How Do Residential Burglars Select Target Areas?

2004/08/02 by Wim Bernasco, Paul Nieuwbeerta · 346 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Engineering · Environmental Science · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Civil engineering #Computer science #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Criminology #Discrete choice #Economic and Environmental Valuation #Engineering #Geography #Machine learning #Mathematics #Neighbourhood (mathematics) #Psychology #Residential area #Transport engineering #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

paper · doi:10.1093/bjc/azh070

published in The British Journal of Criminology 45(3), 296-315 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2004/08/02 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

This paper introduces the discrete spatial choice approach to the study of criminal target choice. The approach is used to assess whether residential burglars are attracted to target areas that are affluent, accessible, and poorly guarded. In addition, the importance of these criteria is postulated to vary across burglars. The theory is tested using data on 548 residential burglaries, committed by 290 burglars from the city of The Hague, the Netherlands. The likelihood of a neighbourhood’s being selected for burglary is heightened by its ethnic heterogeneity, its percentage of single-family dwellings, and its proximity to where the offender lives. The results and prospects of the discrete spatial choice approach for spatial target selection research are discussed.

Citations

• Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory

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