Importance of Both Opportunity and Social Disorganization Theory in a Future Research Agenda to Advance Criminological Theory and Crime Prevention at Places

• NCJ Number: 248730
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 51 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2014 Pages: 499-508
• Author(s): David Weisburd; Elizabeth R. Groff; Sue-Ming Yang
• Date Published: 2014
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-IJ-CX-0006
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Explaining Developmental Crime Trajectories at Places

Annotation

This article examines the causes/correlates of crime and criminal activity in relation to crime prevention efforts, social disorganization, and criminological theory.

Abstract

The authors wanted their study to be theoretically informed, so they began by identifying the key theoretical perspectives that have been identified earlier by scholars to understand crime at place. Opportunity theories including routine activities theory, situational prevention, and crime pattern theory have been seen by most of those who study micro geographic units as the key factors explaining crime patterns. However, the authors also thought that it is important to consider the relevance of social disorganization theories that have been dominant in understanding crime in studies of neighborhoods and communities.