The criminology of place : street segments and our understanding of the crime problem

The study of crime has focused primarily on why particular people commit crime or why specific communities have higher crime levels than others. In The Criminology of Place, David Weisburd, Elizabeth Groff, and Sue-Ming Yang present a new and different way of looking at the crime problem by examining why specific streets in a city have specific crime trends over time. Based on a 16-year longitudinal study of crime in Seattle, Washington, the book focuses our attention on small units of geographic analysis-micro communities, defined as street segments. Half of all Seattle crime each year occurs on just 5-6 percent of the city's street segments, yet these crime hot spots are not concentrated in a single neighborhood and street by street variability is tremendous. Weisburd, Groff, and Yang set out to explain why. The Criminology of Place shows how much essential information about crime is inevitably lost when we focus on larger units like neighborhoods or communities. Reorienting the study of crime by focusing on small units of geography, the authors identify a large group of possible crime risk and protective factors for street segments and an array of interventions that could be implemented to address them. The Criminology of Place is a groundbreaking book that radically alters traditional thinking about the crime problem and what we should do about it.

• List of Tables p. ix
• List of Figures p. xi
• Acknowledgments p. xv
• 1 Introduction p. 3
• The Emergence of the Criminology of Place p. 6
• The Tight Coupling of Crime at Place p. 9
• Key Questions in the Criminology of Place p. 12
• The Focus of Our Research: Seattle, Washington p. 14
• The Street Segment as a Unit of Analysis p. 23
• What Follows p. 27
• 2 Putting Crime in Its Place p. 29
• Putting Crime in Its Place p. 30
• The Importance of Examining Crime at a Micro Geographic Level p. 39
• Social Disorganization and Opportunity Theories: Recognizing the Importance of Theoretical Integration p. 43
• Conclusions p. 45
• 3 Crime Concentrations and Crime Patterns at Places p. 47
• Is Crime Concentrated at Street Segments? p. 48
• Developmental Patterns of Crime at Place p. 53
• Conclusions p. 68
• 4 The Importance of Street Segments in the Production of the Crime Problem p. 70
• Mapping Trajectory Patterns p. 71
• Statistical Clustering of Trajectory Patterns p. 76
• The Heterogeneity of Street Segment Patterns p. 78
• Are Street Segments of Specific Trajectory Patterns Attracted, Repulsed, or Independent? p. 86
• Conclusions p. 88
• 5 Concentrations of Crime Opportunities p. 90
• Identifying Retrospective Longitudinal Data on Places p. 91
• Motivated Offenders p. 92
• Suitable Targets p. 97
• Accessibility/Urban Form p. 105
• Guardianship p. 110
• Conclusions p. 117
• 6 Are Processes of Social Disorganization Relevant to the Criminology of Place? p. 119
• Structural Variables p. 120
• Intermediating Variables p. 135
• Conclusions p. 143
• 7 Understanding Developmental Patterns of Crime at Street Segments p. 146
• An Overall Model for Explaining Developmental Trajectories of Crime at Place p. 147
• How Well Does Our Model Predict Variation in Crime Patterns at Street Segments? p. 150
• Which Variables Are Most Important in Identifying Serious Crime Hot Spots? p. 154
• Do Changes in Opportunity and Social Disorganization at Street Segments Impact upon Crime Waves and Crime Drops? p. 160
• Conclusions p. 164
• 8 Conclusions p. 166
• The Law of Concentrations of Crime at Place p. 167
• Stability and Variability of Crime at Place p. 171
• The Importance of Studying Crime at Micro Units of Geography p. 173
• Hot Spots of Opportunity and Social Disorganization p. 175
• Hot Spots of Crime Are Predictable p. 179
• Recognizing the Tight Coupling of Crime to Place: Policy Implications p. 183
• Limitations p. 190
• Conclusions p. 193
• Appendix 1 Trajectory Analysis Model Selection and Diagnostic Statistics p. 195
• Appendix 2 Ripley's K Function p. 197
• Appendix 3 Cross-K Function p. 199
• Appendix 4 Data Collection p. 201
• Characteristics of Street Segments: Opportunity Perspectives p. 202
• Characteristics of Street Segments: Social Disorganization p. 207
• Appendix 5 Additional Statistical Models p. 216
• Notes p. 223
• References p. 237
• Proper Name Index p. 265
• Index p. 269