International Journal of Business and Economics Research

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A Review of Research on Crime Displacement Theory

Received: 27 September 2014    Accepted: 13 October 2014    Published: 11 December 2014
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Abstract

Reppetto (1976) published crime displacement theory in Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency and put forward his theoretical underpinnings for the future analysis of crime displacement phenomenon and outlined five types of crime displacement such as: 1. Temporal - Committing the intended crime at a different time; 2. Tactical - Committing the intended crime in a different way; 3. Target - Committing the intended crime type on a different target; 4. Spatial - Committing the intended crime type to the same target in a different place; 5. Functional - Committing a different type of crime. Research on crime displacement began to be carried out in a more systematic manner during the 1990s. There was a significant step forward when research in 1990 and 1993 specifically studied displacement and found it to be much less of problem than had generally been supposed. Crime displacement occurred where it was most likely to be similar targets or to similar and adjacent areas. Although the findings were greatly positive, there was and not surprisingly, variation between different crimes. Research has consistently found that crime displacement is the exception rather than the rule and that diffusion of benefits is just as likely and sometimes more likely to occur. Research also shows that crime displacement is unlikely in the aftermath of broader community development programs. In cases where some displacement occurs it tends to be less than the gains achieved by the response and found that crime displacement and diffusion are equally likely to occur. The theory of crime displacement is related to rational choice theory and there are three assumptions regarding the potential perpetrator and the target. The theory of crime displacement does not explain the reason of perpetrators committing a certain crime or why some crimes are more attractive to them than others. Crime displacement can occur in different ways or methods. An often-stated opinion about crime displacement is the theory, its practical usages, that it can induce a sense of disbelief towards crime prevention initiatives.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14
Published in International Journal of Business and Economics Research (Volume 3, Issue 6-1, December 2014)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Supply Chain Management: Its Theory and Applications

Page(s) 22-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Crime Displacement, Types of Crime Displacement, Rational Choice Theory, Perpetrators, Criminal Patterns

References
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Social Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

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  • APA Style

    Ching Eng Leong. (2014). A Review of Research on Crime Displacement Theory. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 3(6-1), 22-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14

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    Ching Eng Leong. A Review of Research on Crime Displacement Theory. Int. J. Bus. Econ. Res. 2014, 3(6-1), 22-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14

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    Ching Eng Leong. A Review of Research on Crime Displacement Theory. Int J Bus Econ Res. 2014;3(6-1):22-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14,
      author = {Ching Eng Leong},
      title = {A Review of Research on Crime Displacement Theory},
      journal = {International Journal of Business and Economics Research},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6-1},
      pages = {22-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.s.2014030601.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijber.s.2014030601.14},
      abstract = {Reppetto (1976) published crime displacement theory in Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency and put forward his theoretical underpinnings for the future analysis of crime displacement phenomenon and outlined five types of crime displacement such as: 1. Temporal - Committing the intended crime at a different time; 2. Tactical - Committing the intended crime in a different way; 3. Target - Committing the intended crime type on a different target; 4. Spatial - Committing the intended crime type to the same target in a different place; 5. Functional - Committing a different type of crime. Research on crime displacement began to be carried out in a more systematic manner during the 1990s. There was a significant step forward when research in 1990 and 1993 specifically studied displacement and found it to be much less of problem than had generally been supposed. Crime displacement occurred where it was most likely to be similar targets or to similar and adjacent areas. Although the findings were greatly positive, there was and not surprisingly, variation between different crimes. Research has consistently found that crime displacement is the exception rather than the rule and that diffusion of benefits is just as likely and sometimes more likely to occur. Research also shows that crime displacement is unlikely in the aftermath of broader community development programs. In cases where some displacement occurs it tends to be less than the gains achieved by the response and found that crime displacement and diffusion are equally likely to occur. The theory of crime displacement is related to rational choice theory and there are three assumptions regarding the potential perpetrator and the target. The theory of crime displacement does not explain the reason of perpetrators committing a certain crime or why some crimes are more attractive to them than others. Crime displacement can occur in different ways or methods. An often-stated opinion about crime displacement is the theory, its practical usages, that it can induce a sense of disbelief towards crime prevention initiatives.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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