ABSTRACT
Criminology tries to explain crime and criminal behaviour. This poses longstanding questions: Why do only some people commit crimes? Why are some people re-victimised frequently while others rarely are victims? Why do some places experience a lot of crime while other places experience almost none? These questions seem, to us, to call for an understanding of crime patterns formed by the rich complexities of criminal events formed by law, offender motivation and target characteristic arrayed on an environmental backcloth. Each element in the criminal event has a historical trajectory shaped by past experience and future intention, by the routine activities and rhythms of life, and by the constraints of the environment. Patterns within these complexities, considered over many criminal events, should point us towards understandings of crime as a whole.
