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Measuring how Much Criminologists Know About Crime: Using Environmental Criminology to Assess Our Knowledge of Crime Events

Heinonen, Justin A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1288974887

Abstract Details

2010, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice.
Understanding crime events is critical to theory and practice. Increasingly, some criminologists have pointed to the utility of understanding crime events for understanding both offenders and how crime can be prevented. Nevertheless, there remains today a strong bias toward studying offenders in criminological research even though research indicates that criminological knowledge of the causes of criminality is highly problematic (Weisburd and Piquero, 2008). So there is reason to suspect that criminologists may also know little about crime events. A handful of studies have tried to shed light on this suspicion, but these studies are limited. To directly address this concern, I developed an assessment process that is systematic, replicable and theory-driven to measure what we do and do not know about specific crime events. I used this process to review studies of residential burglary and personal robbery from nine journals over 30 years to answer three research questions: How much do criminologists know about these crime events? Are certain journals more useful for understanding them? And, to what extent do criminologists study specific burglary and robbery events? In response to the first question, my findings suggest that criminologists know very little about these crime events, as compared to what theory would expect them to know. In response to the second question, my findings suggest that environmental criminology journals, compared to traditional criminology journals, are more likely to publish crime event studies. And in response to the third question, my findings suggest that criminologists seldom study specific burglary and robbery events, and show few signs of changing. I discuss the limitations of my findings and their implications for research and policy.
John Eck, PhD (Committee Chair)
Rob Guerette, PhD (Committee Member)
Bonnie Sue Fisher, PhD (Committee Member)
James Frank, PhD (Committee Member)
141 p.
Criminology
Environmental criminology; Crime prevention; Systematic Review; Criminological knowledge; Crime events

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Heinonen, J. A. (2010). Measuring how Much Criminologists Know About Crime: Using Environmental Criminology to Assess Our Knowledge of Crime Events [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1288974887

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Heinonen, Justin. Measuring how Much Criminologists Know About Crime: Using Environmental Criminology to Assess Our Knowledge of Crime Events. 2010. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1288974887.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Heinonen, Justin. "Measuring how Much Criminologists Know About Crime: Using Environmental Criminology to Assess Our Knowledge of Crime Events." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1288974887

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1288974887
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© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.