GEOG150B2

In this course, we will discuss social, cultural, political, and geographical issues related to contemporary crime, criminality and criminalization in the Unites States. This course covers myths and misunderstandings about crime, national crime statistics, as well as social theories about urban crime and policing, with an emphasis on criminalization and criminality in the context of historical neighborhood development and place-making in US cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, and Tucson. During the semester we will focus in on gangs and gang policing in the context of gentrification and the enforcement of civil gang injunctions. Students will come away from this course with an understanding of the complexity and realities of crime from a social scientific (geographical, sociological, criminological, social psychological, and legal) perspective.