Assessing the Effect of Routine Activity Theory and Self-Control on Property, Personal, and Sexual Assault Victimization
Abstract
This study used a sample of 2,230 female university students to assess the applicability of routine activity theory and self-control on property, personal, and sexual assault victimization. Results indicate that (a) both self-control deficits and participation in drug sale behavior were significantly correlated with increased property, personal, and sexual assault victimization; (b) increased partying and shopping frequency and off-campus housing significantly and substantively correlated with increased property victimization; (c) off-campus housing was correlated with increased personal victimization; and (d) increased number of days spent on campus and increased frequency of partying significantly increased sexual assault victimization, net of controls. Future directions for the integration of feminist theory and strategies for crime prevention are discussed.
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Biographies
Cortney A. Franklin earned her PhD from Washington State University and is an assistant professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. Her research, victimology and theoretical explanations for victimization, and gender and criminal justice processing. Her recent work has appeared in Criminal Justice and Behavior, Violence Against Women, Journal of Criminal Justice, Feminist Criminology, Journal of Family Violence, Victims and Offenders, and Women and Criminal Justice.
Travis W. Franklin is an assistant professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. His recent work has appeared in Justice Quarterly, Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Feminist Criminology, and Journal of Criminal Justice. His current research interests focus on racial and ethnic disparity in criminal punishment, correctional violence, fear of crime, and victimization.
Matt R. Nobles is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University. He earned his doctorate in criminology, law, and society from the University of Florida. His work has recently appeared in Aggression & Violent Behavior, Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Journal of Quantitative Criminology. His research interests include violent and interpersonal crimes, GIS and spatial econometrics, criminological theory, and quantitative methods.
Glen A. Kercher is a professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of child abuse, intimate partner violence, and sexual offending. He has been the director of the Crime Victims’ Institute for 5 years. He was a governor’s appointee to the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment. He is also a licensed psychologist and for 20 years was a psychological services provider for child protective services and an expert witness in criminal and family courts in Texas.
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Article first published online: September 20, 2012
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