There was an empty lot in a middle-class neighborhood, maintained by a nearby resident. that man moved away, and within a few weeks several bags of garbage and some old furniture were sitting in the lot. then an old car was parked in the lot and teenagers started to gather there to drink beer and hang out. within a few months, there was a mugging by the lot and the police made a handful of arrests for drug dealing there. this series of events is an illustration of theory.

As nina and erin were eating lunch in the central high school student cafeteria, they were discussing the news coverage about the girls' athletic coach being arrested for selling steroids to student athletes. "i think the guy just did it because they don't pay teachers enough money," nina suggested. "i bet the guy had some other kind of drug addiction he was trying to pay for," erin countered. nina and erin's ideas about the cause of the coach's drug-selling behavior are examples of: