NCJ Number: 114529
Title: Crime and the Urban Milieu
Author(s): P O Wikstrom
Date Published: 1987
Annotation: The first in a four-part series on crime in Sweden's urban environment, this part reviews earlier research and theories on the subject, categorizing them into three categories: ecological-motivational, ecological-situational, and ecological-victimological. It also discusses the study sample and methodology.
Abstract: Traditional explanations for high crime rates in urban areas are reviewed, such as the availability of opportunity for crime, weak social controls, relative ease of living a deviant lifestyle without detection, and greater pressure to have material goods. Also examined are research designs applicable to the study -- comparative, intraurban, case study -- and aspects interfering with the research, such as unreported crime and clearance rate biases. Categories of theory are outlined. The ecological-motivational category encompasses the classic Chicago school of theory, as well as work by Shaw and McKay, Merton, Cardiff, Kornhauser, Baldwin and Bottoms, and others who look at influences such as the urban criminal environment, offenders' social and economic circumstances, deviant subcultures, and social instability and social class. The ecological-situational category embraces theory that considers the frequency of opportunities to commit crime, the availability of attractive targets, the absence and presence of defensible space, and the likelihood of offenders working in areas they are familiar with as key to a decision to commit a crime. The third category, ecological-victimological, looks at the victim's role in becoming a target, including the victim's lifestyle, demographics, and risktaking behavior. The study sample includes all crime committed against persons and their possessions in Stockholm from January to July 1982. The study hopes to reveal information on circumstances surrounding the victim and the offender. A crime specific analysis will be conducted, and the geographic nature of crime will be explored.
Main Term(s): Urban criminality
Index Term(s): Crime causes theory; Economic influences; Foreign criminal justice systems; Research design; Social conditions; Sweden
Publication Number: ISBN 91-38-69854-7
Sponsoring Agency: National Council for Crime Prevention
Corporate Author: National Council for Crime Prevention
Sale Source: National Council for Crime Prevention
Page Count: 96
Type: Report (Study/Research)
Language: Swedish
Country: Sweden
Note: Metropolitan Crime Series, Part One.
To cite this abstract, use the following link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=114529
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