Purpose



– The purpose of this paper is to critically review the core findings from recently published place‐based crime prevention research. The paper aims to critically evaluate the available evidence on the contribution of crime prevention through environmental design as a crime prevention strategy.




Design/methodology/approach



– Large‐scale evaluations of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) are reviewed with a view to clarifying current knowledge on the evidence of crime prevention through environmental design.




Findings



– The review concludes that there is a growing body of research that supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is effective in reducing both crime and fear of crime in the community.




Research limitations/implications



– Although the paper may not review all the evaluations of CPTED, it nonetheless provides a detailed compilation and overview of the most significant research in the area, including an extensive and modern bibliography on the subject. Research implications will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.




Practical implications



– CPTED is an increasingly fashionable approach and is being implemented on a global scale. Additionally, individual components such as territoriality, surveillance, maintenance, access control, activity support and target‐hardening are being widely deployed. However, the evidence currently available is inconclusive and much criticised, which effectively prevents widespread intervention and investment by central government. The paper details the difficulties associated with demonstrating the effectiveness of CPTED.




Originality/value



– The paper concludes that although empirical proof has not been definitively demonstrated, there is a large and growing body of research, which supports the assertion that crime prevention through environmental design is a pragmatic and effective crime prevention tool. This review provides an extensive bibliography of contemporary crime prevention through environmental design and a follow‐up paper will discuss the future research priorities for it.

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Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliography

A lifespan perspective on personality and health uncovers new causal pathways and provides a deeper, more nuanced approach to interventions. It is unproven that happiness is a direct cause of good health or that negative emotion, worry, and depression are significant direct causes of disease. Instead, depression-related characteristics are likely often reflective of an already-deteriorating trajectory. It is also unproven that challenging work in a demanding environment usually brings long-term health risks; on the contrary, individual strivings for accomplishment and persistent dedication to one's career or community often are associated with sizeable health benefits. Overall, a substantial body of recent research reveals that conscientiousness plays a very significant role in health, with implications across the lifespan. Much more caution is warranted before policy makers offer narrow health recommendations based on short-term or correlational findings. Attention should be shifted to individual trajectories and pathways to health and well-being.

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Personality, Well-Being, and Health*

Recent discussions of ‘cybercrime’ focus upon the apparent novelty or otherwise of the phenomenon. Some authors claim that such crime is not qualitatively different from ‘terrestrial crime’, and ca...

The Novelty of ‘Cybercrime’: An Assessment in Light of Routine Activity Theory

This paper examines how crime reporting has changed over time by comparing findings from the 2007/08 British Crime Survey with the results obtained from the last major enquiry reported in 1994. International research conducted since that date is also reviewed. The paper finds that seriousness of the offence is still the most important factor influencing victims' decisions. But reporting rates have changed: broadly, property crime is less likely to be reported whereas violent crime is more likely to be reported. As property crime predominates, the overall trend has been downward. There has been a very notable shift in that crimes committed by family members and others well known to the victim are much more likely to be reported than previously.

Reporting Crime to the Police

IntroductionThe Internet and World Wide Web have dramatically altered the way we communicate, live, and conduct business around the world. These advancements have modified traditional activities, such as banking, dating, and shopping, into activities in which individuals interact with others but neither leave the house nor actually physically meet people (Newman & Clarke, 2003). The growth and penetration of computer technology in modern life has provided criminals with efficient tools to commit crime by providing opportunities to commit crimes that could not exist without cyberspace. Few criminologists, however, have empirically assessed the impact of computer technology on victimization. As a consequence, there is a lack of understanding in the ability of traditional theories of crime to account for the prevalence and potential reduction of cybercrime victimization. In particular, routine activities theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979) may be successful in this endeavor as it has been traditionally used to examine how technological innovations affect crime patterns and victimization.One of the more common and significant forms of cybercrime victimization is the destruction of data files due to malicious software, or malware (Furnell, 2002; Taylor, Caeti, Loper, Fritsch, & Liederbach, 2006). Malware typically includes computer viruses, worms, and Trojan horse programs that alter functions within computer programs and files. Viruses can conceal their presence on computer systems and networks and spread via e-mail attachments, downloadable files, instant messaging, and other methods (Kapersky, 2003; Szor, 2005; Taylor et al., 2006). Trojan horse programs also often arrive via e-mail as a downloadable file or attachment that people would be inclined to open, such as files titled "XXX Porn" or "Receipt of Purchase." When the file is opened, it executes some form of a malicious code (Furnell, 2002; Szor, 2005; Taylor et al., 2006). In addition, some malware is activated by visiting websites, particularly pornographic websites, which exploit flaws in web browsers (Taylor et al., 2006). Though worms do not involve as much user interaction as other malware because of its ability to use system memory and to send copies of itself, humans can facilitate its spread by simply opening e-mails that have the worm code embedded in the file (Nazario, 2003).Cybercriminals often utilize malware to compromise computer systems and automate attacks against computer networks (Furnell, 2002). These programs can disrupt e-mail and network operations, access private files, delete or corrupt files, and generally damage computer software and hardware (Taylor et al., 2006). The dissemination of viruses across computer networks can be costly for several reasons, including the loss of data and copyrighted information, identity theft, loss of revenue due to customer apprehension about website safety, time spent removing the programs, and losses in personal productivity and system functions (Symantec, 2003; Taylor et al., 2006). This is reflected in the dollar losses associated with malware infection. U.S. companies who participated in a recent Computer Security Institute reported losses of approximately $15 million because of viruses in 2006 alone (CSI, 2007). An infected system in one country can spread malicious software across the globe and cause even greater damage because of the interconnected nature of computer systems. The Melissa virus, for example, caused an estimated $80 million in damages worldwide (Taylor et al., 2006). Thus, malware infection poses a significant threat to Internet users around the globe.A large body of information security research explores the technical aspects of malicious software. These research efforts have placed special emphasis on the creation of software applications like anti-virus programs that can identify and contain malicious software on computer systems (Kapersky, 2003; PandaLabs, 2007; Symantec, 2003). …

On-line Activities, Guardianship, and Malware Infection: An Examination of Routine Activities Theory

Various scholars have suggested that neighbourhood social cohesion and confidence in police effectiveness influence the probability that victims report crime to the police, but this has never been properly tested. Neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage is also often assumed to influence reporting, but empirical support is limited. This study examines the effects of these three characteristics on Dutch victims' reporting decision. Data from a large-scale victimization survey are merged with data on characteristics of neighbourhoods to test the hypotheses. Hierarchical logistic modelling is used to analyse the nested data. The results show that, in addition to crime and victim features, neighbourhood social cohesion and socio-economic disadvantage affect reporting. Neighbourhood confidence in police effectiveness does not have an effect.

Neighbourhood Characteristics and Reporting Crime Effects of Social Cohesion, Confidence in Police Effectiveness and Socio-Economic Disadvantage

This study examines factors relating to burglary incidence in England and Wales, the United States, and the Netherlands. Negative binomial regression models are developed based on routine activities theory. Data are drawn from national victimization surveys of about the same time: the 1994 British Crime Survey, the 1994 National Crime Victimisation Survey, and the 1993 Police Monitor, respectively. Relative to the two European countries, US households have more idiosyncratic patterns of burglary victimization. Despite differences across the three data sets, several similar effects emerge of variables tapping lifestyle characteristics on burglary victimization. Four variables had significant effects in the same direction in two or more countries where the third country showed a non-significant effect in the same direction. These were age, lone parent household status, urbanization, and the presence of security measures in the home. Some variables had significant effects in opposite directions according to country: rented accommodation was associated with higher burglary rates in the UK but lower rates in the Netherlands; household affluence was linked with higher rates of burglary in the UK and lower rates in the United States. The present study seeks to contribute to crime research in two main areas. The first contribution is to substantive knowledge about crime. The contribution derives from an examination of three main research questions: • Do indicators derived from routine activity and lifestyle theory affect household burglary incidence similarly across three countries? • If they do, which are the most consistent? • What are the potential implications of the findings? The second hoped-for contribution is to methodology, though this is necessarily also linked to the area of substantive knowledge. There are, to the writers’ knowledge, no previous cross-national studies which use comparative negative binomial models to examine routine activity and lifestyle theories. The negative binomial model has two main advantages for present purposes. First, it accounts for the role of repeat victimization in the composition of crime. Second, it allows an examination of the extent of unexplained heterogeneity between households in different countries (this is explained more fully below). Further, instead of concentrating on relatively few variables as in some previous studies, all available indicators of routine activities and lifestyle are

BURGLARY VICTIMIZATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES, THE UNITED STATES AND THE NETHERLANDS A Cross-National Comparative Test of Routine Activities and Lifestyle Theories

Karin Wittebrood

Papers

Neighbourhood Characteristics and Reporting Crime Effects of Social Cohesion, Confidence in Police Effectiveness and Socio-Economic Disadvantage

BURGLARY VICTIMIZATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES, THE UNITED STATES AND THE NETHERLANDS A Cross-National Comparative Test of Routine Activities and Lifestyle Theories