How do criminals choose their targets? Why do corner plots get hit
more often and why is graffiti seen on some walls and not on others?
There are understandable patterns in crime and overwhelming evidence
that crime has a skewed distribution. Some places have more crimes
than others while some periods of time pose greater risk of
victimization than other periods. All these are an indication that
offenders make a rational choice in choosing their targets. These
decisions are guided by many factors such as time, place, offence
type, absence of guardian or police, perceived opportunities and
cost benefit ratio.

This course attempts to answer some of these questions in several
ways. We first analyze criminal behavior and victimization from the
theoretical perspective of Environmental Criminology and understand
how situational techniques can be applied for their prevention. By
drawing from a variety of sources (e.g. architecture, ecology,
sociology, geography, anthropology, psychology, urban planning and
criminology) we also explore the macro and micro level environments
that affect crime and victimization. In particular, we examine
specific criminal events in the context of routine activities and
movement patterns in everyday life. To understand the importance of
environmental features in creating opportunities for crimes a number
of projects are given where land usage, residential layouts, street
networks, transportation systems and different regular activities of
the place are studied. We then investigate ways in which situational
methods may be applied for preventing criminal behavior in these
physical and social settings.

The objective of the course is to teach students about situational
perspectives in preventing crimes. A variety of readings ranging
from ethnographical study of burglars to hot spot analysis helps
understand how offenders perceive opportunities and select targets.
Furthermore, students are challenged to use this knowledge, to
develop skills and devise means of blocking opportunities for
specific crimes. They also examine a large number of successful and
not so successful strategies of crime prevention to evaluate what
works in preventing crimes. These studies help understand
methodological issues and importance of experimental designs in
research work. Moreover, students are introduced to crime mapping,
urban planning and security technology and are provided with
opportunities to undertake actual projects with local police and
municipal departments.

Required Texts:
Course Reader-
In addition, there will be journal articles, book chapters and
monograms for additional readings.

Evaluation:
Class Projects         20%
Final Project          20%
Mid term Exam.         25%
Final Exam.            30%
Class participation     5%

Students will be required to plan, undertake and present to the
class a final project related to urban design and situational crime
prevention techniques. There will several short projects and a mid-
term and final examination that will assess their understanding of
theory and practice of crime prevention methods.

Class meeting:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:15

Instructor:  Professor Arvind Verma, criminal justice department