Social Ecological And Environmental Theories Of Crime

One of the oldest and most extensive forms of criminology falls within what is referred to, among other names, as social ecology. Beginning with the work of Guerry and Quetelet, this theory became the dominate paradigm in explaining crime with the work of the Chicago School in the early 1900s, social disorganization theory, and neighborhood research attempting to deal with crime in deteriorating cities. Social ecology is also the basis for the research being conducted in environmental criminology. This volume offers a selection of the most influential works in social ecology and environmental criminology. It begins with research from human ecology and the Chicago School, extending through some of the research in social disorganization theory. It encompasses some of the major journal articles from the 1980s and 1990s in neighborhoods and crime, and then addresses some of the quintessential works in environmental criminology. It ends with groundbreaking work in this area that may indicate the future direction of the field. This valuable collection includes an excellent introduction by Jeff Walker.

The papers in this volume examine the underlying social causes of criminal behaviour. The authors are concerned with both social-structural (e.g., age, sex, race, and family composition) and ecological (e.g., crowding, etc.) characteristics as important units of analysis of neighborhoods, cities and crime.

The study of how the environment, local geography, and physical locations influence crime has a long history that stretches across a number of research traditions. These include the neighborhood-effects approach developed by the Chicago school of sociology in the 1920s; modern environmental criminology that explains the geographic distribution of crime; the criminology of place, which focuses on crime rates at specific places over time; and a newer approach that attends to the perception of crime and disorder in communities. Aided by new mobile and digital technologies as well as improved data reporting in recent decades, research in environmental criminology has developed at a rapid pace within each of these approaches. Despite these advances, research in the subfield of environmental criminology remains fragmented, and competing theories are often kept apart. This book takes a different approach and integrates the subfield as a whole. It covers the core theoretical and empirical issues of how and why the environment influences the emergence of crime and how crime can affect the environment. The chapters reflect the diversity in research and theory from all over the Western world. In addition to covering traditional criminological research, the book probes how well current theories of environmental criminology contribute to our understanding of new problems and how well theories travel to other areas, such as West Africa, in which cultural differences might lead to different patterns in offending.

Designed for upper-level senior and graduate criminological theory courses, this text thoroughly examines the ideas and assumptions underlying each major theoretical perspective in criminology. It lays bare theorists' ideas about human nature, social structure, social order, concepts of law, crime and criminals, the logic of crime causation and the policies and criminal justice practices that follow from these premises. The book provides students with a clear critical, analytic overview of criminological theory that enable enformed evaluative comparisons among different theorists.

A careful analysis of environmental factors is key to understanding the causes of crime, to solving crimes, and eventually helping to predict and prevent them. Classics in Environmental Criminology is a comprehensive collection of seminal pieces from legendary contributors who focus on the role that the immediate environment plays in the occurrence of a crime. Defines the field Divided into three parts, the book begins by highlighting the development of environmental criminology as a discipline through its origins in spatial criminology. It examines social disorganization theory, which explains criminal activity with reference to the characteristics of the community that delinquents live in. It then discusses the ecology of crime with reference to macroenvironments and microenvironments. The next section introduces concepts such as routine activity theory, the geometric theory of crime, the rational choice theory of offending, and crime pattern theory. Offers perspectives on prevention The last part focuses on the concept of crime prevention, examines the idea of altering the environment in order to prevent crime, and discusses situational crime factors and efforts to reduce the opportunities for crimes to be committed. It considers the impact of routine activities on crime prevention initiatives and advocates a flexible approach to crime prevention based on the dynamic nature of our environment. The book concludes with a chapter outlining how environmental criminology has evolved in recent years and provides a future outlook on where it may be headed. Invaluable as a textbook and as a professional reference, this volume is a comprehensive survey of a critical field in contemporary criminological theory. Offering insight assembled by top academic figures within the criminology community, this work is destined to provoke further inquiry and research.

"This book provides an overview and assessment of green criminology. Based on a political-economic analysis, Green Criminology draws attention to the ways in which the political-economic organization of capitalism causes ecological destruction and disorganization. Focusing on real-world impact, chapters include political-economic examinations of ecological withdrawals, ecological additions, toxic towns, wildlife poaching and trafficking, environmental justice, environmental laws, and nongovernment environmental organizations. The book also explores how ecological footprint, planetary boundary analysis, and other scientific research applies to green criminological analysis"--Provided by publisher.

This is a collection of papers that attempt to integrate the individual and ecological aspects of crime, bridging the gap between criminal career research and environmental criminology.

Drawing on the work of Allan Schnaiberg, this book returns political economy to green criminology and examines how the expansion of capitalism shapes environmental law, crime and justice. The book is organized around crimes of ecological withdrawals and ecological additions. The Treadmill of Crime is written by acclaimed experts on the subject of green criminology and examines issues such as the crime in the energy sector as well as the release of toxic waste into the environment and its impact on ecosystems. This book also sets a new research agenda by highlighting problems of ecological disorganization for animal abuse and social disorganization. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the fields of criminology, political science, environmental sociology, and natural resources.