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Square of Crime

Definition

Left realism's model of four elements that must all be examined together to explain any crime event: the offender, the victim, the state (police and courts) and the public (informal social control).

Related terms

Broken Windows Theory
The proposition by Wilson and Kelling (1982) that visible signs of physical and social disorder invite further disorder and serious crime by...
Left Realism
A criminological perspective developed by Jock Young, Roger Matthews, and others in the 1980s, arguing that critical criminology had neglected the real...
Order Maintenance Policing
A policing strategy that directs officers to address low-level disorder, such as public drinking or fare evasion, on the theory that reducing...
Right Realism
A criminology built on the claim that crime results from individual choices made by people with weak self-control or weak informal social...
Zero Tolerance Policing
An enforcement-led version of order maintenance policing that treats minor offences with consistent, low-discretion arrest, most closely associated with New York City...

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