The Importance Of Routine Activities Theory

Routine activity theory states that for a crime to be committed, three important factors need to be present including: a motivated offender, an accessible target, and the absence of a capable guardian against a violation. Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen introduced the routine activity theory in 1979, where they believed that an individual who has these three characteristics gives them a greater possibility of committing a crime. Moreover, situational crime prevention is known as strategies of ways for preventing or reducing the opportunities for criminals to commit crimes that derive from the routines of an individual’s everyday life. Ronald V. Clarke introduced situational crime prevention theory in 1983, where he believed that removing the situation instead of removing the criminal could prevent crime. In this paper, I will be discussing what routine activity/situational crime prevention theory is, and apply two peer-reviewed articles from Google Scholar that test the routine activity/situational crime prevention theory by discussing what the authors are trying to figure out and discuss their findings, and lastly, tie the routine activity/situational crime prevention theory articles to our textbook in hopes to fully understand in depth what the theory encompasses.

Violence take multiple forms, many of which are covered in the nightly news. Murder, rape, familial abuse, bullying, workplace hostility, armed robbery—all of these are societal problems with far-reaching repercussions. There have long debates and discussions regarding whether nature or nurture influences individual violent behavior. People are concerned about what makes an individual to engage in violent behavior such murder or burglary among other types of crimes. They are also concerned about what makes people stop such behavior. However, there is no precise conception whether nature, nurture or both influence violence. Some people assume that, violent behavior results from individual’s life experiences or upbringing also known as nurture. Others feel that violent behavior is more complex and results from individual’s genetic character or nature. In other words, it is not clear whether violent behavior is inborn or occurs at some point in persons’ lives, but even it’s hard, emphasizing one and ignoring other influences is always an unwise way to go.

The routine activities theory is based on the concept of the crime triangle. This triangle consists of a “motivated offender a suitable target and the lack of guardianship” (Cohen & Felson, 1979). When Hot spot policing is employed its focus is directed at two of the three elements of the triangle. Those elements are the suitable target and the lack of a capable guardian (Hoover, 2014). Some of the major tenants of this perspective are geographic targeting, focused patrol, saturation patrol, and interactive programs. There are other tenants such as simple visibility and foot patrol but I will focus on the three mentioned above. Geographic targeting uses techniques which address crime based on the “hot spot” theory. Hot spots are another

Modern biology is focused more on understanding behavior, like violence and crime, through research on indicators and influences. Rather than attempting to determine a single root cause, researchers are discovering markers of predisposition and identifying factors of risk. In a recent interview about his new book, The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime, criminologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Adrian Raine asserts that there is a “biology of violence” that should not be ignored; “Just as there’s a biological basis for schizophrenia and anxiety disorders and depression… there’s a biological basis also to recidivistic violent offending” (Gross, 2013).

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.

The biological theories are essential to the criminal justice profession so that they won't assume that a person's genetic characteristics cause a person to commit a crime. However, there are born criminals and “these types of criminals are the most dangerous, and can be identified through his or her stigmata or identifying characteristics” (Akers, Sellers, See, & Kieser, 2013, p. 10). Biological theories are the bases for severe criminal behavior mostly found among people who are born with an innate impulse to commit a

First, psychological theory suggests that a person’s environment and past can influence their ability and desire to commit crime while biological theory suggest a person’s DNA makeup could influence their ability to commit crime. “Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of

The reason why Justine committed the crime involves the three key elements in Routine Activities Theory. One was motivation since Justine was made to move from her hometown into the inner city she meets and made friends with the wrong crew. They got into Justine's head by telling her robbing the old homeless man would be cool. Two was suitable since Justine lost her home because her father lost his job and her father left her mother, Justine, whole world had fallen apart. Not only did she lose all her close friends that she made at her old school, she started to fall behind in school and her emotions were no longer stable. She made friends who understood what she was going through and she felt like they were her new family ones that she could

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).

For this article, the alleged serial killer of 20 people was finally getting a trial after more than 20 years in Los Angeles. Of course I have to say alleged because even though DNA evidence is astonishing, he is innocent until proven guilty (Even though his stare seems to suggest otherwise). Although one of his victims did cheat death, and the alleged murderer was caught by evidence on an uneaten dough and a drinking glass, one would think that the victim would enjoy the right for a speedy trial, however this is not the case as the suspect has some brilliant defense attorneys.

Routine activity theory is a subpart of rational choice theory and was developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson in 1979. Routine activity theory is based on three elements, which include suitable targets (such as homes with goods that are easily sold), the unavailability of capable guardians (such as homeowners, police officers and security guards), and the motivation for an offender (such as an unemployed offender). The offender’s decision to commit a crime is influenced by the opportunity;

This interview gives a lot of great advice honestly as it pertains to the routine activities theory- first off, Routine Activities Theory is where our patterns of behavior or how we interact with people can impact the chances of crime occurring. So some of the things he said such as not leaving your facebook privacy settings so wide open, careful of the emails you open or sites you visit, etc. are perfect examples. One thing this gentleman got right was not saying in a facebook post what you are doing or where you are going and for how long- this is SCREAMING at someone that maybe wants to rob your house that hey, I can do this now because they are leaving town or going to be at yoga, etc. Even using the location tag feature on facebook is

The Routine Activities theory was developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson and is derived from rational choice theory (Walsh & Hemmens, p. 122). Cohen and Felson claim that crime is the result of “(a) motivated offenders meeting (b) suitable targets that lack (c) capable guardians” (Walsh & Hemmens, p. 123). The Routine Activities theory is used to explain not only crime rates but also risk of victimization. It is closely related to Lifestyle theory and often combined with it.

Crime has adverse consequences in the society. Multiple factors conspire to make it inevitable and difficult to eradicate. Crime control policies and strategies are linked to the efforts to understand the underlying causes of crime (Kelimeler, 2011). Perhaps, this explains why crime causation theories have gained dominance in the criminal justice system. Among these theories, Routine Activity Theory (RAT) stands out. The RAT affirms that for crime to occur their criteria must be fulfilled. The criteria includes a motivated offender, absence of a guardian, and presence of a suitable target. The theory explicitly refutes claims that crime occurs due to macroeconomic issues, such as unemployment issues.

Routine activity theory is a sub theory that was created by Marcus Felson. The routine theory is supported by the social control theory because of its principles. Principles that state crimes are considered normal activity when an opportunity arises. If the victim is available with no protection, then that situation will lead to criminal activity if the victim has value. The main principle is that opportunity is the causation of crime, and the social control theory main principle is to cancel all opportunities by pre-occupying the potential offender with something else. Many of these crimes are not reported to law enforcement because they are petty theft.