Putting Fear of Crime on the Map: Investigating Perceptions of Crime Using Geographic Information Systems (Springer Series on Evidence-Based Crime Policy) - Softcover

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Dr Bruce Doran is a lecturer at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University. His research interests relate to the applied use of GIS-based techniques to investigate urban and biophysical problems, with a particular focus on strategic management and Decision Support Systems (DSS). Over recent years he has been developing techniques to investigate spatio-temporal links between the fear of crime and the actual occurrence of crime.

Dr Melissa Burgess completed a PhD looking into spatio-temporal patterns of avoidance in Kings Cross, Sydney. She has worked as a spatial analyst with the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and is currently working for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bangkok, Thailand.

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The impact of crime on society is well-known and well-documented. But fear of crime also takes a major toll, affecting individual mobility, neighborhood cohesion, and local economies, and is an increasingly important topic in criminology and other disciplines. In recent years, Geographic Information Systems technology has brought needed spatial dimensions to research into fear of crime.

Putting Fear of Crime on the Map reviews these efforts, chronicling the evolution of both research and technology. Fear of crime is defined as a complex system of avoidance behaviors that paradoxically helps create conditions favorable to crime, and the authors summarize approaches used in understanding the problem. In later chapters, data from two landmark studies examine new ways of conceptualizing and addressing fear of crime offered by GIS technology, and the authors present innovative GIS-based methods for reducing fear of crime, as well as in monitoring the effectiveness of law enforcement and community initiatives.

Key features of the book:

· Historical and current trends in fear of crime research.

· Analysis of fear of crime is a serious analytical and social problem.

· Social/environmental theories explaining fear of crime.

· Technical breakdown of Geographic Information Systems techniques used to map fear of crime.

· Findings from eight years of studies of fear of crime using GIS technology.

· Potential applications for fear mapping, and emerging areas for fear of crime research.

Putting Fear of Crime on the Map is a unique source of information for graduate and postgraduate researchers in criminology, and policy makers.