9 - Theories of Place, Victimization, and Prevention Flashcards
Situational Theories of Crime
Theories that focus on situation in which crime occurs. Three approaches: Environmental, Rational-Choice, Routine-Activity.
Environmental Criminology
Understand crime patterns by examining location and context of crime.
Ask:
- When / Where did crime occur?
- Characteristics (physical & social) of crime site?
- Daily patterns that bring targets / offender together at crime site?
- How does “location in time and space” interact w/ offender, victim / target, and law to make crime illegal act.
Reducing these reduce opportunities for crime.
Criminals are motivated, mapping of crimes to relate crime patterns to:
- # of targets
- offender population
- location of routine activities
- security
- traffic flow
Principles of Opportunity and Crime
Ways opportunities play a role in crime.
- Opportunities play role in all crime.
- Crime Opportunities are highly specific.
- Crime Opportunities are concentrated in time and space.
- Crime Opportunities depend on everyday movements (routine activities).
- One crime produces opportunities for another.
- Some products offer more tempting crime opportunities.
- Social and technological changes produce new crime opportunities (i.e. ATMS).
- Opportunities for crime can be reduced (reducing opportunity reduces crime).
- Reducing opportunities does not usually displace crime.
- Focused opportunity reduction can produce wider declines in crime.
Rational-Choice Perspective
Clarke & Cornish. Involvement in crime depends on personal decision made after one has weighed available info (specific offence at a particular time & place). Crime not extraordinary or product of deranged mind. Joins two approaches:
- Utilitarianism: we make decisions to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
- Economic Choice Theory: people evaluate options and choose what they believe will satisfy needs
Involves Choice Structuring Properties to commit crime.
NOT concerned with strategies of overall crime prevention. Concerned w/ reducing likelihood any given offence will be committed then and there (perpetrator frustration).
Choice Structuring Properties
Factors that come in to play when deciding to commit a crime.
- # of targets and accessibility (think about target)
- Familiarity w/ chosen method (experience, i.e. fraud by credit card)
- monetary yield per crime
- expertise needed
- time required to commit act
- physical danger involved
- risk of apprehension
Rational-Choice Event Model
Decision (ex. to commit break-and-enter)
- Accepted (middle class area). Easily accessible, few police patrols, low-security housing, larger gardens.
Then Burgled Home -> No one at home, especially affluent, detached, patio doors, bushes / cover, corner lot.
- Rejected (middle class area). Unfamiliar, distant, neighborhood watch, no public transport.
Then Not Burgled -> Nosy neighbors, burglar alarm, no rear access, visible from street, window locks, dog.
Routine Activity Approach
Cohen & Felson. Focus on routine / everyday activities of people. Grew post WWII (capable guardianship went down cause women working, divorce up, travel up, so did suitable targets). Crime requires:
- motivated offender,
- suitable target (house to break into),
- absence of capable guardian (alarm sys, someone home, dog, police patrol),
- no personal handler (control activities of offenders).
Theories of Victimization
Criminal event includes actions of the offender and the interaction between the offender and the victim.
Victimology can demonstrate how potential victims can decrease the risk of being victimized (NOT VICTIM BLAMING).
Crime is NOT random.
TOV: Lifestyle Theories
Lifestyle = Pattern / ways ppl distribute their time / energy across various activities. Changing lifestyle lowers risk of victimization. Lifestyle influenced in part by gender, age, social status, and relationships, which in turn can influence victimization [men vics of assault, women SA & theft].
Probability that you suffer personal victimization directly related to amount of time spent in public places (specifically at night). This varies as function of lifestyle.
Social contacts & interactions occur disproportionately among individuals who share similar lifestyles. Extent to which you will be victimized dependent on if individual shares demographic characteristics with offenders.
Proportion of time individual spends among non-family members varies as function of lifestyle, this increases probability of personal victimization.
Variations in lifestyle associated w/ ability to isolate self from persons w/ offender characteristics. Also associated w/ variations in convenience, desirability, and visibility as target.
TOV: Victim-Offender Interaction
Marvin Wolfgang.
Victim Precipitation -> situations where victims initiate the confrontations that lead to their death.
Estimated that as many as 1/4 to half of intentional homicides are victim-precipitated.
TOV: Repeat Victimization
Crime not uniformly distributed. Prior victimization is strong predictor of future victimization [whatever made vic good 1st time, makes em good a 2nd time].
TOV: Hot spots of crime
Areas where a significant amount of calls for service come from.
TOV: Geography of crime
Certain areas are more attractive to criminals and have less social controls in place (similar to broken windows theory).
Secondary Victimization
re-victimization of the individual by people such as police or family members.
EX. “why were you walking home alone @ night w/ such a short skirt?”
Situational Crime prevention
seeks to protect people, places, and valuable goods from victimization.
Jeffrey’s CPTED -> crime prevention through environmental design. Place and environmental improvements reduce attractiveness of areas as target [EX street lights, 7-11 30-60% reduction by floodlights and no posters (increased visibility)]. AKA target hardening / removal.
