-identity: (1) how to justify continued residence in a challenging environment and (2) how to complain about the locale whilst maintaining positive place-identity. Discursive responses to these dilemmas drew upon typical identity processes, such as self- and place distinctiveness and the formulation of out-groups, as well as upon constructions of localized power-sharing and morally obligated tolerance of risk. We suggest that research on problematical places, and of environmental risk, needs to be sensitized to how it may constitute a threat to self- and place-identity, and how this may mediate formulations self and place, as well as of environmental risk.

Phronetic organizational research is an approach to the study of management and organizations focusing on ethics and power. It is based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, usually as ‘prudence’. Phronesis is the ability to think and act in relation to values, to deliberate about ‘things that are good or bad for humans’ in the words of Aristotle (1976:1140a24–b12). Phronetic organizational research effectively provides answers to the following four value-rational questions, for specific problematics in management and organization studies: 1. Where are we going with this specific management problematic? 2. Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? 3. Is this development desirable? 4. What, if anything, should we do about it?

Comprehensive overview of the impact of tourism on the coastal and urban environments of Bournemouth

Table of Contents:

Fieldwork Outline 1
Geographical Context 1
Methods of Investigation 3
Coastline Environment’s Features (sub-questions 1, 2) 5
Tourism Profile of Bournemouth (sub-questions 3, 4) 8
Demographical Patterns (sub-question 3) 8
Social Patterns (sub-questions 3, 4) 9
Urban Environment (sub-questions 1, 2, 4, 5) 11
Safety Index (sub-question 1) 11
Transport Survey (sub-question 4) 12
Mini-Golf Management (sub-questions 4, 5) 13
Land-Use of Old Christchurch Road (sub-questions 1, 2) 14
Management of Pressures and Conflicts (sub-question 5) 15
Economic Influence of Tourism on Bournemouth (sub-question 6) 17
Conclusion and Evaluation 19


Word-Count: 4000 Words
Page-Count: 24 Pages
Author: Angel Versetti

This chapter challenges simplistic representations of the intercommunal violence that took place during the 1946 oil strike in Abadan, in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, as rooted either in primordial ethnic hatred or in an imperialist plot. The chapter reconstructs in detail several days of tensions and clashes, and places them within a historical context of coercive industrial urban development, labor activism, ethnic mobilization and global politics. Using oil company records, national archives and personal accounts, the focus of the analysis is the socio-spatial unit of the club as a place for socialization, a site of strife in the life of an oil city, and as a key political space with significance in the evolution of the modern Iranian nation state.

En el presente artículo se describe, con un propósito orientado
a la prevención del ciberdelito, el modo en que el comportamiento de la víctima en el ciberespacio influye decisivamente en la génesis del delito, señalándose al mismo tiempo algunos factores ambientales que empujan a las víctimas a adoptar elevados riesgos de victimización. Para ello, se esbozan, en primer lugar, los motivos que explican por qué el diseño de las arquitecturas digitales incrementan notablemente las oportunidades delictivas (que facilitan la cibervictimización) y cómo las notas definitorias del ciberespacio afectan sensiblemente en las actividades cotidianas de las personas y, más aún, en la inclinación del ser humano a adoptar estilos de vida de mayor riesgo. Seguidamente, se muestran cómo las perspectivas victimológica y victimodogmática revisten una singular importancia no solo en la explicación del evento delictivo y en las estrategias de prevención sino también en la atribución de responsabilidad jurídico-penal.
Partiendo de las características criminógenas de las arquitecturas digitales, se identifica un conjunto de rasgos (psicológicos, antropológicos y sociológicos) que inciden en el perfil de las víctimas o, cuando menos, de determinados grupos de víctimas. Dicho análisis estará enfocado a describir cómo el entorno influye en el modo de pensar y actuar de las personas,
dando lugar con posterioridad a analizar ciertas consideraciones sobre la calidad y relevancia del consentimiento, sus déficits y la forma de afrontarlos. Finalmente, se analizan de forma sintética algunas particularidades de las estrategias de prevención de la ciberdelincuencia (o mejor, de la cibervictimización), y se apuntan algunas reflexiones críticas sobre ciertos estereotipos en relación con el perfil del ofensor y de la víctima.

Early city plans situated railroads to clear slums, linking the long-standing infrastructure interests of businessmen to the agendas of Progressive reformers. In Cincinnati, nineteenth-century business leaders advocated railroad construction and reorganization to institute reasonable freight rates. In the twentieth century, they achieved their desires by establishing a mandate in municipal government for the new profession of urban planning, with its political power to shape the physical city and the use of private property within it.

The Aalborg Project may be interpreted as a metaphor of modern politics, modern administration and planning, and of modernity itself. The basic idea of the project was comprehensive, coherent, and innovative, and it was based on rational and democratic argument. During implementation, however, when idea met reality, the play of Machiavellian princes, Nietzschean will to power, and Foucauldian rationality-as-rationalization resulted in the fragmentation of the project.

In taking a further step to sustain livable cities, the problems of urban poor housing and urban poor residents’ lives need to be addressed. This paper studies a specific practice of near-home space appropriation in Baan Mankong (BMK – slum-upgrading program) in Bangbua canal-side communities, Bangkok. There have been a considerable number of studies from diverse viewpoints, discussing space appropriation in residential areas. Some focus on crime prevention such as defensible space theory, while others attempt to develop better understanding of person-place relationships and well-being of individuals. This paper will focus on the latter. A human territorial functioning perspective (with respect to social class, level of homeownership and personality) is focused to study urban poor residents’ uses and behaviors towards their near-home environment.

The empirical research, based on site observation and interviews, demonstrates that collective space appropriation has emerged from both traditional human practices in the near-home environment and, to a certain degree, as a result of new-found empowerment from resident participation within the BMK, government housing program. The space appropriation in the case studies reveals variation of functional usages, socio-cultural qualities, and everyday human practices through those appropriations, which reflect local subcultures and social bonds that pre-exist and/or have developed during the participatory process of the slum upgrading program. The paper will also discuss the kinds of spatial features and physical settings that enable collective near-home space appropriation, and how residents benefit from this practice individually and collectively.

Key words: space appropriation, near-home environment, participatory process, slum-upgrading program

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools used to collect, store, manipulate and display spatially-referenced information. They are used to support decision-making in a wide variety of contexts, including spatial planning and environmental management. Because the process of GIS production, from software development to visualization of GIS output, is characterized by political, economic and social motivations, it is important that GIS practitioners are aware of issues such as access to data and the political economy of information, and the nature of GIS epistemologies vis-a-vis multiple coexisting perceptions of reality. Lack of such appreciation can lead to social and spatial marginalization of communities. Use of GIS in a research program for environmental management of the Cooum River in Chennai, and in support of participatory processes for managing environment and health in slums are used to demonstrate appropriate applications of GIS in India. Internet-distr...

Several recent authors reflect upon Upton Sinclair’s novel: The Jungle, when they are
analyzing the ethical and psychological issues connected to slaughterhouses (Fitzgerald, 2010;
Fitzgerald, Kalof &Dietz, 2009; Zwart,2005; Zwart,2000). Another famous thinker who is
often quoted in the slaughterhouse literature is Georges Bataille, who stated that
slaughterhouses are like boats, which are carrying cholera, thus people try to stay away from
them as far as possible. (Fitzgerald,2010). Other classics are also mentioned. For instance
Norbert Elias (Fitzgerald,2010 ;Zwart,2005.) or Michel Foucault (Zwart,2005; Zwart, 2000).
However not many (or none) of the contemporary authors dealing with the ethical and
psychological issues connected to slaughterhouses have referred to Bernard de Mandeville,
who was one of the first ones, who had warned about the psychological dangers of
slaughterhouses and, who was against the cruelty towards animals. He was probably
defending animals from the cruelty of humans because of Montaigne’s influence (Primer,
2006.) The historical importance of Mandeville (1670-1733) is especially evident in the
slaughterhouse literature if we consider –what is pointed out by Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald, 2010)
that slaughterhouses were being moved out of the cities to rural slaughterhouses out of site of
at the end of the 17th century, when mass slaughtering has begun. In this paper I will quote
from Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees. Based on his words and the current literature, I will
analyze the harmful psychological effects caused by slaughterhouses and propose that we
should shift to another type of food/meat production because of these negative impacts (and
because of the environmental harms caused by the meat factories).

Keywords: Descartes, Mandeville, psychology, empathy, vegetarianism, humane farming,
synthetic meat, slaughterhouses