In the field of Criminology; there have been various studies on what drives a person to commit a crime, but there was a lack of study with the environment in which the criminal is in. Environmental Criminology is a focus on various aspects in certain environments which can cause crimes to happen. There have been many theories that have been developed for how certain environments can drive a person to commit a crime which leads to the question; why do crime levels differ within certain areas with different levels of economic status? When it comes to the field of criminology; there was a period in which there were many studies that were focused on the root reasons for why there are individuals in society that commit certain crimes; but there weren’t much emphasis on figuring if certain areas in society are a factor for why there are people that feel driven to committing a crime. (Jacoby, 2012) With the work titled In defense space: Crime Prevention through urban design by Oscar Newman in 1972; and Crime Prevention through Environmental design by C.R. Jeffery. In these writings, Jeffery and Newman discussed that crime levels could be lowered if there were a change of scenery as well as other physical aspects in certain cities. (Jacoby, 2012) With these works; they launched a focus on the study of the environment as a factor for committing crime. With this launch there was a shift in ideals such as strict discipline to rehabilitation, shift from the individual reasons for committing a crime to crime rates in certain areas, and the shift from individual reasons to the reasons as a result from certain aspects within a certain environment. (Jacoby, 2012) Therefore, when it comes to the study of certain environments; there have been many discovered factors which can cause a person to commit a crime which can possibly raise the question of why is sometimes being a product of their environment is synonymous with a life of crime? When it comes to an environment as a factor for committing crime; since the 1980s, the rate of violent crimes and arrests among minorities in certain cities; due to certain crimes such as gun violence, and drug offenses. (Sampson, 2012) Even though these crimes have escalated since the 1980s; when it comes to the environment in high crime areas; there are aspects such as unemployment, low wages, broken homes, and etc. During this time there was a
