ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a critical evaluation of the contribution of ecological dimensions to an understanding of disparities in crime rates. It outlines the ecological tradition is some fifty years old but has recently fallen into disrepute for several powerful reasons. The book also discusses that spatial bias in court discretion is illustrated by a case-study and the interactions between justice and the community. It explores the disparate material on offences, offenders and victims that are integrated in a discussion of the various roles played by environmental factors in crime. These include scale and distance effects expressing the constraints on the behavioural world of individuals, whether offenders or victims; and the environment as an element in the labelling process whereby areas acquire reputations which circumscribe responses to crime.
