The Routine Activities Theory

The Routine Activities Theory is an explanation of how a change in a person’s social patterns affects crime rates. At the center of the environmental criminology theory, the Routine Activities Theory examines crimes as events that happen at a specific location and time, involving specific persons and/or objects. There are three components necessary for predatory crimes to occur; a motivated offender, suitable targets, and the absence of a capable guardian. In the event that one is lacking, a predatory crime cannot occur. The Routine Activities Theory gave criminologists the problem analysis triangle or crime triangle. Formulated by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson, it theorizes that a crime will occur when a likely offender, a suitable target,
at a time and place where there is not a culpable guardian present. The problem analysis triangle explains the basic idea of how opportunities for crime are influenced.
There have been several examples of a change in society that has created opportunities for crime.
During the mid to late 19th century, the number of Americans who routinely left their homes on a daily basis to go to workplaces increased significantly. The home setting changed because guardianship over homes decreased, increasing opportunities for crimes such as residential burglary. In addition, with more people working, the numbers of potential victims and targets, opportunities for crime also increased. In recent years, the creation and increasing use of the Internet has created opportunities for many new types of crimes as well as new ways of perpetrating age-old crimes; these include identity theft, dissemination of computer viruses, cyber bullying, and the luring of children for sexual purposes. Routine activities theory also suggests that societal changes in behavior can decrease opportunities for crime. For example, making the wearing of a helmet mandatory when riding a motorcycle to reduce injuries has also reduced the opportunities for motorcycle theft because a thief has to have his own helmet when stealing a motorcycle or risk being stopped. Another example is a local store near a school not allowing children to bring bags into the store to decrease theft of the store’s inventory. Crime analysts working from the perspective of this theory ask questions about general patterns of behavior and the impacts of those patterns on crime opportunities. Crime analysis usually focuses on smaller subsets of society such as one city or a specific region (Santos, 2012).