Routine Activity Theory, High Risk Lifestyles Theory

Sexual abuse can be hard to define because of the many different forms it can take on, the different levels of frequency, the variation of circumstances that can occur. Until a child is fit to function as a self-supporting and informed adult, we have an obligation not to take advantage of their lack of power or protection to inflict damage, or demand submission to acts that are not in their own best interests within. Children are being abused every day in different countries. While commonly accepted wisdom had been that childhood sexual abuse results in long lasting negative outcomes.

The widespread feeling today is that there are more troubled teenagers than it was in the past, the increase of gangs, drugs, and guns will continue to be a social problem. Youth gangs are increasingly becoming a minority problem, and this trend is likely to increase in years to come, the drugs choices of juvenile may change in the future but that don’t mean it will be less of a problem than it is now, their choice of drugs today is cocaine and methamphetamine. Juveniles will continue to drink alcohol, and there is no reason to believe that the use of alcohol will be less of a problem than at present.

Youth that reside in communities that are deprived socially and economically, have ongoing violence, drugs,

The offenders, as well as the potential targets, usually are not found in the same place at the same period. The criminals ' mobility behaviors can be explained by the Routine activity theory that considers the availability, mobility as well the activities of individuals as the most precursors for a crime to take place. The theory states that for a crime to take place it has to be motivated by the offender and they must converge in space and time by the victim, and they should be no guardian in place (Carlo, and Marie-Noële, 15). Therefore, the crime activities can be viewed to be parasitic with the individual’s activities or the routines that shape the possibility of such events to take place.

There are a vast number of issues concerning child exploitation from the actions of the offender and the victim. Child exploitation is a complex issue that does not have one simple solution; this crime is nothing new, but technology is allowing it to evolve. Child exploitation is moving from sending child pornography through the postal service and targeting only children an offender has close proximity to. Technology and the Internet have widened the opportunities for offenders and have allowed for potentially ay juvenile to become victimized. The recommendations will focus on targeting key issues presented in the Routine Activities Theory; limiting a motivated offender, making targets unsuitable, and creating capable guardians online.

Adolescent substance abuse is a major problem in society. There are many risk factors that can contribute to adolescent substance abuse. One of the main risk factors is peer pressure. When adolescents start at a young age there is an increase in health problems, addiction, and over all poor social outcomes. Parental influence has substantial effect on adolescents because the adolescent sees their parents and they learn by their example. Media plays a role in the use of drug and alcohol use among young people. Many school systems have implemented programs that teach adolescents about the problems of substance abuse that is funded

In order for crime to arise according to routine activities theory, there are three necessary components: motivated offenders, suitable targets and the absence of capable guardians. Motivated offenders are simply those who possess the drive to commit a crime. Suitable targets are those items or victims who possess enough attractiveness to a motivated offender to incite crime. Capable guardians are those whose company can protect suitable targets (Cohen & Felson, 1979, p. 588-608). In the overlap where there is a motivated offender, suitable target, and absence of capable guardians, criminal activity will likely conspire (Walsh & Jorgensen, 2018, p. 87-88).

The third principle is mediation. The Activity Theory states that human activity is mediated by tools. Tools are created during the development of the activity itself and they carry a certain culture. Tool use influences the nature of external behavior and also the mental functioning of each person. The fourth principle is the hierarchical structure of activity. The hierarchy has three levels; activity, action, and operation. Figure 1. Below shows Leont’ev’s structure of human activity. Activities can be broken down into goal-directed actions that have to be undertaken in order to satisfy the object. Actions are conscious and happen automatically. The Activity Theory maintains the elements of the activity. The elements are not fixed but they can change as conditions change. The last principle is development. In Activity Theory, development is not only an object of study, it is also a research method. Research methods in AT is not comprised of actual lab experiments, but the experience of active participation and the monitoring of developmental changes of the study participants. All of the five principles should be looked at as a whole system, because they are associated with various aspects of the whole activity.

There are many theories that attempt to explain the cause of criminal events. One such theory is routine activity theory developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson in 1979. This theory was meant to fill the gaps in existing models that failed to adequately address rising crime rates during the 1960 's (Browning et al., 2000). Cohen and Felson suggested that crime should be thought of as an event that occurs at a specific location and time and involves specific people and/or objects (Felson,

Research indicates that 1 out of every 4 children will be the victim of sexual abuse before reaching age 18

A variety of evidence and data was collected inn support of this hypothesis. To start off with, the paper defines ‘routine activities’ as activities at home, in jobs away from

The last theory, routine activities, has three variables. The first variable is the availability of target, the lack of guardianship, and the presence of motivated offenders. This means that there are offenders out there and their victim will be those who are unsuspecting and those without any sort of guardianship.

This study talks about the causes that might lead a college student to become a victim of crime looking at the lifestyle and routine activities theory, and how students avoid getting themselves into dangerous situations. According to the study conducted by Daniel R. Lee & Carly M. Hilinski-Rosick, the study suggest that there is a relationship between the daily activities of a student and the characteristics of the student, and the fear of crime. (Lee, Hilinski-Rosick) . There study was conducted on twelve college and university campuses across the United States. Fear is an important factor, because if a student is aware of the types of crimes that exist based on what they’re doing. The student is more likely to not go out at night or drink and walk home by themselves, because they’ll know they can become victims of crime. Therefore this student would avoid putting themselves in situations like these to prevent themselves from becoming victimized. The lifestyle theory suggest that certain behaviors that a person lives by might cause them to become victims of crime. While the routine activities theory suggest that in order for a crime to occur there must be an offender, a target

“Most criminological theories proposed over the years are theories of criminality rather than of crime and seek to understand and investigate the developmental and/or biological factors responsible for turning individuals into offenders. In the sexual offending empirical literature more specifically, the focus has largely been on the personal dimensions of the behavior.” (Deslauriers-Varin & Beauregard, 2010) The focus of current criminological theories has not shifted to situational theories and situational crime prevention. These theories focus on the effects that structures, facilities, and environment have on criminal activity. The situational theory of routine activities further breaks down the elements of an environment that create an ideal situation for criminal activity. Situational activities are not the only way to explain how or why criminal activity takes place. Placing offenders into typologies can assist the explanation of why crime takes place under the routine activities theory, and the MTC: R3 typology proposed by Knight and Prentky attempts to do just that. The ideal situations that are discussed in the Routine Activities Theory might be avoided through the use of sexual offender registries if those registries were more effective. (Logan, 2003) The sex offenders profiled in the MTC: R3 typologies commit their crimes for the various reason listed in the Routine Activities Theory, for which the sex offender registries are ineffective in their attempt at

Many factors generate crime. That ‘inner morality’ necessary to resist the temptation to rape, rob, or kill weakens in an environment of broken homes, systemic poverty, ethical relativism, religious decline. Poverty ’causes’ crime in general in the same way that pornography causes sex crimes and television violence causes violence by children: it is a predispositive condition. If the family life could be strengthened, raise the living standard, instill character values this could have an impact on lowering the crime rate.