Investigating the Effect of Location and Environmental Contexts in Crime Prevention Using Real Conditions in Mashhad

So far, studies related to the field of crime prevention have paid attention to human and environmental components. However, the executive solutions in this field have been more general and impractical. Accordingly, this study tried to examine the impact practical solutions by conducting field and real experiments as well as emphasizing the environmental context.

This study was conducted by survey and descriptive-analytical methods. The required data were collected from a sample of 50 experts and observations of the behavior of 30 citizens in the causal and field sections, respectively. These data were analyzed using broken window theory, daily activity and positioning.

The results showed that many human behaviors occur under the influence of the unconscious element. This element imposes certain behaviors and actions on the person, using external evidence, especially the environmental situation (in which the person is), without being realized. For this reason, the samples investigated in this study, showed completely different behaviors according to environmental conditions in three situations of temptation to withdraw cash, traffic violations and attention to environmental protection without knowing it. According to the findings of this study, it can be said that when suburban areas, etc. are introduced as crime centers in newspapers and news, in fact, they give the address of the crime scene to the perpetrators, not really the criminological environments. According to the findings of this study, marginalization in itself is not effective in committing crime. What causes crime is the environmental and social conditions in these areas. In fact, the mentioned conditions create the illusion in criminals that control and care is low. For this reason, it shows the cost of committing a crime lower than usual.

The proposed framework in this paper suggests that unusual human behavior particular unsustainable behavior and effects have their roots in mental heuristics shaped by natural selection to handle social exchange. The writer has tried to show how moral accounting and the balancing heuristic, apparently present in social exchange processes, can explain how people and decision makers think and act in response to environmental conditions and the reactions of others. Specifically, a reason why people sometimes harm the environment although they try to do good, is that the balancing heuristic makes them believe “environmentally friendly” behavior can compensate for unsustainable behavior. The strategies proposed can hopefully help toward reducing the negative effects of this inherited cognitive handicap.  As a result, if the environmental conditions are organized in such a way as to subconsciously persuade people to the fact that there is a certain law and order, it will force them to behave normally and responsibly.