Figure 4.5 Photo from the “I Feel Pretty” musical number from West Side Story.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many cities in the United States saw an increase in juvenile gang activity. The actions of gangs not only were a main focus in the media but also in popular culture with West Side Story (figure 4.5) and in S.E. Hinton’s 1967 publication of The Outsiders which later became a movie. During this era, criminologists turned their focus to opportunities we have in our everyday lives to commit crimes, tying their theories to gang activity and delinquency.

4.4.1 Differential Opportunity Theory

Criminologists Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1960) combined Merton’s strain theory with Sutherland’s differential association theory (which will be discussed later in this chapter) to create differential opportunity theory. The focus of differential opportunity theory is on the discrepancy between what the lower-class juveniles desire and what means are available to them because they have fewer opportunities than their peers in other neighborhoods.

Like Merton, Cloward and Ohlin emphasized cultural goals and the means to achieve those goals. However, they added to Merton’s strain theory by suggesting that people’s access to both legitimate and illegitimate means is socially structured. In other words, when looking at obtaining cultural goals, different people have different opportunities (some have more legal opportunities; some more illegal). For instance, in some neighborhoods, there are more opportunities to participate in illegitimate means to achieve one’s goals. The most common of these means is selling illegal drugs. Even though the risk is high, the payoff for many is higher. They see this as an opportunity to achieve their goal rather than pursuing a more conventional method.

This theory focuses on the gap between what an adolescent wants and what they can legally get. The larger that gap, the greater their likely exposure to illegitimate means and willingness to use those means to get what they want. Cloward and Ohlin (1960) said this is evident when there are differences in access to learning structures (those that teach certain values and skills) and performance structures (those that reward delinquent or non-delinquent behavior based on those values and skills). They argue the social structure of the community is responsible for creating more access to legitimate opportunities than illegitimate ones, especially in lower-income communities.

4.4.2 Routine Activities Theory

Routine activities theory sees crime as a function of people’s everyday behavior. For a crime to be committed, there needs to be three elements: a suitable target, a motivated offender, and an absence of guardianship (Cohen & Felson, 1983). This theory claims, for example, that crime will occur when the motivated thief is present near an easy target that is not adequately protected.

One of the most common robbery targets used to be convenience stores. They were seen as easy targets because they always had an amount of cash on hand and for a motivated offender, it was the perfect location to get quickly in and out without getting caught. However, with the help of a convicted person who used to rob convenience stores, store owners learned new strategies and changed into what we see today. Having video cameras filming at all times, a time-locked safe, and even a ruler on the door so that the clerk could give the police a more accurate height estimation were all changes that helped to make the convenience store less of a suitable target because of the creation of guardianship in the store.

Guardianship is measured by the extent to which people during the course of their daily lives protect their property, themselves, and others from crime. Reasons for reduced guardianship have been linked to the fact that because of work and maybe even vacation, our property is often left unguarded. Having a doorbell that also records video can be seen as a significant change in guardianship when it comes to home safety.

Routine activities theory can explain a variety of deviant acts as well as help to understand some changes in crime rates. Osgood et al. (1996) found that in a survey of 18- to 26-year-olds, the time spent in unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of authority figures led to an increase in delinquent behavior, illicit drug and heavy alcohol use, and dangerous driving. A lack of structure creates more time to participate in delinquent behavior and the presence of peers makes that behavior more rewarding.

Routine activity theory looks at the lifestyle and behavioral patterns of individuals to determine their risk of criminal or delinquent behavior in our society. However, there is criticism of this theory as being a “victim blaming” theory since instead of looking at the motivated offender, the theory can focus on the victim and what the victim could have done differently to avoid being victimized. Everyone has the right to live a non-victimized life, but there are behaviors such as excessive alcohol and drug use, walking in non-populated areas at certain times, and even leaving your home that have been shown to create a suitable target.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, crime fell 23% in the first month of the lockdown and that drop was seen to be directly related to the population’s mobility. Business closures and stay-at-home orders meant that there was a decrease in people who were outside of their homes. During the pandemic’s restrictive times, home burglaries dropped but commercial burglaries and car thefts rose. It could be said that the motivated offenders needed to find a suitable target that wasn’t guarded, so cars and businesses became the focus. Residential burglaries decreased by 24% while non-residential burglaries rose 38%. Since people weren’t leaving their homes, cars stayed parked for a longer period of time, and in some cities, the rate of car thefts doubled during the pandemic.