Criminal Justice Policy Review

 

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Criminal Justice Policy Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 257-285 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/0887403402013003004

A Spatial Analysis of Criminal Effort: Auto Theft in Newark, New Jersey

Marissa C. Potchak

Jean M. McGloin

Kristen M. Zgoba

Rutgers University

Advancements in mappingtec hnology have prompted researchers to focus on the environmental characteristics related to crime. The use of any analytical procedure, however, will be most informative when guided by a legitimate theory of crime causation. Accordingly, this article draws on insights from rational choice theory to examine the effect of criminal effort—operationalized as distance traveled to a criminal opportunity—on auto theft incidents in Newark, New Jersey, duringthe year 2000. Mappingsoftware (a) allowed the measurement of distance traveled between offender residences and points of theft and (b) provided a visual display of a multilayered opportunity structure. A final map combiningthese two key characteristics provided an exploratory analysis of criminal effort and its role in the criminal decision process.


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