NCJ Number
85600
Journal
Human Ecology Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 389-406
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The article examines the influence of community structure on the potential for criminality, with emphasis on the application of Amos Hawley's human ecological theory to show how opportunities for crime and changes in community activities are linked.
Abstract
The analysis focuses on predatory violations involving direct physical contact between the offender and the victim. These crimes require the convergence in time and space of offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of effective guardians. Hawley's view that a community is an organization of niches or functional roles based on relationships occurring over space and time can be used to show how the structure of work, school, leisure, and other activities will influence community crime. For example, the trend toward more married women in the labor force, more persons living alone, and more lightweight durable goods provide offenders with circumstances favorable for carrying out certain crimes. Thus, the relatively large changes in the structure of community activities between 1960 and 1970 must be considered when trying to explain the large increases in crime rates during thie period. Analysis of burglary rates between 1950 and 1972 shows the usefulness of this theory in examining crime trends. The view of crime as a form of routine activities may also help explain why the criminal justice system, the community, and the family have appeared so ineffective for social control since 1960. The opportunity structure for crime appears to be linked to the opportunity structure for legitimate activities, so that much crime cannot be eliminated without major changes in our way of life. Thus, predatory crime may be a byproduct of freedom and prosperity. Forty-nine references are listed.