NCJ Number
111189
Journal
Social Science Research Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1987) Pages: 345-360
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study tests the hypothesis that concepts of lifestyle and routine activities account for the occurrence of personal crime victimization.
Abstract
This study analyzes the relationship of various job activities, such as delivering passengers or goods, traveling out of town, dealing face-to-face with customers, and working irregular hours, to the risk of violent and theft-damage personal crime victimization, and to the risk of such victimization at work. It is hypothesized that exposure is the key explanatory concept and that as a person's contacts with larger numbers of people increases, so does their risk of violent victimization. Using a methodology modeled after the National Crime Survey (NCS), trained personnel interviewed 5,542 residents of the District of Columbia Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (DC-SMSA) in 1983. Respondents were asked whether they had been victimized by assault, robbery, threats of bodily harm, larceny, burglary, or vandalism. Logistic regression models show that delivery of passengers or goods and dealing with the public are associated with violent victimization. None of the four job activities are consistently associated with theft-damage victimization risk. Tabular data and 18 references.