Routine Activities Theory

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

Now the original question asked was, “Why do sex offenders do the things they do?” No single factor or combination of factors can fully explain why someone offends sexually, though some factors may combine to increase people’s tendency to offend. The field of sex offender management has yet to find a clear explanation or cause for sexual offending behavior; however, despite many unanswered questions, research has produced a number of important findings about the etiology of sexual offending:

Routine activity theory came on the scene as a pivotal academic approach in criminology during the 1970s, formulated by Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson. Noted as one of the most influential theoretical concepts in the field of criminology, this theory strives off motivation and refers to many social activities in any society. Routine activities theory must have three factors present for a crime to occur which includes a motivated offender with intentions and wiliness to act on their intentions to commit a crime, a suitable target, and a guardian with the capabilities to help prevent the crime from occurring must not be present. Along with the three elements time and space must coincide with one another for a crime to occur. Routine

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.

About 43.9% of sex offenders identified both male and female perpetrators as opposed to 9.6% of nonsexual offenders. These individuals were exposed to more severe forms of victimization with a longer duration. Sex offenders endured an average of 5.6 years of abuse while nonsexual offenders experienced 3.9 years. Through the use of logistic regression analyses, Burton, Miller, and Shill (2002) concluded that method of operation and gender of abuser accurately predicts whether an individual will sexually offend. The analysis correctly predicted and placed 78.3% of the sex-offending males into their correct groups.

After the recession in Blueville, the violent crime rate increased by __% and similarly the property crime rate increased by __%. The increase in both property and violent crime can be explained using the routine activities theory. Routine activities theory states that crime is a normal function of everyday life and is a result of the interaction between a suitable target, an absence of a capable guardian, and a motivated criminal. A suitable target is someone or something that are vulnerable and desirable to the offender. A target is chosen as suitable by the criminal and as a result the idea of a suitable target varies from person to person. However, a suitable target can often be found in areas that are dark, secluded or lack surveillance

The term “sex offender” implies that those who commit sex related offenses are in essence, the same as one another, but in reality, they are a very dissimilar group. Sex offenders differ with respect to behaviors and patterns, population data, stimuli, and the threat level subjected to the community. For the reason that sex offenders are so varied, the strategies imposed for treatment will not work on a ‘one size fits all model’, rather, an individualized approach based off the characteristics and offenses of the offender (Center for Sex Offender Management, 2008).

The next step is to critically analyze the data which is closely followed by the conceptualization of the information gained. Then, both broad and narrow treatment methods which are tailored for individual sexual offenders should be formulated. Finally, irrespective of scientists’, researchers’ and examiners’ personal held beliefs or individual bias concerning the data collected and examined, it should be judiciously and impartially disseminated in an effort to correctly educate the public, thus avoiding any undue or improper influencing (Levenson & D'Amora, 2007; Sample & Bray, 2006; Zgoba,

Of all the violent crimes in America, sexual assault has become one of the fastest growing misconduct under this category. Of those found guilty of sexual offenses, 25% of them were juveniles. Of these offenses that occurred within adult offenders, 50% of them announced that their first offense happened during their pubescent stage (Martin, 2009). To get a hold of the increasing number of juvenile sex offenders, they are many opinion related solutions, other routes like treatment methods, and of course answers within legislation that could possibly reduce or prevent this issue directly. There are some concerns that have been brought to attention with regards to the psychological and behavioral modification treatments that is administered

In a large number of sexual offenders, the offenders only seek gratification vice dominance over the victim (Hanser et al, 2011). Exploitation is the tool used by the offender to obtain sexual gratification. For example, the offender, who molests his teenage stepdaughter, is more motivated by his sexual arousal vice having sex with a child (Hanser et al, 2011). The offender is acting on normal sexual arousal, however the teenagers is the readily accessible victim. If this offender was evaluated in a laboratory setting to measure his sexual arousal pattern, the counselors would realize that the offender is mostly attracted to adult women, followed in intensity by adolescent females. Conclusions would show the offender possesses the normal sexual arousal for a heterosexual male (Hanser et al, 2011). Therefore, the counselor would conclude that the principal problem for the offender is not sexual interest. The act of molestation on the teenage female occurred due to using poor judgement, difficulties in impulse control, poor self-management, problems in his personal relationships and other problems (Hanser et al, 2011). Conversely, an offender that is driven to commit sexual assaults to gratify his sexual arousal to children, coerce people to have sex, or just to expose certain parts of his body to strangers, has problems with

Sexual offenders are subject to a particularly devastating stigma and, consequently, classified as their own particular form of criminal. The nature of the offence tends to elicit extreme emotional responses and stand out as being especially egregious due to the potential for extreme emotional and psychological suffering in victims and the harm being most often directed towards vulnerable members of the population. The portrayal of sex offenders in the media also tends to create distorted perceptions among the public, including beliefs of especially high recidivism and how there is little to no chance for rehabilitation.

Routine Activity Theory is a criminological perspective for which the core concept is the crime triangle. There have to be three attributes of a crime, a motivated offender, a suitable target, and a lack of guardianship. During this process, the suspected criminal has to monitor the proposed area (Hoover, 2014). In my opinion, these things are only true based on what type of crime is being committed. Each type of crime imposes different requirements and can be analyzed from a situational perspective (Kleemans, Soudijn, & Weenink, 2012). If someone is really wanting to kill someone, they are not going to care who is around, what time of day, who’s holding a phone and videoing, or any of that, they are gonna kill that person. We see crimes that

Sex offenders tend to blend in to society virtually unnoticed until they offend or reoffend (Polizzi, MacKenzie, & Hickman, 1999). Currently, there is a large group of mental health professionals representing a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry clinical social work, counseling, and medicine, that continue to believe in the potential efficacy of treating sex offenders. Over the past decade, the sex offender treatment field has grown rapidly and the treatment of juvenile sex offenders is on the rise (Parks & Bard, 2006). The rationale for treating juvenile offenders is based on research which indicates that inappropriate sexual behavior patterns develop early and a failure to intervene and change behavior early often means that the offender will continue to escalate his/her inappropriate behavior, which could present an even greater danger to society (Ayland & West, 2006). Vivian-Bryne, (2004) suggests that professionals who treat adult sex offenders report that offenders who are incarcerated will eventually return to the community and therefore, therapeutic measures should be taken to reduce the likelihood that they will reoffend even if those measures have not conclusively been identified as effective. Sexual offenders may find therapy valuable because it can allow them to retrace their upbringing to help them identify and understand the roots of their

Over the years, routine activities theory has been used to explain many different types of crime. However, the evidence regarding routine activities theory across the board has generally been mixed (controversy).

The victims of this type of offender are for the most part male. (Gunby) Another type of offender that researchers are beginning to study, that is the offender with high levels of psychopathic traits. There is what the study referred to as “modest” information on this type of offender compared to their adult counterpart. But from what they have studied thus far is that juvenile sex offenders with high levels of psychopathic traits had more severe antisocial histories, and had higher rates of general and violent recidivism. They were also more likely to use weapons or threats during the sexual offense, and were more likely to recidivate when released from prison. (Lawing) The reasons that an adolescent may become a sex offender are as varied as the types of offenders.