CRJ 490 Quiz

Weisburd’s Law of Crime Concentration

4-6% of people account for about 50% of all crime that occurs in a city

Rational Choice Theory

offenders weigh potential rewards against potential risks

Involvement Model

long-term decisions about offending; explains how people come to offend, persist, or desist over time

Event model

• Explains how crime occurs

• Immediate opportunity: the situation at hand, including environment, target, guardianship, and access

Space syntax theory

• the idea that the spatial arrangement of an environment determines how people move, interact, and experience the space

SST Background

• a method for analyzing spatial configurations and their effects on human movement, social interaction, and crime distribution

• Used to explain how the built environment influences people’s behaviors, including offenders and victims

• provides a quantitative, evidence based approach to understanding how physical environments contribute to criminal opportunities

• Key assertion: crime does not occur randomly but is strongly influenced by spatial configuration

Connectivity

• How linked spaces shape behavior

• high ____ brings more people together in pro-social fashions

• low ____ creates hidden, secluded areas where we often see predatory crime occur

Integration

• measures how central or accessible a space is within a network

• Highly _____ spaces encourage social interaction and create a sense of community

• Low _____ areas (poorly connected neighborhoods) become crime hotspots due to their isolation

Axial Lines and Movement Flows

• How people navigate spaces

• People prefer straight, connected routes over winding, complex paths

• Poorly designed pathways (isolated pedestrian tunnels, hidden stairwells) create high-risk zones

Visibility

• Refers to how much of a space can be seen from a given point

• Open, _____ spaces reduce crime by increasing the fear of being caught 

• Poorly lit areas, hidden pathways, and blind spots encourage criminal activity

Collective Efficacy

• Not just where neighborhoods exist in the city, but how residents in those neighborhoods form collective bonds

• it’s not just poverty or social disadvantage that determines crime levels, but rather how connected and engaged the residents are in maintaining order

Social Cohesion and Trust

• refers to the strong social bonds among neighbors. If people trust each other and support one another, they are more likely to work together to solve problems like crime

Willingness to intervene

• residents believe in their collective ability to maintain safety

Social Control

the mechanisms and processes individuals and societies use to regulate their actions and prevent deviance and criminal behavior.

Social Disorganization Theory

• Neighborhood characteristics matter more than individual traits

• residential instability, poverty, ethnic heterogeneity

• presence of all three = ____ ____ ____, which then explains high rates of crime