In this context, it may not be surprising that
scholars at the University of Chicago believed
that the key to understanding crime lay not in
studying the traits of individuals but in studying
the traits of neighborhoods. Did it make a difference,
they asked, if a child grew up in an innercity
community that was characterized by poverty,
a mixing together of diverse peoples (Le.,
"heterogeneity"), and by people constantly
moving in and, when able, moving out (Le., "transiency")?
And if so, might not the solution to
crime lay more in changing neighborhoods than
in changing people?