Cohen and Felson (1979) is a seminal work in the field of criminology that introduced the concept of "routine activities theory." This theory posits that crime is more likely to occur when three conditions are present: a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian.
According to Cohen and Felson, criminal behavior is not a result of individual psychological traits, but rather it is influenced by the presence or absence of certain situational factors. In other words, an individual may be more or less likely to commit a crime based on the opportunities and constraints present in their environment.
The concept of a motivated offender refers to an individual who has a desire to commit a crime. This motivation can be driven by a variety of factors, such as financial gain, revenge, or a desire to assert power or control.
A suitable target is an object, person, or location that is attractive to an offender and vulnerable to being victimized. For example, a parked car with valuable items visible inside may be a suitable target for a thief.
The absence of a capable guardian refers to a lack of supervision or protection that would prevent a crime from occurring. This can include a lack of physical security measures, such as locks or security cameras, as well as a lack of social guardians, such as parents or community members who are aware and able to intervene in a potential crime.
Cohen and Felson's routine activities theory has been widely influential and has been applied to a variety of different types of crime, including property crime, violent crime, and white collar crime. It has also been used to inform crime prevention efforts, such as increasing the presence of capable guardians in high-risk areas or making targets less suitable for potential offenders.
Overall, Cohen and Felson's routine activities theory provides a useful framework for understanding the complex factors that contribute to criminal behavior and offers insights into how we can prevent crime by altering the conditions that enable it.
Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (1979). Social Change and Crime Rate Trends A Routine Activity Approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588
Abstract Scholars have argued that emergence of co-offending depends on the availability, proximity, and convergence of suitable co-offenders. This differentiates routine activities theory from other theories of crime. Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. Sullivan and Beech 2004 studied men who admitted sexually abusing children in the course of their work and found that 15% had chosen the work to provide them with access to children. COHEN AND MARCUS FELSON University of Illinois, Urbana American Sociological Review 1979, Vol.
Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach on JSTOR
These findings suggest that there may be more to understanding sex crimes and sex offenders than situational opportunities alone. The encyclopedia of crime and punishment, 1-3. Placing the investigations of urban crime in relation to sociality and spatiality, the paper advocates for departuring from spatiality that is the common ground between urban crime and pattern conceptions. Clarke and Derek B. Subsequent work often applied the theory to variation in individual risk of victimization instead. Namely, the digital ecosystem abstractified the idea of victims and offenders meeting in time and physical space to carry out crimes. Criminology, 27 1 , 27-56.
Many potential offenders, although motivated to commit a crime, would be hesitant to do so with a police officer nearby. Routine activities theory is not without criticism. Which model holds that substance abusers are forced? Sexual burglars were more likely to break into occupied residences, which regular burglars tended to avoid. That is to say, the particular intent of the offender and the available opportunities, for instance, can lead to an offender seeking out a different suitable target. This seasonal shift in routine activities offers motivated offenders increased opportunities for crimes through providing suitable targets such as shoppers carrying money and valuables and unattended homes to burglarize. Regression analysis using dummy variables and analysis of variance ANOVA were employed to test the existence of seasonality.
How does routine activity theory prevent crime? Crime and justice, 6, 147-185. As a result, citizens are more likely to provide informal guardianship against potentially criminal behavior. A cyberstalker on social media, for instance, may interact with a victim who is offline, and whom they have never met in-person. Criminologists consider suitable targets at various levels of analyzing crimes, and Cohen and Felson 1979 suggest how large-scale societal changes can influence how many suitable targets criminals see at a national level. Developed by Cohen and Felson 1979 , routine activities theory requires three elements be present for a crime to occur: a motivated offender with criminal intentions and the ability to act on these inclinations, a suitable victim or target, and the absence of a capable guardian who can prevent the crime from happening … What is capable guardianship? The approach applies to variations and changes in both large and small areas, over both short and long stretches of time. What types of guardians are needed to prevent crime? Sexual and regular burglars may have different motivations, even different expertise. Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach.
SEASONALITY OF PROPERTY CRIME IN HONG KONG on JSTOR
A nearby security camera or a sign indicating that there is a home burglary alarm may cause an offender to hesitate committing a crime. A related study of child sexual abuse by priests in the U. Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. Rational choice theory was first presented by Ronald V. Cohen in their explanation of crime rate changes in the United States between 1947 and 1974. The ubiquity of the Internet has ushered in opportunities for online criminality. Hence, dismissing both deterministic and free-will approaches to environmental design and addressing the urban crime as a complex city problem, the study argues that adopting a kind of spatial knowledge and possibilistic approach is critical for both understanding and transforming the city in order to investigate the issue of urban crime in relation to spatial patterns.
Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach (1979
According to routine activities theory, there are not necessarily deep psychological motivations for committing a crime; an otherwise ordinary person can be convinced to commit a crime easily. Why did Shaw and McKay find the highest rates of delinquency in transitional neighborhoods? Another that observed that apartments in Tallahassee, Florida that were near the entrance to the complex and not facing another building were more likely to be burglarized Sherman, Gartin, and Buerger, 1989. The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society is one of the world's top criminology journals. For example, computers — which once took up the size of an entire room, making theft extremely difficult — shrunk to a size concealable in a backpack, or even a pocket. Rates of property crime burglary and theft in Hong Kong for the period 1991—2000 were analysed to determine their relationships with seasons. Despite the recontextualization of Cohen and Felson's theory, Reyns, Henson, and Fisher found connections between online proximity to motivated offenders, online guardianship, and online target attractiveness and the likelihood of cyberstalking.
This may involve increasing the effort required to commit a crime e. What do you mean by routine activity approach? Rather than emphasizing the characteristics of offenders, with this approach we concentrate upon the circumstances in which they carry out predatory criminal acts. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. For example, if an offender is motivated to commit crime, he or she might not do it if there are many people around. Who is least likely to become a crime victim? Article citations Cohen, L.
Cohen, L.E. and Felson, M. (1979) Social Change and Crime Rate Trends A Routine Activity Approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588
The researchers argued that the presence of peers makes deviant acts easier and more rewarding, the absence of authority figures reduces the potential for social control responses to deviance, and the lack of structure leaves young adults with time to carry out deviant behavior. Cohen and Marcus Felson 1979 and later developed by Felson, is one of the most widely cited and influential theoretical constructs in the field of criminology and in crime science more broadly. The discussion evaluates the results from a series of hybrid decomposition model and considers the utility of situating co-offending within broader socio-structural contexts. Approximately 16% of abuse occurred in a church, 12% in the victim's home, 10% in a vacation home, and 10% in school. If a target is suitable, this means that there is a greater chance that the crime can be committed, rather than, a target that is hard to achieve. Moreover, grounding the issue of safety in the context of place theory and avoiding deterministic and free-will approaches to urban crime, the study advocates for the necessity of mapping urban morphology, functional attributes, and spatial patterns in relation to socio-economic condition and demographic profiling. As the national organization for sociologists, the American Sociological Association, through its Executive Office, is well positioned to provide a unique set of services to its members and to promote the vitality, visibility, and diversity of the discipline.
