Routine Lifestyle Theory

The theory we chose to discuss in this discussion post is the Routine Activities and Lifestyles Theory. According to Daigle, this theory came about in the 1970’s and was developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (Daigle, 20). According to the textbook, this theory is “a person’s routine activities and lifestyle place them at risk of being victimized. The risk is higher when there are motivated offenders, little to none capable guardianship, and a suitable target” (Daigle, 602). There are obvious lifestyle choices that can lead to victimization. Some of these choices include walking alone at night, being in known dangerous areas, and/or choosing a lifestyle with a pattern. The research article we will discuss is called The Role of
Lifestyle and Personal Characteristics on Fear of Victimization among University Students by Daniel Lee and Carly Hilinski-Rosick. The central research question in this study is asking if the risky lifestyle behaviors of college and university students are related to a decrease measure of fear of victimization (Lee). The authors use the Routine Activities and Lifestyle Theory by looking at a more distinct population rather than looking at the general population. The researchers wanted to use students at college campuses for their study because they knew that college students live a very different lifestyle than most people. Before conducting too much research, the authors already knew these young adults take part in things like drug use, alcohol consumption, partying, and are likely to hang around people they know little about and tend to leave their belongings unattended (Lee). The researchers hypothesis, by looking at other conducted researches, that these activities can contribute to the students’ own victimization, but wanted to find out the relation between those behaviors and the students’ fear of crime. Students enrolled at twelve, four year, colleges and universities nationwide were the sample for the research.
All types of total enrollment and location were considered. After going through a process to select who would be in the study, the sample was final and included a combination of males and females who were both part-time and full-time students. The concluding sample of people was 3,472 (Lee). They took these students and analyzed their fear regarding larceny/theft, aggravated assault, and rape/sexual assault, across temporal situations like during the day/night (Lee). They used temporal situations because they found other research that shows that the fear of crime happens throughout the day and night, and most crimes that occur on college campuses tend to happen after 6pm (Lee). The researches created a template of questions and it was measured using a ten-point scale with (1) being not at all afraid and (10) meaning very afraid
(Lee).
One of the main findings in this study was that colleges/universities are not doing enough to educate students about how serious victimization and crime can be (Lee).
The authors found that there are programs available to students that can assist them in adjusting to living on their own. Another finding was that the fear of being sexually assaulted or raped was also linked to the fear of theft or being robbed. This is mainly because people think that a simple theft or robbery can escalate to being assaulted in general, or even sexually assaulted (Lee). They also stressed the importance of taking precautions such as going out in groups of people, rather than by yourself. According to Lee, the research proposes that “students who engage in more avoidance behaviors are less fearful of crime” (Lee). The conclusion of the findings said that it is valuable to be aware of crime. However, at the same time you can prepared and understand how uncertain and dangerous crime can be (Lee).
The research findings prove our understanding of the Routine Activities and Lifestyles Theory. We understand that there are certain lifestyle choices and activities that can increase your victimization risk. In order to not be a target or to decrease your chance of victimization, those lifestyles should not be chosen. For example, don’t walk alone at night in an area that is known to be unsafe. Do not knowingly make yourself a target for a motivated offender. By following common sense and the
findings in this study, you can take precautions to protect yourself.