NCJ Number
110611
Date Published
1984
Length
403 pages
Annotation
This book presents a broad range of advanced-level information about the spatial and temporal patterns of crime in the United States, England, Wales, and Canada.
Abstract
The opening chapter provides a general introduction to the fields of criminology and criminal justice and distinguishes between them. Four chapters discuss information sources about crime, including memoirs and other first-person accounts of crime, official criminal justice data, self-report studies, and victimization surveys. A strategy for using multiple information sources in criminological research is provided. Three chapters explore the temporal patterns of crime. An introduction to temporal analysis in criminological research moves from a simple visual inspection of graphed data to sophisticated time-series analysis. An investigation of crime trends in America, England, and Canada since 1960 considers the major correlates of these modern trends and principal explanations for these trends and their correlates. A tracing of longitudinal crime trends in these countries focuses on social, economic, demographic, and institutional changes over time. Four chapters examine the spatial dynamics of crime. This includes a discussion of macrogeographic crime patterns at the international, intranational, and intercity levels; crime patterns in urban areas; and the microspatial crime patterns. The latter topic concerns the patterning of criminals' target choices and how the physical and social structure of the city influences criminal events. Chapter summaries, 500-item bibliography, subject index.