Routine Activities Theory Essay

CAROL A. ZIMMERMANN, CAROL A.. (2007) ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY AND THE HANDLING OF CHILDREN AND POLICY MAKERS. Using the Routine activity approach Gottfredson et al.(2007) explores how school programs and staff function using the after school program as its focal point furthers or regresses prosocial behavior. Gottfredson et al.(2007) questions whether the presence of a respectful guardian decreases the likely hood of delinquent activities, and talks about kids with too much free time and no structured or planned time turn to alternate activities such as Delinquency, which involves abusing drugs and victimizing others. In their study Gottfredson et al.(2007) they proposed that success of prosocial behavior will be furthered
While this process will vary depending on the offense and where it happens as routine activities literature argues, the victimization processes do not always occur in the heat of the moment, may take years to come to fruition, and will vary according to the motivations of the offender. Nelson and Huff-Corzine (1998) examined the elderly’s risk of homicide within a routine activities perspective and many of their conclusions are germane to this discussion. These authors posited that violent victimization of the elderly is most likely to occur in their homes due to debilitating conditions and the decreased mobility that the elderly sometime suffer (Nelson and Huff-Corzine 1998:137). As Nelson and Huff-Corzine point out in reference to the elderly: “Persons who are close to the victim have the greatest opportunity to determine if she or he is a suitable target and if there are times when target protectors will be absent. A trusted person is likely to have access to the victim’s dwelling and knowledge of the victim’s routine activities which would allow successful commission of the crime”