Crime Radiation Evidence: A Review of Adjacent Literatures

• In Event: Communities and Place: Crime Radiation

Abstract

One of the most important criminological facts is crime concentrates at very few places. But do these highly criminogenic places radiate crime into their surrounding? Intuitively, radiation seems possible. But unlike crime concentration at places, researchers (with one notable exception) have only indirectly addressed the radiation conjecture. Three adjacent literatures can shed indirect light on crime radiation: 1. land use and crime, 2. near repeat victimization, and 3. diffusion of crime control benefits. In this paper, we provide narrative reviews of these literatures to assess the plausibility of the radiation conjecture. We then propose a set of hypotheses and suggestions for direct tests of the radiation conjecture.

Authors

• John E. Eck, University of Cincinnati

• Shannon J. Linning, Simon Fraser University

• Kate Bowers, University College London