Based on field interviews in Singapore in 1985, 1997, and 2003, this article addresses the issue of how island ecology helps explain the remarkable low rates of crime that are often attributed mainly to cultural and government policies. Understanding crime and control on this most densely populated Southeast Asian atoll must begin with how people are dispersed over the limited spatial area. Ecology also influences how styles of some crimes are defined and controlled. Several of Donald Black’s propositions are given further consideration.
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