Burglary in Philadelphia - A Critique of an Opportunity Structure Model (From Environmental Criminology, P 189-201, 1981, Paul J Brantingham and Patricia L Brantingham, ed. - See NCJ-87681)

• NCJ Number: 87691
• Author(s): G F Rengert
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Opportunity structure models of criminal activity should include not only the site characteristics of areas in which crimes are committed but also the accessibility of a site to potential criminals.

Abstract

Data on males charged with residential burglary in Philadelphia from 1967 to 1972 formed the basis of a test of a modified model, which focused on the relative attractiveness of an area to potential burglars and on the tendency of a burglar to travel to another area to commit a burglary. The model assumed that most property criminals have a choice between several alternative opportunities and considered site characteristics in relation to all possible alternatives within the system. Most of the Philadelphia burglars lived in the central parts of the city and most of the burglaries were committed there. These were also the areas of greatest aggregate accessibility. However, these areas sent out fewer burglars to other areas and attracted fewer burglars from other areas than did the outlying parts of the city. The number of residential housing units in an area was a fair measure of that area's relative attractiveness for residential burglars, but weighting the housing units by their economic value would have improved this measure. The central city burglars, who were in low-income areas, tended to commit their crimes in their own neighborhoods and to be less likely to travel to other areas than were burglars from outlying areas with higher incomes. Further research should determine whether some measure of residential cohesiveness or of mode of transportation available would determine whether burglars would search outside their neighborhoods for criminal opportunities. Opportunity structures should also be measured in probability terms which recognize the effect of accessibility on the opportunity's chance of being exploited. Tables and a figure are included. A bibliography listing 380 references is provided at the end of the volume containing this paper.