Conceptualising the CRISOLA model

Abstract

Why create a conceptual model? Such a question lingered through the reviews of the environmental criminology literature, the GIS literature and the 2007 Maltese scenario readings. The reviews, together with an understanding of the complex Maltese data availability situation, highlighted the need to bring together each aspect and build a mindmap that helps set out a process to depict a basic and generic model on how crime, social and landuse issues interact together. The review process also identified techniques and datasets that can be used in the identification and understanding of crime. !e use of these datasets is best explained through a conceptual model that is relevant to CRIme and to the SOcial and LAnduse aspects, herein embedded as the acronym CRISOLA. The model took shape through a tiered 3-phase process, with each iterative phase building up from an abstract level (Phase 1) through the identification of the main datasets (Phase 2) to a final individual attribute listing (Phase 3). The model is not exhaustive as it covers potential datasets that yet need to be created/surveyed, statistical measures identified as well as inclusion of other crime relevant theories. The model can be evolved in future studies as it attempts to highlight areas of study that will not be tackled in this research and which may/may not be found to be significant, entailing further change.