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

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.

22. Character, circumstances, and the causes of crime: towards an analytical criminology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per-Olof H. Wikström
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Wrong Thing ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Common Problems ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
The Right ◽  
Crime Causation

This chapter analyses and explains acts of crimes as moral actions (i.e., actions guided by what is the right or wrong thing to do) within an analytical criminology framework. It outlines some common problems of current mainstream criminological theorizing and research, such as the lack of a shared definition of crime, the poor integration of knowledge about the role of people and places in crime causation, the frequent confusion of causes and correlates, and the lack of an adequate action theory, and proposes a more analytical criminology as the remedy. The chapter introduces Situational Action Theory (SAT), a general, dynamic, and mechanism-based theory about crime and its causes, designed to address these problems and provide a foundation for an analytical criminology. It concludes by briefly discussing main implications for the future direction of policy and prevention.

Analysing the perception–choice process in Situational Action Theory. A randomized scenario study

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven J.R. Pauwels
Keyword(s):  
Action Theory ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Choice Process ◽  
Response Propensity ◽  
Specific Rule ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Scenario Study

In Situational Action Theory (SAT), crime is seen as the result of the interplay between individual and setting characteristics. This replication study focuses on the perception–choice process. The perception–choice process refers to the process whereby one sees the breaking of rules (stated in laws) as an action alternative and deliberately (or habitually) carries out an act of rule-breaking, given that one sees the breaking of a specific rule as an action alternative. The unique contribution of this study to the empirical literature is that it tests the interaction between choosing a violent response, propensity, and exposure to scenario criminogeneity using a web-based randomized scenario study. The results indicate that individuals who have low levels of crime propensity rarely choose a violent response, independent of scenario criminogeneity (as measured by provocation and the absence of monitoring agents). The likelihood of choosing a violent response increases as a result of the interplay between scenario criminogeneity and crime propensity. The implications for future tests of SAT are discussed.

Crime propensity, criminogenic exposure and violent scenario responses: Testing situational action theory in regression and Rasch models

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 307-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIRK-HINRICH HAAR ◽  
PER-OLOF H. WIKSTRÖM
Keyword(s):  
Youth Violence ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Statistical Modelling ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Response Data ◽  
Situational Action Theory ◽  
Systematic Selection ◽  
Crime Causation ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Causal Variables

In this paper, we argue that quantitative empirical research to explain and predict criminal and related behaviour can benefit greatly from explicit theories of action linking individual and contextual factors in the causation of crime. Such theories foster a systematic selection of causal variables for data collection and hypothesis testing instead of a more indiscriminate accumulation of ‘risk factor’ correlates. Moreover, action theory encourages statistical modelling of crime causation beyond the most common linear regression. This paper illustrates both points by estimating two empirical models – a conventional logistic model and a Rasch model – on scenario response data concerning youth violence. The findings of this study show that the extent to which young people indicate a violent response to a provocation is dependent on their (law relevant) morality and ability to exercise self-control as well as the deterrent qualities (monitoring) of the setting.

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.

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.

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