NCJ Number
108117
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 78 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1987) Pages: 327-356
Date Published
1987
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article extends and applies the lifestyle-routine activity and opportunity theory of criminal victimization to stranger violence and stranger theft.
Abstract
The study involves a multivariate examination of the simultaneous influences of age, sex, marital status, and lifestyle on the targeted offenses. The general hypothesis is that younger persons, males, single/divorced persons, and those who spend leisure time in public places are at higher risk of stranger victimization than older persons, females, married persons, and those who confine their activities to home situations. Data were obtained from the 1982 British Crime Survey, a nationally representative sample of nearly 11,000 residents of England and Wales. Four general dimensions of community and ecological context are also considered: family structure, urbanization, heterogeneity, and geographical mobility. Although results confirm the importance of micro-level risk factors in predicting stranger victimization, these factors are not sufficient for explaining stranger victimization. The study also shows that persons living in areas with high levels of family disruption, primary persons, and residential mobility experience higher than average risk of stranger violence. Urbanization and community heterogeneity increase the probability of stranger theft. Once community context and demographic variables are controlled, lifestyle has no effect on stranger violence or stranger theft. 7 tables and 80 references.