As Violence Unfolds: A Space-time Study of Daily Activities and Violent Victimization in Urban Environments

• In Event: Situational and Routine Activities Explanations of Violent Criminal Behvior

Abstract

Although situational or opportunity theories of victimization serve as the guiding principle for many crime prevention efforts, three important issues require further clarification: (1) whether violent assault risks actually increase during specific, often fleeting moments when individuals are engaging in risk activities, (2) how social disorganization affects violent victimization in a situational manner, and (3) how valid the situational approach is in predicting violence. Using an innovative space-time modeling approach, 298 young male violent assault victims described their minute-by-minute movements over the course of the day of assault. Case-crossover analyses compared each subject’s exposure status at the time of assault with his own statuses earlier in the day. Diagnostic tests assessed the predictive value of the situational approach to violent victimization. We found that being at an outdoor/public space, conducting unstructured activities, absence of guardians, and neighborhood opportunities for crime were associated with violent assault at a fine temporal scale. Individual risk activities exhibited modest to good predictive value in the situational analysis, whereas social disorganization characteristics exhibited poor predictive value. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the value of documenting how individuals navigated their daily activity space; it also advanced our understanding of youth violence from a real-time, real-life standpoint.

Authors

• Beidi Dong, University of Pennsylvania

• Charles Branas, Columbia University

• Therese Richmond, University of Pennsylvania

• Douglas Wiebe, University of Pennsylvania