NCJ Number
213217
Journal
European Journal of Criminology Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 11-31
Date Published
January 2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This paper cites trends in particular types and categories of crime in various countries and globally since 1800 and 1945 to bolster the author's theory that long-term trends in various crimes result from changes in the technological or social environment; he calls these changes "breaches."
Abstract
This theory that various types of "breaches" are primary factors in long-term crime trends stems from opportunity theory and routine activity theory. "Breaches" involve significant changes in the circumstances under which significant numbers of people live, thus reshaping the opportunities for various types of crime. Breaches can also modify the routine activities of the masses making more people vulnerable to certain types of crime or increasing their exposure to the socioeconomic factors that tend to spawn certain criminal behaviors. When such breaches occur, the societies affected tend to close the breach or counter the trend by creating new laws that target the criminal behaviors promoted by the breach. This theory places crime and efforts at its prevention in an environmental context, without reference to explanations of moral decay or improvement. It differs from other theories in describing a relationship between criminal opportunities, crime prevention, and the creation of new laws. It links both criminology and the sociology of law, while taking into account how societies attempt to change the consequences of breaches by enacting new laws. 73 references