Crime and Place: A Pathological Study of Game Nets in Tehran

Crime is a multidimensional phenomenon which its investigation needs the use of an interdisciplinary approach. It has a unique spatio-temporal (spatial and temporal) context which distinguishes it from other behaviors and causes the criminal behavior not to have an even spatial distribution in an area. Some places due to their physical/ environmental features, kind of activities common in them, or social and economic characteristics of their inhabitants provide more opportunities for crimes to occur and attract active and strongly motivated criminals who on a basis of a rational choice look for the safest and most suitable places and conditions to commit a criminal act. This research as an interdisciplinary study has used a combination of sociology, criminology, and geography disciplines to investigate crime phenomenon in Game Nets in city of Tehran. Game Net as a place that provides users with computer games, due to its anatomy and spatial properties, environmental design as well as its usage situation and environmental ground can, regardless of the individual and social characteristics of the users and managers, prepare a suitable ground for the emergence of criminal behaviors. Ecological properties of the areas in which these Game Nets are located can also cause different rates of crime. The present study investigated the crimes related to Game Nets at two levels of micro and medial levels: crimes inside Game Nets and the Game Net -crimes spreading over different urban districts of Tehran. Using the GIS software, the research intended to identify the spatial pattern of these crimes in order to examine how the environmental factors affect the occurrence of the Game Net crimes. To achieve this purpose, using a questionnaire as a tool in this survey method we Surveyed 400 users inlOO randomly chosen Game Nets about crimes related to those Game Nets. The results of the present study revealed that the highest rate of reported crimes were related to cursing/swearing, fighting, and gambling in respective; 53.1, 43.1, 38.7 Percent of the participants reported the rates of swearing, fighting, and gambling as high and very high in respective. The ecology of the crime in this study was investigated too. The maps drawn according to rates of different crimes showed that spatial distribution of Game net-related crimes in Tehran did not follow an even pattern and reported various rates at different districts. But the regions located at suburban and city entrance areas or located at more commercial areas revealed higher rates of crimes. The results revealed that typologically the Game Nets which were located out of official and unofficial inspection zone, those located in busy business centers as well as those have residential usage respectively had the highest crime rates due to chances they could provide for criminal activities. According to proposed theories (hypothesis) Opportunity, Daily activities, and social supervision are considered the most important variables which interfere between Place and Crime. Investigation of environment in study of given crimes helps researches to detect the patterns of the criminal behaviors and to identify crime prone centers. Attention to environment as an unmediated factor in comparison to personal or structural factors makes it possible for researcher to propose more practical crime prevention strategies.