Routine activity theory and residential robbery

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In the late 70’s, routine activity theory, a sub category of crime chance theory, emerged as a important theoretical strategy within criminology. Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen 1st proposed this kind of theory in their explanations of crime rate changes in the United States via 1947 until 1974, which usually concluded that criminal offenses was opportunistic rather than designed and accomplished (Felson and Cohen 1979). Since then this theory have been extensively applied and become one of the citied ideas within criminology. However , in contrast to most criminology theories, schedule activity theory examines how criminal incidents are made, and closely relates criminal offense to their environment along with focusing its environmental processes, to be able to attempt to move academic focus away from why/ the determination for people to commit crimes.

Schedule activity refers to the generalized patterns of social activities within world, or to a larger extent, spatial and provisional, provisory patterns in family, operate and leisure activities. The theory of schedule activity then suggests that the corporation of routine activities in society make opportunities pertaining to crime. These kinds of routines allow crime to become either easy/ low risk, or difficult/ high risk. As opportunities vary over time and space, along with amongst different people, as a result so do the likelihood of crime.

So routine activity theory links a macro level situational style, using spatial and eventual patterns of routine activities in culture, to a micro level situational model while using intent to make clear why against the law occurs. The situational unit stipulates which a criminal work occurs resulting from the concurrence of three minimal elements in space and period:

Without any of the three factors, Cohen and Felson contended that would be satisfactory enough in order to avoid a crime coming from occurring.

The fundamentals of routine activity theory is that crime is relatively unaffected by macro economic and interpersonal changes, including unemployment rates, poverty and inequality. For instance, post the 2nd World War, western countries’ economies, including the UK as well as the United States, had been booming and expanding drastically. However , despite this, crime had raised considerably during the time content the conflict (Cohen, 1989). Cohen and Felson argued that crime rates had elevated post Ww ii, due to the program activities of society beginning to shift far from homes, for example , more women required full time careers, thus bringing up the likelihood that a motivated culprit would converge in space and period with a appropriate target in the absence of a capable guardian. Which can be especially true intended for residential robbery, as when people perform regimen activities from their property, and the belongings are left unguarded without a able guardian, a better opportunity for criminal offense to occur would be presented.

A significant contribution towards regimen activity theory is the concept that opportunities of crime are unevenly spread throughout contemporary society, and nor are they unlimited. There is rather a limit within the amount accessible targets viewed as attractive to the motivated arrest. Cohen and Felson (1979) suggested that there were several main factors, which affect a target’s suitability for any criminal harm, as summarised by the phrase, VIVA (Value, Inertia, Awareness and Access). Therefore , offenders are only thinking about targets that: have identified value by the offender, possibly material or symbolic, possess a size and pounds that makes the offence feasible, thus little electronic goods are taken more often than heavier products, are bodily visible for the potential offender, is also attainable to the potential offender.

This element of routine activity theory may further support us to understand residential theft. As individuals whose routine activity usually takes them away from their homes, leaving their residence as a suitable target, without a capable guardian to protect their particular belongings, making it easy/ low risk crime for a great offender to carry out. Furthermore, with all the four components of a target’s suitability brought in, the suitable goal house might have notebooks, IPad’s and other items of worth visible through window, along with an easily selected or broken lock. Brings about the house becoming an attractive and suitable concentrate on for the motivated arrest.

To summarise, program activity theory is a theory of criminal offenses events, which will differentiates this from the preponderant of criminological theories. With the knowledge that schedule theory provides it helps guide research intended for crime trends over time, along with circulation of criminal offense across space. Its employ by other folks has result in a much broader understanding of crime situations and why they arise, resulting in improved knowledge of particular crimes, just like residential robbery, which with routine activity theory, preventative methods may be implemented in order to help reduce crime rates in spot and high crime areas.

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