Situational Action Theory: A General, Dynamic and Mechanism-Based Theory of Crime and Its Causes

2019 ◽  
pp. 259-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per-Olof H. Wikström
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
General Dynamic

Situational Action Theory: Toward a Dynamic Theory of Crime and Its Causes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per-Olof H. Wikström
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Dynamic Theory ◽  
Choice Process ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Psychosocial Processes ◽  
Selection Mechanisms ◽  
Crime Causation ◽  
General Dynamic

Situational Action Theory (SAT) is a general, dynamic, and mechanism-based theory of crime and its causes. It is general because it proposes to explain all kinds of crime (and rule-breaking more generally). It is dynamic because it centers on analyzing crime and its changes as the outcome of the interactions between people and their environments. It is mechanism-based because its explanation focuses on identifying key basic processes involved in crime causation. SAT analyzes crime as moral actions and its explanation focuses on three basic and interrelated explanatory mechanisms: the perception–choice process (the situational mechanism) that explains why crime events happen; selection-mechanisms that explain why criminogenic situations occur; and mechanisms of emergence that explain why people develop and change their crime propensities (psychosocial processes), and why places develop and change their criminogeneity (socioecological processes).

Revisiting the role of self-control in Situational Action Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Kroneberg ◽  
Sonja Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Comprehensive Account ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Crime And Delinquency ◽  
Crime Causation

Wikström’s Situational Action Theory of Crime Causation (SAT) aims at providing a comprehensive account of the action-generating mechanisms that underlie rule-breaking. Paying tribute to the longstanding criminological interest in self-control, SAT also entails a new view of this concept and its role in crime causation. SAT claims that morality is the more fundamental determinant of rule-breaking and that self-control should become relevant only when actors enter a process of deliberation on whether or not to break a rule. Our contribution is twofold: theoretically, we discuss the role of self-control in SAT and derive previously untested implications; empirically, we evaluate these implications based on data from a large German panel study and thereby advance our understanding of when and how self-control matters for crime and delinquency.

Ecological Determinants of Situated Choice in Situational Action Theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Antonaccio ◽  
Ekaterina V. Botchkovar ◽  
Lorine A. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Criminal Involvement ◽  
Criminal Propensity ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Multilevel Theory ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Objectives: This study extends theoretical arguments from situational action theory (SAT) by focusing on the enduring effects of neighborhood context on individual criminal involvement and presents the first direct multilevel assessment of SAT in non-Western contexts using neighborhood data. Methods: Survey data from a random sample of 1,435 adults in 41 neighborhoods in Russia and Ukraine are used to assess the interplay between individual criminal propensity and moral and deterrent qualities of neighborhood environments in their effects on individual offending. Results: The results demonstrate that variations in neighborhood moral rules directly influence criminal involvement, confirming SAT’s extended argument that this type of neighborhood-level predictor of offending matters and has an enduring effect on misconduct. Furthermore, consistent with SAT’s propositions, principal individual-level predictors such as personal criminal propensity and individual perceptions of neighborhood informal sanctioning exert expected significant effects on criminal involvement. Results for cross-level interaction effects are inconclusive. Conclusions: SAT, a multilevel theory of crime, shows promise in various sociocultural contexts such as Eastern European countries of Russia and Ukraine.

An experimental test of Situational Action Theory of crime causation: Investigating the perception-choice process

2021 ◽  
pp. 102693
Author(s):  
Sebastian Sattler ◽  
Floris van Veen ◽  
Fabian Hasselhorn ◽  
Guido Mehlkop ◽  
Carsten Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Test ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Choice Process ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Crime Causation

scholarly journals Can Situational Action Theory Explain the Gender Gap in Adolescent Shoplifting? Results From Austria

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Hirtenlehner ◽  
Kyle Treiber
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Situational Action Theory

Although shoplifting is one of the crimes with the smallest gender gap among all offense types, most studies still conclude that males steal from shops more frequently than females. The roots of the gendered distribution of shoplifting have not yet been satisfactorily explained. This work investigates whether situational action theory (SAT) can account for males’ greater involvement in shoplifting compared to females and if the propensity–exposure interaction that is at the heart of the theory applies to both genders. Results from a large-scale student survey conducted in Austria suggest that SAT generalizes to both genders and that it is well suited to explain why males are more likely to shoplift than females.

The nature and role of morality in situational action theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 147737082097709
Author(s):  
Jennifer Barton-Crosby
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Moral Rule ◽  
Personal Morality ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Perception Of Action

For situational action theory (SAT), morality is key to the definition of crime and the explanation for why and how acts of crime happen: acts of crime are acts of moral rule-breaking and personal morality guides individuals’ perception of moral rule-breaking as an option before controls become relevant. However, the nature and role of morality in SAT can be misread. Within this article I respond to misinterpretations of the theory by elaborating and adding further context to the concept of morality in SAT. I contend that the root of misunderstanding is grounded in alternative assumptions regarding human nature: SAT assumes a fundamentally rule-guided human nature, whereas the prevailing view within criminology is that people are primarily self-interested. In this article I delineate SAT’s assumption of a rule-guided human nature and set out how this assumption informs the definition of crime and personal morality in the theory. I further specify the nature and role of morality in the perception of action alternatives, and in so doing distinguish SAT from theories that view constraint as the measure of morality. Finally, I develop and clarify SAT’s position on the relationship between morality and the law.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document