U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Opportunities for Environmental Crime A Test of Situational Crime Prevention Theory

NCJ Number
245002
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 53 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2013 Pages: 1178-1200
Author(s)
Wim Huisman; Judith van Erp
Date Published
November 2013
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This paper uses the results of a cross-case analysis of 23 criminal investigations of environmental crime in the Netherlands to explore the fruitfulness of SCPT as a method of scientific study of environmental crime and the development of prevention strategies.
Abstract
Recently, Situational Crime Prevention Theory (SCPT) has been proposed as an alternative to offender-based theories of white-collar crime. This paper uses the results of a cross-case analysis of 23 criminal investigations of environmental crime in the Netherlands to explore the fruitfulness of SCPT as a method of scientific study of environmental crime and the development of prevention strategies. This analysis shows that most environmental crimes are crimes of omission, while SCPT is designed for predatory crimes of commission. In addition, while it is concluded that SCPT is helpful in analyzing opportunities for environmental crime, it is difficult to draw innovative prevention strategies on the basis of SCPT, since most suggestions have already been covered in contemporary models for environmental regulation. (Published Abstract)