Their principal interest is in keeping the potential offender out of trouble. Examples of guardians include the owner of a car who locks his vehicle, a child care provider who keeps close watch over the children in public, and a coworker who walks another to his car in the parking garage.
The principal interest of guardians is the protection of their potential targets. Finally, managers supervise and monitor specific places Eck, Place managers might include the owner of a shop who installs surveillance cameras, an apartment landlord who updates the locks on the doors, and park rangers who enforce littering codes. The principal interest of managers is the functioning of places.
Eck depicted this more comprehensive version of routine activities theory was as a crime triangle see Figure 1. The inner triangle represents the necessary elements for a crime to occur: A motivated offender and suitable target must be at the same place at the same time. The outer triangle represents the potential controllers—guardians, handlers, and managers—who must be absent or ineffective for a crime to occur; the presence of one effective controller can prevent the criminal event.
Controllers have been described in greater detail. Felson indicated who is most likely to successfully control crime as a guardian, handler, or manager. He described four varying degrees of responsibility:.
Controllers who are more closely associated with potential offenders, targets, or places, are more likely to successfully take control and prevent crime. As responsibility moves from personal to general, the likelihood that crime will be prevented diminishes. For example, a shop owner will be much more likely to take control and prevent shoplifting in her store compared with a stranger who infrequently comes to the store.
Residents will be more likely to prevent crime on their own street block, rather than on the blocks they travel to and from work. In , they published a now famous article where they proposed the central idea of the theory.
So what does routine activities theory say? Routine activities theory is based on the idea that offenders make rational choices about whether to commit a crime. Crime is not something extraordinary that requires a deep psychological analysis. Instead, the theory says that for crime to occur, three elements must be present, namely 1 a motivated offender, 2 a suitable target, and 3 the absence of capable guardians.
When these three elements come together at the same time in the same space, crime occurs. The first is a motivated offender. Although this is one of the three central elements, routine activities theory is not very interested in it. Cohen and Felson simply assume that a motivated offender is present. This is where the theory is different from most criminological theories, which are focused on why the offender wants to commit a crime. Whether people decide to commit crime depends on the other two elements, namely whether a suitable target and guardianship are present.
The second element is that a suitable target needs to be present. The question here is what makes a target suitable? A number of factors play a role:. At first sight, these factors are most applicable to property crime and robbery. In fact, routine activities theory was originally developed to explain direct contact predatory crimes, meaning crimes where an offender comes into direct physical contact with a victim. SozTheo is a collection of information and resources aimed at all readers interested in sociology and criminology.
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Target harden Steering column locks and ignition immobilizers Anti-robbery screens Tamper-proof packaging. Extend guardianship Go out in group at night Leave signs of occupancy Carry cell phone. Conceal targets Off-street parking Gender-neutral phone directories Unmarked armoured trucks.
Set rules Rental agreements Harassment codes Hotel registration. Control access to facilities Entry phones access Electronic card. Assist natural surveillance Improved street lighting Defensible space design Support whistle-blowers.
Remove targets Removable car radio Women's shelters Pre-paid cards for pay phones.
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