The Routine Activity Theory

Introduction

             The main aim  of  problem  solving  efforts   is   to  help  one  make  proper  decisions. For example, one identifies the interventions that can help solve the problems. The  Routine  Activity  Theory  helps  diagnose  crimes  in  the society and  identify  the  best  solution. Different  countries   have  established  different  initiatives  to  help  reduce  the  rate of  crime  in the society. The  initiatives  contain  various   measures  that  are  aimed  at  reducing  the  crime. The  initiatives  help  identify  the  causes  of  crime, the regions  where  the  crimes  are evident  and  the   ways  to  overcome  the crimes. The rate of crime in the Queensland state is high. The   crimes are caused by poor regulations, socioeconomic factors and poor parenting etc. Developing  an  initiative  that  helps  identify  the  causes,  areas  evident  and  the  methods  to prevent  crime   can  help   reduce  the  rate  of  crime  in  the  state. This paper develops an initiative to reduce the rater of crime.


 Description of the initiative

             Most countries  have  developed  initiatives  to  help   reduce  the  rate  of  crime. The initiatives have various elements like the initiative to be used in Queensland. First, the  initiative  will  include  the  causes  of  crime  in  the  Queensland state. There are various causes of crime in different countries. The causes of crime in the countries are almost similar. For  instance , socioeconomic factors  have  led  to  increase  in  the  rate  of  crime  in the society. The  gap  between  the  poor and  the  rich  has  widened  for  the  last  ten decades. This  has  resulted  to  high  rate  of  crime  in  the  society  as  people   have  found  alternative  means  of  living. Recent  studies  have  shown  that  the  rate  of  crime  resulting  from  socioeconomic  factors   have  increased. People  from  poor  families  are  more  likely  to  commit  crime  than  people   from   rich  families. Many people in the country live below the poverty line. This has led to increase in the   rate of crime. The crime rate is high in deprived communities in the society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


             Use of  illegal  drugs  has  also   led  to  increase  in  the  rate  of  crime  in  the society. For  example,  people  taking  illegal  drugs  like  cocaine   are  more likely to  commit  crime   than  those  who  do  not. The  demand  and  supply  for  illegal  drugs  has  increased  in  the  world. This  is  because  the  drug  policy  used  to  control  illegal  drugs  are not  effective. The  policies  encourage  people  in  the  country  to  use  illegal  drugs. This  has  in turn  led  to high  rate  of  crime  in  the  society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


Apart from   use  of  illegal  drugs, gang  culture  has  also  led  to  increase  in  crime  in  the  state. Most children in the community spent time with gangsters. Children who  interact  with  gangsters  are  more  likely to  be  involved  in  criminal  activities  than   children  who  do  not. Poor parenting has increased the rate of crime in the society. Most parents do not educate their children on effect of gang culture. Poor parenting  has  forced  children  to  be  involved  in  criminal  activities  like  robbery. The  kind of  rearing  and  the  rearing  environment  determine  the   behaviors  children  have. Children  whose  parents  have been  imprisoned   are  likely  to  commit  crimes  unlike  children  whose  parents  have  not. Gangs have   been around   for long.


The  cultures  in  many  communities  have  evolved  and  also  gang   have  also   evolved. A gang  is  a   group   of  people  who   form  alliance   for  a  common   goals. The gang always   involve themselves in criminal activities. The gang members can   be male or female aged    between 14 and 21   years. Also, children aged  8  years  and  adults  aged 30  yeas  and  above   have  been  involved  in  criminal  activities. Gang groups are   common in Queensland like other countries. Parents are supposed to   protect their children from gang   culture. This will help reduce the rate of crime in the society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


In addition, lack  of  education  among  the  community  members  has  led  to  high  rate of  crime  in  the  states. The community centers have not been utilized well. This  has    made  it  difficulty  for  community  members  to  get  the  right education  on  drug  abuse  and  other  causes  of  crime (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


The initiative includes a description of a criminal profile’s. A criminal  profile  is  important  in  contriving   crime  in  the society  as  it  helps  identify suspects. The  criminal  profiles  gives  a  brief  description  of  the  suspect. People who commit   crimes   have   the following characteristics. First, the   criminals are not uneducated. They  lack  enough  knowledge  on  the    impact  of  crime  in  the  society. Additionally, people who commit crime are drug dependants. The   criminals  use  hard  drugs  like  cocaine  and  the  drugs  influence   how  the  criminal  behaves  and  thinks. This makes it difficulty for the criminal to reason well. Also, people who   commit crime always have dysfunctional parents. Poor parenting   has forced them to commit crimes as listed above. In  addition,  people  who  commit  crime  are   likely  to    have  committed  several  crimes  when  they  were   young. Diagnosing  the  criminals  profile  helps   develop  the  right  solution  to  prevent  crime  in  the society (Felson, 2009).


Moreover, the  initiative  outlines  the  methods  used  to  control  crime  in  the  state. There  are  various   strategies  that  can  be   used  to  prevent  crime  in  the  state. In order  to  develop   the  right  strategies  to  prevent  crime,  one  has  to  identify  the   risks   associated  with  the  crime. The  police  officers  and  other  members  involved  in  implementing   the  initiative  should  identify  various  things. They  should  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the   crime   problem  in  the  states. For  example,  they   should   know  where  the  crime  occurs  and  when  it  occurs. Also, they   should know who   commits   the   crime and people affected by the act.


Most crimes that happen can be reduced easily as they are not planned. They  can  be  reduced  by   removing  the  opportunity  to  commit  the  crime  and   increasing  the   chances  of  arresting  the  offenders. The  initiative  helps    identify  the  places  the  crime  occurs, who  commits  it and  when  it  is  committee. crimes  are  more likely  to  occur  in  some  areas  than  others. The   areas where crimes occur are referred to as hotspots. The police officers and other leaders should develop situation prevention measures. The  police  officers  can  reduce  the  rate  of  crime   in  the  state  by  improving  the  environment. They should improve lighting in the state.


Poor lighting has led to more crimes being committed   at night. So, the  law  enforcement  officers  should  improve  the lighting so  as  to  prevent  crime. Also, they  should  improve  the  environment   so  as  to  ensure  no  hotspots. They should also   provide community centers. The  community  centers  are  supposed  to  provide   education  to  the  public  and  help  people  acquire  new  skills. The  ineffectiveness  of  community  centers  has  led  to  more  crimes  in  the  states. Most people committing the crimes are not educated. Providing  the  community  embers  with  the  right  education  wail  help  reduce  the  rate  of  crime (Felson, 2009).


Further, the   law enforcement officers should improve the surveillance in the   area. This will in turn reduce the rate of crime in the area. The  law  enforcement  officers  should   reduce  the  consumption  of  hard  drugs  and  alcohol  in  the  region. This will help reduce the crime rate in the region. The initiative has worked effectively in other countries as it has led to reduction of crime in the region. Thus, the  initiative  can  be  adopted   to  lower  the  rate  of  crime  in queens  land (Felson, 2009).


Theoretical perspectives

There are various theories that can be used to diagnose   crime problems in Queensland.  Routine activity theory   is used to   diagnose crime problems in the states. Routine   activity   theory    helps law enforcement   officers   understand   the causes of crime problems in the society. Advocates  of   routine  activity  theory   believe  that  criminals   are  more  likely  to  commit  crimes  if  there are   no  effective  controls. This gives the criminals an opportunity to attack the target. Criminals  are  motivated by  the  presence  of  a  target  to  commit  criminal  actives. The  offender  will  not  commit  crime  if  the  target  is  not  available. On  the  other  hand, the   criminal  will  commit  a  crime if  the   target  is  available. Criminals  are  not  able  to  commit  crime  if  the   controllers  are  available .


For  example, people  who  are  influential  are  likely  to  affect  the  lives  of  the  offenders  different. For  example, parents, relatives  and  other  people  in  the  community   affect  the  offender  differently . For  instance,  poor  parenting  makes  it  easy  for  children  to commit  crime  in  the society. In addition, the relatives   can   influence criminals to commit criminal activities. Children   learn behaviors from parents and relatives. Children  are  likely  to  commit  crime  if  they  have  poor  rearing. These people   are referred to as handlers in routine activity theory. Crime is likely to happen where   the   handlers are not strong or corrupt. In  the  case  of  poor  parenting,  crime  is  likely  to  happen  when  parents  do not  bring  up  their  children well. Also,  crime  is  likely  to  happen  if  parents  do  not  protect  children  from   gang  culture and  gang  groups (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


The target  or  victim  is  likely  to  be attacked  if  it  does not  have  the  right  protection. Guardian   protects   targets from theft and attack. Examples of formal   guardians are law enforcement officers and   guards. The formal guardians protect    people and property from criminal activities. Informal guardians like friends and neighbors   protect the target from attack. A  target  having  an  effective  guardian  is   less  likely  to  be   attacked  by  criminals   than  a   target  having  no  guardian. Law enforcement officers are supposed to protect the community from criminal activities. If  the  law  enforcement  officers  do not  carry  out  their duties  effectively, then the   community  is  attacked by  criminals. The target is   attacked if the   guardians are weak (Clarke &Felson, 1993).


Finally,  places  that  are   protected by  laws   are  less  likely  to  be  attacked  by  criminals  than  places  that  are  not  protected. People  have  developed   laws  to    control  access  to  sates  and   behaviors  of  people   using  the sites. The  owners  and  other  agents  take  care  of  the  place   and  people  using  place. In this   case   place managers   control   the   behaviors   of criminals and victims. Crimes  are  likely  to  occur  in  an  areas  where  there  is  a  weak, corrupt  and  absent   place  manager  than  where  there is  a  place  managers (Felson, 2009).


Apart from  place  managers,  handlers,  tools  also   influence  criminals  to  commit  criminal  activities. Gang members use different types of tools to commit crime. For instance the gang members use guns. Offenders  who  have no  access  to  tools   are  less  likely  to   commit   crime  than  those  who  have. Advocates  of  routine  activity  theory  argue  that  law  enforcement  officers  and  others  people  should    find  measures  to  reduce  the  opportunities  for  committing  the  crimes. For  instance,  the advocates  argue  that    laws  enforcement  officers  can   improve  the  lighting  in  the  areas  so  as   to   increased  surveillance. This will deter the criminals from committing crime. Also,  they   can  use  fence  and  gates  to  prevent  criminal  behaviors (Felson, 2009)..


Problems happen where  there  is  no  effective  control  and  the  offender  and the target  are  in  the  same  place. The  chances  of  a  crime  are  reduced   greatly  if  their  is a  controller. The   effectiveness of   people   to be involved   will depend on the availability of tools. If the tools used in criminal active cities are available. Then the   people will be more involved in criminal activities than before. Adding  or   removing  elements   in  the  routine  activity  theory  triangle   will   help   change  the   chances  of  committing  crime. The presence   of attractive   targets and weak hinders   increased the cricked rate (Felson, 2009).


Like other people  in  the  society  offenders  have  routine   behaviors  that   make  it  difficulty  for  them  to  meet with  handlers. This gives them an opportunity   to discover the attractive targets. The  spatial  ordering   of  crime  chances and  the   regular  routines  of  criminals  and   targets have  led  to  the  criminal  problems  evidenced  in  the society. Hence, the  routine  activity  theory  is an  effective  method  of  explaining  the  causes  of  crimped (Community   gateway association, 2010).


The problems  in  the  community include the  damages  caused by  various  types  of  crime  and  the  effects  of  the  crime  on  the  targets. The crimes have led to huge damages in the community. This  has   resulted  to   financial  problems  as  people  spend  a lot  of  money  of  repairing   damages. Also, the  criminal  activities  in  the  region  have  affected  the  target  negatively. Another problem in the region is burglary. Every  problem  has  more  than  one  solution, the   law  enforcement  officers  are  supposed  to  identify  the  best  solution. The solution identified should give positive   results when implemented. The problems   have been analyzed using quantitative technique. The  quantitative  technique  allows   law  enforcement  officers  to  collect  data  and  analyze  it  using  statistical  methods. The   technique   has  been  employed  in  this   study  to  study  the  problems  in  the  community (Community   gateway association, 2010).


There  are  other  criminals not  listed  in  this  project that  might  have  led  to  reduction  of  crime. The   crime  rate  in  the  country might  have  reduced  as  a  result  of  imprisonment. Most  people  argue that  prisons  deter  people  in  the  society  from  committing  crime. This  makes  it  easy  for   the  country   to  reduce  the  rate  of  crime. Another  factor  that  might  have  led  to  reduction  in  crime  rated  is  gun  control. Some countries have authorized citizens to carry guns for protection. This makes it easy for the citizens   to protect themselves from criminals. People   having  guns  are  less  likely  to  be attacked  by  criminals  then  people  who  do not  have  guns. The   governments   does not   allows  any  one  in  the  country  to  carry  guns. people  having  social  problems  and  those  who  are  mentally  ill are   not  allowed  to  carry  out  criminals .This  helps  redline  the  chances  of   committing  crimes. The   methods   have helped   reduce the rate of crimes in other countries (Felson, 2009).


Recommendation

The law  enforced  agencies  and  the  government  should  adopt  this  initiative. This  is  because  the  initiative  will  help  reduce  the  rate  of  crime  in  the  society. The initiative will make it easy to   eliminate crime in the state. This  is  because  the  initative  explains  the  various  causes  of  crime  in  the  society. The   routine activity theory   explains why criminals commit   crimes. The  law  enforcement  officers  will  be able  to  control   crime  in  the  society   by  understanding the  offenders  routine  and  targets  routines. The   law  enforcement  officers  will  be able  to  link,  offenders,  target, tools  and  places  so  as  to  understand  crime  problems  in  the  country. The   initiative   has worked effectively in other countries, so it will work well in Queensland (Community   gateway association, 2010).


 Conclusion

            The initiative is effective in solving crime problems in Queensland. This  is  because  the   initiative  outlines the  causes,  effects  and  ways  to  prevent  crimes. It  also  helps  laws  enforcement  officers   diagnose  crimes  problems  in  the  area. The   routine  activity  theory   helps  the  law  enforcement  officers  find  the  best  solution  to  the  crime problems.


Reference

gateway association.(2010).Moppin Up  Dodge

Clarke, R.V., &Felson, M. (1993).Routine activity and rational choice.Transaction Publishers

Felson, M.(2009).Crime and Everyday Life. SAGE