The Determinants of Larceny: an Empirical and Theoretical Study

Abstract

This study ascertains the characteristics of individuals and their life styles that are differentially related to the risk of personal larceny victimization. Using the "rou tine activity" perspective recently explicated by Cohen and Felson (1979), we analyze 1975-76 National Crime Survey victimization data for the entire United States. The effects of age, race, income, major activity, and number of persons in the household are examined independently and in interaction, via log-linear tech niques. The data indicate that those with a family income of $20,000 or more a year, sixteen through twenty-nine year olds, people who live alone, and persons who are unemployed all face greater than average risks of being victimized by personal lar ceny. In contrast, those with a family income of less than $10,000 per year, those who are fifty or older, and those whose major activity is "keeping house" have less than average odds of being the victims of a personal larceny. These findings are discussed within the routine activity framework and are seen as providing substan tial support for this perspective, indicating that it holds considerable promise as a base from which to develop a general theory of criminal victimization.