Simulated experiments and their potential role in criminology and criminal justice

Abstract

The use of computational simulations in the field of criminology and criminal justice is growing rapidly (Gunderson and Brown 2000; Brantingham and Brantingham 2004; Liu et al. 2005; Wang 2005; Eck and Liu 2008). Some criminologists emphasize the importance of simulation methods for strengthening and elaborating theory (Brantingham and Brantingham 2004; Eck 2005; Groff 2007b), others focus on the use of simulation as a policy evaluation tool (Perez and Dray 2005). Groff (2007a), for example, created a society and then systematically varied specific conditions under which that society operated (e.g., average time spent away from home and the spatio-temporal constraints on routine activity spaces) to assess how varying different components of routine activity theory might variously impact on street robbery outcomes. This Special Issue of the Journal of Experimental Criminology takes stock of how simulation methodologies are currently used and thought about in the field of criminology and criminal justice. We have assembled a collection of seven papers that together provide a snapshot of the issues and complexities of applying computer simulation to criminology and criminal justice. Our introductory comments seek to introduce the reader to different types of simulation models, highlight the complexities encountered in building robust models, and situate the application of computer simulation within the broader spectrum of experimental criminology. Outside of criminology, researchers have discussed the potential to conduct experiments using ‘virtual’ places, people or situations for some time (Dowling 1999; Berk et al. 2000). Related disciplines such as economics (Schelling 1971; Tesfatsion 2000; Wilhite 2001; Tesfatsion 2002), sociology (Epstein et al. 2001; Macy and Willer 2002; Moss and Edmonds 2005), and geography (Parker et al. 2003; Brown et al. 2004) have conducted such experiments. J Exp Criminol (2008) 4:187–193 DOI 10.1007/s11292-008-9058-0