Geography, crime and social control
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Geography, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lowman, John
issued: 2010-05-02T22:45:50Z
issued: 1983
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The purpose of this dissertation is to describe and challenge some of the basic premises, implicit ontological and epistemological beliefs and, by extension, the political values which form the core of the geography of crime. While the discussion concentrates on published research undertaken by geographers, it also introduces relevant research conducted in kindred disciplines utilizing a spatial or environmental perspective (urban sociology and environmental criminology). As a critical theoretical exegesis, the principal focus of the critique is the analytic separation of crime from the control of crime, which characterises much of the geographer's research manifesto. Geographers have tended to study either crime or (much less frequently) the judicial system without any systematic consideration of the impact of the control system on crime patterns. In explaining crime patterns geographers have focused their analyses on the criminal actor or, more commonly, the criminal event. In advocating the advantages of alternatives to the instrumentalist or positivist philosophy guiding the geography of crime, the discussion of interactionist and critical perspectives is designed to show how they facilitate an understanding of the way that control processes exercised by police, the courts, and by elected officials are vital to the explanation of crime patterns. The introduction of these alternative theoretical positions also serves to raise questions about the correctionalist impulse of much of the geography of crime, and its technocratic purpose. The discussion of the philosophical, theoretical and political consequences of research strategies which treat crime and control as analytically separate entities lays the foundation for a geographic perspective on crime in its socio-legal context, for an examination of the effects of criminal justice policy on the actual geography of crime; in short, for an integrated analysis of crime and its control. The effect of the "control envi…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/24315
note: GEOGRAPHY, CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL by JOHN LOWMAN A THESIS SUBMITTED IN THE REQUIREMENTS DOCTOR OF PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF FOR THE DEGREE OF PHILOSOPHY THE FACULTY OF (Depar tment i n GRADUATE STUDIES of Geography) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d standard The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia J u l y 1983 John Lowman 1983 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by h i s or her r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood t h a t copying or p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be allowed without my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department o f The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 E-6 (3/81) ABSTRACT The purpose of t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n i s to d e s c r i b e and cha l l e n g e some of the b a s i c premises, i m p l i c i t o n t o l o g i c a l and e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l b e l i e f s and, by ext e n s i o n , the p o l i t i c a l values which form the core of the geography of crime. While the d i s c u s s i o n concentrates on p u b l i s h e d research undertaken by geographers, i t a l s o introduces r e l e v a n t research conducted i n kindred d i s c i p l i n e s u t i l i z i n g a s p a t i a l or environmental p e r s p e c t i v e (urban s o c i o l o g y and environmental c r i m i n o l o g y ) . As a c r i t i c a l t h e o r e t i c a l e xegesis, the p r i n c i p a l focus of the c r i t i q u e i s the a n a l y t i c s e p a r…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0095865
language: eng
degree discipline: Geography
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/24315