Crime is a problem that many Americans would undoubtedly want to curtail. Routine activities theory provides a rather straightforward way of conceptualizing and then predicting criminal activity at the macro and micro levels. Cohen and Felson (1979), the original authors of routine activities theory, suggested that crime occurs during the simultaneous convergence of a motivated offender, suitable target, and a lack of capable guardians. Thus, as the authors alluded to, all three of the components are required in order for a criminal act to take place. Therefore, it is easy to see that citizens can take proactive steps to decrease their likelihood for criminal victimization. Several scholars have tested RA theory and have found support in urban and large national samples (e.g., Spano & Freilich, 2009). However, scholars have failed to provide insight into the adult rural population throughout the United States (in relation to RA theory). Therefore, the current study utilized a 2009 telephone survey of rural adults in order to test RA theory's applicability when attempting to explain burglary victimization in a rural environment. It is shown that motivation (percent in poverty) is the only component of the three to yield support for RA theory in the current study. Implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed.

The rate of residential break and enters in Canada has been declining according to official statistics, but has increased according to self reports of victims. Since the 1970s, considerable attention has been given to preventing break and enters by altering the physical environment. However, studies that assess the effects of physical design have produced mixed results. The data for this study were drawn from Guelph Police Service break and enter records, and property site assessments were performed using Google Earth and Street View. Drawing from rational choice and routine activities perspectives, physical and social features of burgled and non-burgled single detached dwellings were assessed to determine which features predicted break and enter victimization. Results suggest little empirical support for place-based crime prevention strategies such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.

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Social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have become increasingly popular among teens and young adults because of the availability of the internet. Because these websites promote interpersonal connections and information sharing among individuals around the world, personal information to online "friends" may be shared carelessly. However, little is known about the correlation between engaging in online activities, sharing personal information online, and susceptibility to online victimization and cyberbullying. This study analyzes data from the Parents & Teens 2006 Survey to examine the applicability of Routine Activities Theory as a theoretical framework for understanding cybervictimization and cyberbullying. Online teens and teens on social networking sites (SNS) were examined separately in this study to determine if social networking (SNS) teens were at an increased risk. The results indicated that participating in online activities and sharing personal information increased the risk for receiving a threatening email, instant message or text message. Teens whose parents did not have rules regulating their online activities and behaviors were also at an increased risk for receiving a threatening email, instant message or text message. The logistic regression models show that for social networking (SNS) teens, gender and age increase the odds of receiving a threat, compared to online teens.

During the 1990’s the world witnessed a crime drop throughout all categories of crime. Many researchers have sought to seek an explanation for this drop; however, there has been a lack of concrete findings to fully explain this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to explore a further reasoning as to why this drop occurred, specifically throughout the United States. An unexplored factor to explain this phenomenon is the increase of household computer ownership during the 1990’s. During this decade, household computers and the internet became prevalent throughout the nation. This study utilized secondary data from the Uniform Crime Report and the United States Current Population survey, with support from routines activities theory, to answer the research question to find if there was a correlation between household computer use and the crime drop. The results for this study found that there was a positive correlation between household computer ownership, household internet ownership, and all realms of crime. With this, it is important to note that the social trend of household computer ownership is not the only reasoning for this phenomenon.

This study seeks to expand the scope of assimilation theory by integrating it with elements of routine activities theory to better understand what influence assimilation has in regard to violent victimization. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to determine whether or not differences in victimization rates between foreign-born and native-born Hispanic youth are related to variations in emotional guardianship. Emotional guardianship refers to the aspect of relationships (i.e., affection and communication) between Hispanic youth and their parents that serve to protect the youth from being victimized. I hypothesize that foreign-born Hispanics have greater emotional guardianship than native-born Hispanics, and as a result foreign-born Hispanics have lower probabilities of victimization. To test this hypothesis and others, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) is utilized, as it provides data about the various aspects of assimilation (e.g., country of birth, language spoken at home), routine activities (e.g., sports, clubs, and family outings), and emotional guardianship (e.g., communication of problems, expectations, and satisfaction of parental bond), which are each believed to contribute to the likelihood of being victimized.

My dissertation sought to expand the study of victimization by examining non-linear relationships across victim, offender, and offense characteristics within a routine activities theory framework. Moreover, my goals were to assess victimization risk using a more realistic approach through the implementation of a situational perspective approach and conjunctive analysis. Conjunctive analysis is an analytical with both quantitative and qualitative properties, which allowed for interpretations that were detail oriented and summative. Utilizing data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, several victim (e.g., demographic factors), offender (e.g., victim-offender relationship), and offense (contextual factors) characteristics were analyzed. Conjunctive analysis was estimated for incidents by victimization type and by race/ethnicity. The results indicated the presence of main (linear) effects and interaction (non-linear) effects. Main effects by victimization type provided support for prior research on victimization risk, such as the majority of victims emerging as young, white, and male. Interaction effects revealed young and female victims were vulnerable to attacks from non-stranger offenders; whereas, older and male victims were prone to stranger attacks. When estimated by race and ethnicity, whites and blacks were also more likely to be attacked by someone with whom they were familiar; whereas, victims categorized as other were more likely to be attacked by strangers. Theoretical and policy implications were discussed.

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