Theories and Burglary

Using criminological terms and concepts, focus on a jurisdiction, neighborhood, or geographic locale with which you are familiar. Regarding a human behavior which you select to focus on in that geographical space, write two concise yet comprehensive paragraphs on how social disorganization theory can inform your understanding of behavior and place, and one weakness which would find your understanding somehow lacking, and why. Then write two equally compelling paragraphs on how routine activities theory would foster your understanding, and one weakness which might leave your understanding lacking, and why.

Routine activity theory was first proposed by Cohen and Felson in trying to address the rise of criminal rates in the 1970s within a social context. This theory attempts to explain the possibility of crime that is influenced by our daily routines,

Although, the reader has experience a home invasion four years ago but thankfully no one was present during the time. Those robbers did take away valuable items but life is more important than those items that can be easily replaced. It’s sad to see many stories of home invasion since that’s when people want to rest and be worried free. But, today robbers continue to hunt down house to steal valuable items and hurt the homeowners if needed. All we can do is take precaution of all the stories to keep not only our neighborhood safe but the

"Homes with a security system are less likely to be targeted by criminals, according to a report issued by the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This information was obtained directly from criminals, as 60 percent of individuals convicted of burglary stated they would target a different home if they were aware of a residence having

Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (1979) expanded on these principles and introduced routine activities theory as an ecological perspective on criminal behavior. Furthermore, the quintessence of routine activity theory is the assertion that there are three necessary components that must be present for crime to occur: the motivated offender(s) (individuals seeking/able/willing to commit offenses), presence of

Burglary has an undeniably large presence in society. Consequently, there is significant discourse surrounding the major criminogenic forces that motivate burglars. As a result, this essay asserts that to a large extent, strain theory provides the most effective explanation for burglary. However, this essay recognises the limitations of strain theory, thus the essay acknowledges the smaller, albeit still significant roles that theories like Seduction of Crime theory and Conflict theory play in explaining burglary. To develop this hypothesis, a number of factors are explored. First however, a definition of burglary must be established; for the purposes of this essay, the Common Law definition shall be used. Additionally, strain theory’s fundamental

Routine activity theory is primarily based on the motivation of the offenders. It solely holds the political motivation of terrorists and what they can obtain from political

Understanding patterns and motivation of crimes is important for solving the mysteries surrounding them. In this sense, theories can be used to explain crime phenomena and answer the questions involved. Through theory, important aspects surrounding a crime can be discovered. Therefore, understanding the patterns and motivations of crimes can be helpful towards preventing their occurrence. This paper focuses on robbery as a type of crime. The two theories that are applied to robbery, in this case, are strain theory and social disorganization theory. Robbery usually involves unlawful taking of property from an organization or an individual through use of force or threat of force. There may also be

A theory is an explanation of why or how things are related to each other (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Additionally, a theory is defined as a plausible or scientifically acceptable principle, or a body of principles, offered to explain phenomena (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). Furthermore, crime theories examine and attempt to identify relationships among humans, criminal behavior, and specific factors such as biological factors, psychological factors, sociological factors, and economic factors (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Since we have defined a theory, let us further discuss how theories are created beginning with the components of a theory.

My home state is Florida and the Florida statute distinguishes dwellings from other types of structures. Any building or conveyance of any sort (whether it’s mobile or immobile) and was to design specifically for people to lodge in at night is a dwelling. In addition, during the process of dwelling there is not another person that’s in the dwelling during the same time the offender decides to enter in or stay in. On the other hand, any kind of building that has a roof over it (doesn’t matter if it’s temporary or permanent) is structure. During the process of structure there is another person that enters or remains inside the same time as the offender. Lastly, any ship, trailer, aircraft, motor vehicle, or sleeping car is considered conveyance. Likewise, conveyance is the same as structure because during the process there is another person that’s entering or remaining inside the same time as the offender. Burglary is a first degree felony, this includes when the offender enters an occupied or unoccupied (doesn’t matter) dwelling or structure and uses the vehicle to assist in committing any offenses and damages the structure or dwelling. In my opinion, I don’t believe that the punishment for the burglary of a dwelling is different from the burglary of another type of structure or vehicle.

The deviation from the conventional routine of the average United States citizen after World War II, was of particular interest to Cohen and Felson (1979); during this time, economic and social welfare of the public increase, yet crime such as aggravated assault and rape increased more than two-fold between 1960 and 1975 (Cohen & Felson, 1979, p. 588-608). Due to lifestyle changes that elevated the time spent away from home, it gave room for the opportunity for crime to increase. Homes had less time with capable guardians and more people were out in public increased the likelihood of interaction with motivated offenders---** cite

According to the routine activities theory, it is broken into three main reasons that would determine whether or not a crime will be committed based on the circumstances that would lead to the time of the event taking place. The three elements that revolves around the targets are one; the motivated offender which is the individual(s) that had come to the conclusion and determining of engaging in the criminal activity for their gain. Two; the suitable target or targets that are made available for the offenders to commit crimes against whether it be people or buildings, as long as they have a mean of gaining access and likely benefit from the outcome. Three is the absence of the capable guardians which can be the lack of security or absence of

Routine Activity Theory Routine is something that usually people follow like a schedule every day. Typical people wake up early in the morning, wake up kids, make breakfast, get ready for work, drive the kids to school, and get to work. This is a routine for most people who work Monday through Friday and clearly it is something that is done every day for the exception of when the kids are off from summer break. People get use to following these daily actions because it is something typical citizen have to do such as go to work and take the kids to school every day.

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.

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,