Routine Activities Theory
analytical Essay
1788 words
There are many definitions to theory. According to Akers (2009) “theories are tentative answers to the commonly asked questions about events and behavior” (Akers, (2009, p. 1). Theory is a set of interconnect statements that explain how two or more things are related in two casual fashions, based upon a confirmed hypotheses and established multiple times by disconnected groups of researchers.
There are six elements that make a theory sound. These elements are scientific criteria that provide whether or not the theories are scientific. The most important of these elements is empirical validity, which uses evidence to confirm or disprove a theory and have criteria for interpreting data as factual, irregular or unrelated. The other major elements include internal logical consistency, scope and parsimony, testability, and usefulness and policy implication. A theory must be logically consistent. In order to be so, it must have clearly defined concepts, have logically stated and internally consistent propositions. If a theory contains pointless ideas or is inconsistent, it can't really explain anything. Scope refers to the assortment of events that it propositions to explain. Parsimony is used to describe the concepts and propositions as to whether they are concise or abstract. Scope and Parsimony are interrelated. A scientific theory must be able to be tested by objective, repeatable evidence, but not against empirical findings. In order to assess the value of the theory, its usefulness for effective policy implications are evaluated. (Akers, 2009, p. 5-11)
Routine Activities Theory includes elements from deterrence and rational choice theories. Routine Activity Theory provides a simple and influential imminent into the sources of ...
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...n numbers; 5) improving natural surveillance through provision of public street lights, trimming of hedges, and putting up fences that do not obstruct visibility (Akers, 2009, p. 42).
Based upon the evidence provided on the six elements of a good theory, the Routine Activities Theory is a sound theory. These elements provide that the theory is scientific. The theory has brought together its three elements to help determine why crime occurs. Through research by multiple detached researchers, its hypotheses have been confirmed through tests and empirical evidence.
Works Cited
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Cohen, L. E. & Felson, M. (1979). “Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activities approach,” American Sociological Review 44:588-608.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that theory is a set of interconnect statements that explain how two or more things are related in two casual fashions.
- Explains the six elements that make a theory sound, including empirical validity, scope and parsimony, testability, and usefulness and policy implication.
- Explains that routine activities theory provides a simple and influential imminent into the sources of crime problems.
- Explains that routine activities theory has four basic elements, time, place, objects, and persons, which are placed into three main categories of variables.
- Explains that the founders, lawrence cohen and marcus felson defined routine activities as recurrent and prevalent activities that provide for basic population and individual needs.
- Explains that cohen and felson developed this theory to explain trends in crime rates. they believe that changes in routine activities in recent years leave a large number of homes left alone during the day and night and place people in reasonably unguarded environments.
- Explains that the routine activities theory is a logically consistent theory. cohen and felson defined the concepts they used, and the proposals they hoped to convey.
- Explains that routine activities theory can be useful to many types of studies and crimes including homicides, hot spots of crime, property and violent crimes, natural disasters and even internet crimes. the theory does have some flaws.
- Analyzes how the routine activities theory demonstrates parsimony by blaming victims for crimes committed against them.
- Explains that the theory is testable because it can be used in many different studies. cohen, kluegal, and land renamed it the "opportunity" theory and tested its propositions with data from the national crime victimization surveys.
- Argues that routine activities influence crime rates by disturbing the union in time and space of the three elements necessary for a crime to occur: motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of guardians.
- Analyzes the empirical validity of the routine activities theory using the study by sherman, gartin, and buerger.
- Explains that routine activities theory has been useful to implement policies, while crime prevention through environmental design (cpted) helps with precautions against crime. there is no research reported by felson on designs, site location, lighting, and other methods to deter crime
- Opines that routine activities theorists should propose policies that encourage people to take reasonable and prudent precautions.
- Explains that the routine activities theory is a sound theory based on evidence provided on the six elements of good theory. the theory has brought together its three elements to determine why crime occurs.
Related
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- Routine Activities Theory And Routine Activity Theoryexplanatory essayIn addition, routine activity theory proposes that in order for a successful crime to occur, there are three significant components that need to be present; as Felson (1987, p.911) notes, “a likely offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian against crime.” Farrell & Hodgkinson (2015) mention that a likely offender is, any individual in the society who can be tempted to commit a crime during a situation. Furthermore, they add a suitable target is a human being who goes through their daily lives and becomes a target for the offender. Additionally, they describe the absence of a capable guardian involves around the idea of, one lacking the protection of an individual who is capable of protecting the victim from being victimized.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that routine activity theory proposes three significant components for a successful crime to occur: likely offender, suitable target, and absence of capable guardian.
259 wordsRead More - Routine Activity Theoryopinionated essayRoutine Activity Theory Routine activity theory essentially is broken down into three components that describe crime committed in the midst of everyday life and routine. An example of a routine activity crime is, a woman leaving the front door of her house open, someone walking into her home and stealing items from her. The criminal could justify their actions by saying the woman should not have left her house open.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the routine activity theory's weaknesses aren't strong enough to justify crimes committed in the midst of everyday life and routine.
218 wordsRead More - Routline Activities Theory: Outline Activity Theoryexplanatory essayRoutine Activities Theory I chose the routine activities theory because to me this theory is one of the biggest and most important theories in Juvenile Delinquency itself. Many people may not understand what the routine activity theory is about and it may be confusing to them. This theory has been played around with many times and by many researchers. The first researchers to develop the theory were Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that routine activities theory is one of the biggest and most important theories in juvenile delinquency itself.
- Explains the routine activity theory, which states that crime is a normal function of society and is always going to be part of our daily lives.
- Explains that a person must be exposed to high amounts of crimes during their life and possibly even traumatic experiences. a person with an unstructured lifestyle will be more apt to committing crime compared to one with structured lifestyle.
- Explains that the routine activity theory is that there is a lack of capable guardians, such as parents, police, security guards, neighbors, and teachers.
- Explains that many moms are getting jobs like the husband, which means the kids are either at a daycare or staying at home. thieves love to take advantage of unguarded things.
- Explains that a suitable target is what most people think of when they imagine something getting stolen. high dollar items are usually the most preferred for thieves.
- Opines that a well-guarded and well secured target is not attractive to thief. the more risky the target, the less attractive it is.
- Explains that the third and final condition is a motivated offender. according to siegel and welsh, social forces will push the motivated population to increase. the job market is always changing and juvenile delinquency rates always have an increase or decrease.
- Explains that they chose the routine activity theory because they believe it is one of the best theories out there to describe why juveniles become delinquents and why they start committing crimes.
- Explains that a number of people they knew became delinquents after their parents divorced or weren't home as much as they should have been. they started partying and doing serious things like drugs and stealing items from big box stores.
- Opines that the lack of capable guardians makes them tempted to go out and screw around with things they weren't supposed to like their car.
- Concludes that the routine activity theory is so true in today's world we could sit down and watch it all occur. the opportunities open up for an individual and then some will take the opportunity to commit a crime.
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2354 wordsRead More - Routine Activities Theory Essayanalytical essayRoutine activities theory, the idea that crime is unaffected by social causes such as poverty, inequality and unemployment, was brought up by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen. This theory implies that the daily routine activities of people (i.e. where they work, routes they travel to and from work/school, people they socialize with, places they spend time, etc.) strongly influence when, where, and to who the crime occurs. Routine activities theory differs from most of criminological theories because it doesn’t focus on explaining why some people commit crimes such as the motivation to commit crime, rather than how criminal acts are brought up/taught. This theory has a lot
In this essay, the author
- Explains that routine activities theory, the idea that crime is unaffected by social causes such as poverty, inequality and unemployment, was brought up by marcus felson and lawrence e. cohen.
- Compares routine activities theory to environmental criminology, which focuses on the importance of opportunity in determining the distribution of crime across individuals lives.
- Argues that routine activities theory focuses on a range of factors that intersect in time and space to produce criminal opportunities and criminal events.
- Explains that environmental criminology and routine activities theory have practical ramifications for prevention. experts have applied routine activities theory to the real world by informing police of prevention strategies.
- Analyzes how cohen and felson argued that crime events require three minimal elements to converge in time and space. major changes in society's routine activity patterns can influence crime rates.
- Explains that cohen and felson agreed that crime rates increased after world war ii because routine activities of our society shifted away from the home, increasing the likelihood that motivated offenders would come together with suitable targets in the absence of supportive, present parent.
- Explains that the prevalence of crime in the 1960s was influenced by the study of cohen and felson's household activity ratio.
- Explains how routine activities theory has been used to explain differences in victimization across individuals.
- Argues that routine activities of individuals randomly place people and/or their property in the proximity of motivated offenders, leaving them sussceptible to victimization.
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