Crime and its Social Context

Terance D. Miethe is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Robert F. Meier is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Iowa State University.

• Tables and Figures Preface 1. Introduction to the Study of Crime What Is It To Be Integrated?Linking Theory to DataThe Current Study 2. Theories of Criminality Theoretical LegaciesThe Criminal as a Unifying ConceptTwo Major Problems, Some Exceptions, and New DirectionsCrime and CommunitySome HypothesesSummary and Conclusions 3. Theories of Victimization and Criminal Opportunities Historical Foundations for Current Victimization TheoriesThe Lifestyle-Exposure Theory of VictimizationThe Routine Activity TheoryAlternative Theorectical ModelsContextual Effects in Models of VictimizationMajor Concepts in Victimization TheoriesProblems with Previous Evaluations of Victimization TheoriesSummary and Research Hypothesis 4. An Integrated Perspective Compatibility of Theories of Criminality and VictimizationA Heuristic ModelSummary 5. Data Sources for Evaluating Criminological Theories UCR Data and Census ReportsNational Crime SurveysSeattle Telephone SurveyMeasures of Major ConceptsAnalytic ProceduresSummary and ConclusionsMeasures of Concepts and Descriptive Statistics 6. The Empirical Distribution of Crime and Victimization Victim-Offender RelationshipPhysical Location of CrimeTime of Occurrence of CrimeSocial Characteristics of Offenders and VictimsSummary and Conclusions 7. Predicting Crime Rates Crime Rates and Theoretically Derived VariablesVariation in the Predicators of Crime RatesThe Value of Theoretical IntegrationConclusions and Implications 8. Predicting Individuals' Risks of Victimization Explaining the Victimization ExperienceConclusions and Implications 9. Crime and Context Types of Contextual EffectsThe Importance of Contextual EffectsMain and Mediational Effects of Contextual FactorsInteractions between Contextual and Individual FactorsConclusions and Implications 10. Summary and Implications Summary ResultsImplications for Macro-Level Theories of CriminalityImplications for Theories of VictimizationImplications for a General Theory of CrimeImplications of Data Limitations for Testing TheoriesImplications for Crime Control PolicyCriminal Propensities and the Social ContextConclusions Notes Bibliography Author Index Subject Index

"The authors deal with the difficult topic of integrating theories for a better explanation of crime. What especially interests me is the inclusion of theories dealing with motivation and opportunities. I think that this is an essential area of inquiry if criminology is to make headway in its attempts to explain and predict crime. I liked their hypothesis on the conditional nature of relationships between guardianship, target attractiveness and risk of victimization." — Christopher Birkbeck, University of New Mexico