Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• Jamal Beigi

Assistant Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, Maragheh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Maragheh, Iran

Abstract

The crime scene always has a fixed nature and a specific physical space with physical restrictions. Human beings are always creating environmental diversity, and urban crime therefore increases as social relation criteria multiply. To cope with this habitat of crimes, every necessary measure must be taken to prevent interaction between the adjunct and induced elements and the environmental one. The present descriptive-analytical applied research involves a library and field investigation. The research population included 268 criminals in the city of Miandoab, Iran arrested or imprisoned during the period from April to September 2016 at police stations and administrative units, from among whom 122 were selected based on Cochran’s sample size formula. For investigation of the role of residence in the geography of urban crime in Miandoab, therefore, the literature on the topic was explained using psychological theories, criminal sociology, and the geography of urban crime, and the field analysis was based on the information received from the research population. Through an examination of the geographic model of urban crime in Miandoab using the kernel density estimation model, it was found that Kuye Qara Varan, Kuye Vali Abad, Janbazan Street, and Kuye Vakil Kandi suffered from very high crime rates. The most significant crimes committed in the city included bag snatching, public property damage, vagrancy and begging, clashes, street fighting, and footpadding. In an examination of the impacts of residence on various types of crime, it was demonstrated that environmental elements most seriously affected crimes such as theft and drug addiction. It was also indicated in a study of the features of crime scenes that large numbers of old, inexpensive houses had the greatest role in the commitment of crime. According to the analysis results, the improper design of buildings and presence of narrow alleys were two of the most important physical features affecting crime commitment. Pearson’s correlation test showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between residence and crime. The results of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the set of predictor variables including the physical and social characteristics of crime hotspots, specifications of places and districts, physical environment, and climatic elements accounted for about 32% of the crime research criterion variable, where the physical characteristics of crime hotspot component contributed most. The importance of the findings of the present research as compared to the previous scientific and organizational studies lies in the demonstration of the fundamental point that criminal geography has a constant nature and a particular physical atmosphere with physical limitations. Due to the progressive, evolutionary attitude of urbanization in Iran, residence diversity is always observed, and crimes increase also as social relation criteria multiply. Therefore, all modern techniques concerning environmental security in urban spaces should be employed in urban engineering to prevent interaction between the adjunct and induced elements and the residential element, combination of which ensures the existence of urban crime.

Keywords

• Residence
• Crime
• Geography of Urban Crime Theories
• Chicago School
• Miandoab