The Geography of Crime and Violence: A Spatial and Ecological Perspective. Resource Papers for College Geography, No. 78-1.

The paper examines crime from a spatial perspective and provides an introduction to social ecology theory. The document is part of 8 series of resource papers intended to supplement college level geography textbooks. The geography of crime is defined as the spatial manifestation of criminal acts. The social ecological approach interprets crime as a function of the social change that accompanies environmental change. The document is presented in six chapters. Chapters I and II introduce the crime problem and compare geographic and social ecological approaches to crime and violence. Chapter III applies ecological principles to spatial analysis of crime. Topics include human ecology, symbiosis, community and society, delinquency rates, ghettos, and statistical analysis. Chapter IV identifies crime data sources and outlines a format for geographic analysis of crime. Chapter V explains that the major objective of the geography of crime is to relate the spatial pattern of crime to social, environmental, historical, economic, and psychological variables. The final chapter provides an exercise in applying statistical methods to crime. An appendix and a bibliography conclude the document. (Author/DB)