NCJ Number
178361
Journal
Youth and Society Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: June 1999 Pages: 395-415
Date Published
1999
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This research extends the growing perspective that routine activities or lifestyle patterns can explain not only victimization but also crime.
Abstract
Since 1969, Travis Hirschi's control theory has been one of the leading explanations of delinquency. This theory has withstood not only the test of time but also rigorous empirical investigations. Although his theory has been generally supported, Hirschi's concept of involvement has been criticized as being, at best, analytically indistinguishable from commitment and, at worst, unrelated to delinquent behavior; however, when reconceptualized as daily routine patterns, involvement is a powerful predictor of criminal activity. The current study shows the utility of substituting routine activity patterns (RAPs) for involvement. Specifically, the article illustrates the structural stability of the concept as operationalized in the earlier work. To establish the conceptual stability of the original factor analysis, 108 first-year college students from a large southern university responded to a self-report survey. Hawdon (1996) used data from the Monitoring the Future survey, which asks respondents about several activities in which they may or may not engage. Questions about similar activities were included in the college survey. The study concludes that the wedding of Hirschi's bond theory and the emerging routine activities perspective of crime was successful. When involvement was reconceptualized and operationalized as routine activities, it became an effective predictor of minor acts of delinquency. Moreover, routine activities were the best predictors of a relatively serious crime. Overall, the types of RAPs in which a person is engaged become predictors of whether or not they will become involved in particular types of crime. 5 tables and appended study instrument