An Age-Graded Test of the Interaction between Routine Activity and Motivation for Offending

• In Event: Delinquency and Gang Involvement: Longitudinal Examinations of Individual Perceptions, Psychopathy, and Fatalism

Abstract

Objectives: Assess the role of situational opportunity in the association between motivation for offending and actual offending across adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Methods: The current study uses longitudinal data to assess: (1) whether perceptions of offending rewards (i.e., motivation) and routine activity (i.e., opportunity) influence individual levels of offending, (2) whether routine activity moderates the association between perceptions of offending rewards and offending, and (3) whether these effects endure across adolescence and into emerging adulthood.
Results: The results suggest that perceptions of offending rewards (β = .117) and routine activity (β = .112) are independent predictors of crime. Moreover, the interaction between rewards and routine activity predicted offending (β = .083) over and above the independent effects of the coefficients of rewards and routine activity. Finally, although perceptions and routine activity predicted offending in all waves, there is mixed support for the time-stable interaction of these factors on offending as its impact dissipates as adolescents enter emerging adulthood.
Conclusions: The current study contributes to the situational perspective on offending with an assessment of individual-level variation in motivation for offending and situational opportunity. The results suggest that both motivation and opportunity vary between and within individuals and interact to influence offending.

Authors

• Sultan Altikriti, Sam Houston State University

• Eric Connolly, Sam Houston State University

• Wyatt Brown, Sam Houston State University