Alotaibi, NI, Evans, AJ orcid.org/0000-0002-3524-1571, Heppenstall, AJ orcid.org/0000-0002-0663-3437 et al. (1 more author) (2019) How Well Does Western Environmental Theory Explain Crime in the Arabian Context? The Case Study of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. International Criminal Justice Review, 29 (1). pp. 5-32. ISSN 1057-5677
Abstract
Crime within Arabic countries is significantly different from Western crime in type, frequency, and motivation. For example, motor vehicle theft (MVT) has constituted the largest proportion of property crime incidents in Saudi Arabia (SA) for decades. This is in stark contrast to Western countries where burglary and street theft dominate. Environmental criminology theories, such as routine activity theory and crime pattern theory, have the potential to help to investigate Arabic crime. However, there is no research that has sought to evaluate the validity of these theories within such a different cultural context. This article represents a first step in addressing this substantial research gap, taking MVT within SA as a case study. We evaluate previous MVT studies using an environmental criminology approach with a critical view to applying environmental criminology to an Arabic context. The article identifies a range of key features in SA that are different from typical Western contexts. These differences could limit the appropriateness of existing methodologies used to apply environmental criminology. The study also reveals that the methodologies associated with traditional environmental crime theory need adjusting more generally when working with MVT, not least to account for shifts in the location of opportunities for crime with time.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Georgia State University. This is an author produced version of a paper published in International Criminal Justice Review. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | routine activity theory, crime pattern theory, motor vehicle theft, Saudi Arabia |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Centre for Spatial Analysis & Policy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 May 2017 09:32 |
Last Modified: | 14 Feb 2019 14:23 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1057567717709497 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116588 |