Application of Routine Activities Approach in Rural Homicide of Bangladesh

Abstract

Since its introduction, Routine Activity Theory (Cohen and Felson, 1979) has attracted much scholarly interest for explaining and preventing crime. However two notable gaps exist. Many researchers have tested the Routine Activities Approach and found support for it in urban and national contexts; however, the rural context has been relatively neglected and an empirical question remains as to whether the findings from urban environments are generalisable to rural settings. Moreover, as most studies focus on the developed world, it remains unclear whether Routine Activity Theory is applicable to developing nations. To address these gaps in knowledge, this study uses data from Bangladesh, a developing country, to test the theory’s ability to explain rural homicide victimization. This present study replicates the hypotheses of Messner and Tardiff (1985), but while the findings are broadly consistent with those of Messner and Tardiff, some differences were observed in relation to socio-demographic and temporal variables. This has implications for future research and policy. This thesis extends our understanding of the nature and patterns of rural homicide victimization.