Environmental Criminology Theories Research Articles

A tale of two triangles: comparing the Fraud Triangle with criminology’s Crime Triangle

Purpose – This paper aims to propose the application of the Crime Triangle of Routine Activity Theory to fraud events as a complement to the universally accepted Fraud Triangle. Design/methodology/approach – The application of the Crime Triangle is illustrated using scenarios of asset misappropriations by type of perpetrator: external perpetrator, employee, management and the board and its governing bodies. Findings – The Crime Triangle complements the Fraud Triangle’s perpetrator-centric focus by examining the environment where fraud occurs and the relevant parties that play their role in preventing fraud or not playing their role, and thus, allowing the occurrence of fraud. Applying both triangles to a fraud event provides a comprehensive view of the fraud event. Research limitations/implications – The scenarios are limited to asset misappropriations with one perpetrator. Future research can apply both triangles to different types of fraud and cases where perpetrators collude to commit fraud. Practical implications – This paper maps the Crime Triangle to the Fraud Triangle to provide forensic accounting practitioners and researchers with a comprehensive perspective of a fraud event. This comprehensive perspective of fraud is the starting point to designing fraud risk management strategies that address both the perpetrator and the environment where the fraud event occurs. Originality/value – This paper is the first to propose the application of the established Crime Triangle environmental criminology theory as a complement to the Fraud Triangle to obtain a comprehensive perspective of a fraud event.

Predictive Mapping of Anti-Social Behaviour

Predictive mapping of crime and anti-social behaviour is becoming more and more popular as a tool to support police and policy makers. Important ingredients of such models are often demographic and economic characteristics of the area. Since those are hard to influence, we propose to use the environment instead. In this paper, we present a model based on environmental criminology theories that is purely based on the buildings and objects in the neighborhood, such as bars, restaurants and parks. We show the strength and predictive power of this approach on the area of The Hague and Delft and present how the results can be interpreted by policy makers.

Temporal and geographic clustering of residential structure fires: A theoretical platform for targeted fire prevention

Environmental criminology theory has established that crime is non-random across time and space, instead clustering in specific, predictable ways. This has resulted in the development of theories that have helped generate a suite of highly effective, targeted crime prevention tools. Although access to high-quality temporal and spatial fire event data has improved in recent decades, the nexus between spatial/temporal clustering, theory, and targeted fire prevention remains largely unexplored. To address this, the current paper compares the temporal and spatial distributions of residential structure fire and residential burglary within a North American city over a three year period. This analysis reveals (a) overlapping spatial clustering for these two incident types, and (b) distinct temporal patterns; all of which can be explained by the logic underpinning environmental criminology theory. The extrapolation of these findings to targeted fire prevention is discussed with respect to the opportunity this presents for the fire service.

Translating Environmental Criminology Theory into Crime Analysis Practice

In theory, the concepts of environmental criminology are introduced into the work of police departments by crime analysts. In ideal applications, the analysts use their knowledge of place, opportunity, and the situational nature of crime when assessing criminogenic factors to guide the development of police responses. A test of this theoretical process shows us that there is a disconnection in the transition of knowledge from theory to application. We use a survey of crime analysts to identify sources of this disconnect between the two fields as well as discuss potential remedies to the problem. Increased interaction between the two fields and recognition of the valuable contributions of each will lead to better analysis and problem-solving by both environmental criminologists and crime analysts, and ultimately the reduction and prevention of crime.

Public opinion on crime causation: An exploratory study of Philadelphia area residents

PurposeThis study examined the views on crime causation from a sample of randomly selected Philadelphia area residents. MethodsThrough the use of a phone survey, residents (N=359) were asked thirty seven questions related to their level of support for several criminological theories, including classical theory, biological theory, psychological theory, social disorganization theory, strain/general strain theory, subcultural theory, social learning theory, social control/general theory, labeling theory, critical theory, and environmental criminology theory. The analyses assessed whether the views of respondents differed by race, gender, and political ideology. Both across-race and within-race analyses were also conducted to determine the nuances of the support for specific criminological perspectives. ResultsThe results pointed to numerous significant gender differences and across-race differences in public opinion on crime causation but few within-race differences. The results also confirmed previous research that supported the notion that one's political ideology is tied to the level of support for certain criminological theories. ConclusionOverall, the results point to the merits of including the views of lay persons when there are discussions pertaining to crime causation.

Formal Evaluation of the Impact of Barriers and Connectors on Residential Burglars' Macro-Level Offending Location Choices

Previous research evaluating burglars' offending location choices has produced mixed findings about the influence of physical barriers and connectors on offender movement patterns. Consequently, this article utilises the discrete spatial choice approach to formally evaluate the impact of barriers and connectors on residential burglars' macro-level offending location choices. Data from Perth, Western Australia, demonstrated that physical barriers and connectors exert significant influence on offender decision-making at this level, and that the influence of impermeable barriers increases with proximity of these obstacles to the offender's point of origin. These findings provide formalised evidence for the independent importance of physical barriers and connectors in offender movement and are discussed with respect to current environmental criminology theory.

Leading Indicators and Spatial Interactions: A Crime‐Forecasting Model for Proactive Police Deployment

We develop a leading indicator model for forecasting serious property and violent crimes based on the crime attractor and displacement theories of environmental criminology. The model, intended for support of tactical deployment of police resources, is at the microlevel scale; namely, 1‐month‐ahead forecasts over a grid system of 141 square grid cells 4000 feet on a side (with approximately 100 blocks per grid cell). The leading indicators are selected lesser crimes and incivilities entering the model in two ways: (1) as time lags within grid cells and (2) time and space lags averaged over grid cells contiguous to observation grid cells. Our validation case study uses 1.3 million police records from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, aggregated over the grid system for a 96‐month period ending in December 1998. The study uses the rolling‐horizon forecast experimental design with forecasts made over the 36‐month period ending in December 1998, yielding 5076 forecast errors per model. We estimated the leading indicator model using a robust linear regression model, a neural network, and a proven univariate, extrapolative forecast method for use as a benchmark in Granger causality testing. We find evidence of both the crime attractor and displacement theories. The results of comparative forecast experiments are that the leading indicator models provide acceptable forecasts that are significantly better than the extrapolative method in three out of four cases, and for the fourth there is a tie but poor forecast performance. The leading indicators find 41–53% of large crime volume changes in the three successful cases. The corresponding workload for police is quite acceptable, with on the average 5.2 potential large change cases per month to investigate and with 31% of such cases being positives.

Environmental Factors Influencing Auto Burglary

Although large numbers of crimes are committed in parks each year, little is known about the ways in which offenders use park settings to commit these crimes. Such knowledge would allow park managers to evaluate crime risk and opportunity and to formulate response strategies. A case study of auto burglary in Washington, D.C., examined the relationship between park setting and auto burglary. A focus group, extensive on-site interviews with plainclothes police, and analysis of crime sites were used to reveal the scripts and behaviors of auto burglars. The results are consistent with fundamental theories of environmental criminology and suggest that situational features are in fact used by offenders and that offenders adapt their behaviors to the opportunities and risks provided by each setting. In particular, a park’s physical features can reduce effort and risk by offering concealment, which is necessary for identifying targets and for sorting stolen valuables.