Abstract:
La criminología ambiental es una rama de la criminología que se basa en el análisis los diferentes factores espacio-temporales que pueden promover que se cometa un delito en una determinada zona, y se basa en la premisa de que un acto delictivo es el resultado de una confluencia entre infractores, ... Ver más
Environmental criminology is a branch of criminology that is based on the analysis of the different spatio-temporal factors that can promote the commission of a crime in a certain area, and is based on the premise that a criminal act is the result of a confluence between offenders, victims and targets of crime. Throughout history, different theories have been developed in the field of environmental criminology that aim to explain the reasons why a greater number of crimes take place in a certain region than in another, analyzing the different environmental factors that are conducive to the appearance of a criminal act and in order to establish measures to prevent these from occurring. Among the different theories of environmental criminology, this paper highlights the theory of broken windows, the theory of rational choice and the theory of routine activities as the most widely used theories of environmental criminology today.
With this in mind, in this paper an analysis of the current situation of the Colonia Requena neighborhood in Alicante is carried out, which is characterized by a high crime rate, which has resulted in a sense of citizen insecurity on the part of the neighbors. Using the theory of broken windows and the theory of routine activities, it has been possible to relate the situation of the neighborhood with the different factors that, according to these two theories, favor the commission of criminal acts in the neighborhood.
In the case of the broken windows theory, it has been observed that the presence of deteriorated and poorly maintained public places favors the creation of a situation of apparent chaos and social disorder that can lead to the commission of a greater number of criminal acts, since the offender has the feeling that no one is going to recriminate his actions.
On the other hand, according to the theory of routine activities, the current socioeconomic situation of the neighborhood, characterized by a high unemployment rate and little neighborhood vigilance in the streets, among other factors, can also lead to a greater number of crimes being committed in area, since the probability that the offender is motivated to carry out the criminal act is greater.
Finally, this work also highlights that the field of environmental criminology is very extensive, and that with the help of other additional tools and more data, an analysis of the situation could be carried out from the point of view of environmental criminology in a much deeper way, and in this way to even be able to design strategies that allow reducing the rate of incidence of criminal acts in this neighborhood.
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