Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Defensible Space Theory is an influential approach within environmental criminology that argues architectural design and urban planning can significantly influence crime and social control. Developed by architect and urban planner Oscar Newman in the early 1970s, the theory proposes that residential environments can be designed in ways that encourage territoriality, natural surveillance, and collective responsibility,
The Crime Pattern Theory is a central theory within environmental criminology and explains why crime tends to concentrate in specific spatial patterns. Developed by Paul J. Brantingham and Patricia L. Brantingham, the theory argues that criminal events are not randomly distributed across space but are closely connected to the spatial organization of everyday life. People
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 increase perceived safety. Rather than focusing primarily on offender rehabilitation or punitive deterrence, CPTED seeks to shape environments in ways that discourage criminal behavior while encouraging legitimate use
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 and Surveillance theories examine how crime is shaped by physical environments, urban structures, neighborhood conditions, and practices of surveillance and social control. Rather than locating the causes of crime solely in individual motivation or pathology, these approaches analyze how spatial organization, environmental design, community structures, and visible disorder influence where and under what conditions
Routine Activity Theory explains crime as a situational event that emerges when three elements converge in time and space: a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian. Key Points Routine Activity Approach (RAT) Main Proponents: Lawrence E. Cohen, Marcus Felson, Ronald V. Clarke First Published: 1979 (Cohen & Felson) Country