Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is an approach to crime prevention that emphasizes the design and management of built environments to reduce opportunities for crime and enhance perceived safety. Rather than focusing on offender rehabilitation or punitive deterrence, CPTED works proactively to shape spaces in ways that discourage criminal behavior while supporting social cohesion
Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) is an evidence-based strategy that reduces crime by altering environmental conditions and increasing the perceived risks for offenders. It shifts the focus from changing offender motivation to managing the situations in which crimes occur. Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) represents a shift in criminological thinking from offender-focused explanations of crime toward a
Space & Surveillance theories examine how crime is shaped by the physical and social environments in which it occurs. Rather than locating the causes of crime solely in individual pathology or motivation, these theories analyze how spatial organization, social structures, and surveillance practices influence opportunities for crime and the distribution of criminal events in specific
The Broken Windows Theory was developed by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. According to the authors, even minor signs of neglect, like a broken window, should be repaired quickly to prevent further decay, maintain order, and reduce crime. Destruction in urban areas is therefore inextricably linked to crime and causes it. A seemingly
Turning Point Theory, also known as the Age-Graded Life-Course Theory of Crime, was developed by Robert J. Sampson and John H. Laub. This influential approach in developmental criminology argues that criminal behaviour is not static over the life course. Instead, it can change in response to key life events or turning points that strengthen or
Crime, Shame and Reintegration (1989) by John Braithwaite is a foundational text in criminology that builds on labelling theory, control theories, and social disorganization theory. Braithwaite’s concept of shaming analyzes the social processes that invoke shame as a form of social control. He distinguishes between two types: disintegrative shaming, which stigmatizes and excludes offenders, and