Routine activity and rational choice. - Volume 5

Two new criminological approaches are defined and applied to categories of crime in this book.

Routine activity analyses the criminal event, and avoids motivations and psychology as topics for discussion, whereas rational choice approaches crime as purposive behaviour designed to meet the offender's commonplace needs, such as money, status, sex and excitement.

These conceptual models are both employed to analyse such crimes as drunk driving, gun use, kidnapping and political violence.

This volume discusses the relationship of these theories to more traditional approaches to crime studies.