How Well Does Western Environmental Theory Explain Crime in the Arabian Context? The Case Study of Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

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.

Keywords

routine activity theory crime pattern theory motor vehicle theft Saudi Arabia

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aasi

G. H.

(2003). Islamic legal and ethical views on organ transplantation and donation. Zygon®, 38, 725–734.

Al Angari

S. A.

(2002). Motor vehicle theft crimes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (in Arabic). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Interior, Crime Prevention Research Centre.

Aldawsari

(1997). The spatial distribution of crime in Jeddah and examining social, economic and educational characteristics of criminal prisoners in Jeddah’s prison. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Crime Prevention Research Centre.

Ali

B.-E.-D.

(1985). Islamic law and crime: The case of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 9, 45–57.

AlMarzougi

Al-Ghamdi

Alsyad

(1986). The relationship between social, family, educational and economical characteristics of prisoners who are non-drug offenders and their relation to types of crime in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Crime Prevention Research Centre.

Almatrafi

(2005). Geography of theft crime in Makkah (in Arabic). Unpublished master dissertation, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Alotaibi

(2016). Street view with parked cars and houses, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. Unpublished photograph, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Alwelaie

(1993). Theft crime in Riyadh City; An analytic study of geography of crime (in Arabic). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Centre for Crime Prevention, Ministry of interior of Saudi Arabia.

Andresen

M. A.

(2006). A spatial analysis of crime in Vancouver, British Columbia: A synthesis of social disorganization and routine activity theory. The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien, 50, 487–502.

10.

Andresen

M. A.

Brantingham

P. J.

Kinney

J. B.

(2010). Classics in environmental criminology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

11.

Al-Bashar

(2001). Crime prevention in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Dar (in Arabic). Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Dar.

12.

Al-Bashari

M. A.-A.

(1999). Crime patterns in the Arab World (in Arabic). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Naif Arab University for Security Sciences.

13.

Al-Khalifah

A. H.

(1997). The social constraints for crime distribution in Riyadh. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Crime Prevention Research Centre.

14.

Al-Kharif

(1998). Crime in Saudi cities Riyadh. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Crime Prevention Research Centre.

15.

Al-Otaibi

M. D.

(2002). Secondary school student’s tendencies toward car theft (in Arabic) (Master’s thesis), Department of Social Sciences, Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

16.

Al-Qahtani

D. N.

(2008). The social and economic characteristics of juveniles who steal cars (in Arabic) (Master’s thesis), Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

17.

Al-Shaheen

A. M.

(1996). The factors accompanying car stealing committed by juveniles (in Arabic) (Master’s thesis), Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

18.

Boba

(2005). Crime analysis and crime mapping. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

19.

Brantingham

(1995). Criminality of place. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 3, 5–26.

20.

Brantingham

P. J.

Brantingham

P. L.

(1993). Environment, routine and situation: Toward a pattern theory of crime. Advances in Criminological Theory, 5, 259–294.

21.

Brantingham

P. J.

Brantingham

P. L.

(2008). Crime pattern theory. In Wortley

Mazerolle

(Eds.), Environmental criminology and crime analysis (pp. 78–93). Portland, OR: Willan.

22.

Brantingham

P. L.

Brantingham

P. J.

(1981). Notes on the geometry of crime. Environmental Criminology, 1981, 27–54.

23.

Brantingham

P. L.

Brantingham

P. J.

(1993). Nodes, paths and edges: Considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 3–28.

24.

Brantingham

P. L.

Wuschke

Frank

Brantingham

P. J.

(2011). Crime emergence and simulation modeling: Modeling crime space. In Sullivan

Kennedy

McGloin

J. M.

(Eds.), Crime emergence: Reducing uncertainty in theory and research (pp. 1–43). Canada: Routledge.

25.

Bryant

C. D.

(2012). Routledge handbook of deviant behavior. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

26.

Ceccato

Haining

Signoretta

(2002). Exploring offence statistics in Stockholm City using spatial analysis tools. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92, 29–51.

27.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2007). Population & housing. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

28.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2008a). Demographic survey of Saudi Arabia Statistical Yearbook. Annual report. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

29.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2008b). Labour force in Saudi Arabia Statistical Yearbook. Annual report. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

30.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2009). Labour force in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

31.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2010). Statistical Yearbook Annual Report. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

32.

Central Department of Statistics and Information. (2012). Statistical Yearbook 2012. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Author.

33.

Chainey

Ratcliffe

(2005). GIS and crime mapping. England, UK: John Wiley.

34.

Clarke

(2002). Thefts of and from cars in parking facilities. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

35.

Clarke

R. V.

Harris

P. M.

(1992). Auto theft and its prevention. Crime and Justice, 16, 1–54.

36.

Clarke

R. V.

Mayhew

(1994). Parking patterns and car theft risks: Policy-relevant findings from the British Crime Survey. Crime Prevention Studies, 3, 91–107.

37.

Cohen

L. E.

Felson

(1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588–608.

38.

Cohen

L. E.

Felson

Land

K. C.

(1980). Property crime rates in the United States: A macrodynamic analysis, 1947–1977: With ex ante forecasts for the mid-1980s. American Journal of Sociology, 86, 90–118.

39.

Compton

(2013). Population and household estimates for the United Kingdom, March 2011. Statistical Bulletin. London, UK: Office for National Statistics.

40.

Copes

(1999). Routine activities and motor vehicle theft: A crime specific approach. Journal of Crime and Justice, 22, 125–146.

41.

Cornish

D. B.

Clarke

R. V.

(2008). The rational choice perspective. In Wortley

Mazerolle

(Eds.), Environmental criminology and crime analysis (pp. 21–47). Cullompton, Devon: Willan.

42.

Cozens

P. M.

Saville

Hillier

(2005). Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): A review and modern bibliography. Property Management, 23, 328–356.

43.

Dauvergne

(2008). Motor vehicle theft in Canada, 2007. Juristat, 28.

44.

David

P. R.

Scott

J. W.

(1973). A crosscultural comparison of juvenile offenders, offenses, due processes, and societies the cases of Toledo, Ohio, and Rosario, Argentina. Criminology, 11, 183–205.

45.

Department for Transport. (2016). Road traffic estimates: Great Britain 2015 statistical release—Annual road traffic estimates. London, England: Department for Transport.

46.

Drugs

Cmtte

C. P.

, & Australia. (2002). Inquiry into motor vehicle theft: Final report. Melbourne, Australia: Parliament of Victoria & Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee.

47.

Eck

Chainey

Cameron

Wilson

(2005). Mapping crime: Understanding hotspots. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

48.

Eck

J. E.

Weisburd

(1995). Crime places in crime theory. Crime and Place, Crime Prevention Studies, 4, 1–33.

49.

Farrell

Tilley

Tseloni

Mailley

(2011). The crime drop and the security hypothesis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. doi:10.1177/0022427810391539

50.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2011). Ten-year arrest trends. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-32

51.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2012a). Offenses cleared uniform crime report: Crime in the United States, 2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

52.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2012b). Uniform crime reports-property crime. Retrieved March 15, 2016, from www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/property-crime/property-crime

53.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2016). Crime in the United States: 2015 Uniform crime report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice—Federal Bureau of Investigation.

54.

Felson

(1986). Linking criminal choices, routine activities, informal control, and criminal outcomes. In Cornish

Clarke

R. V.

(Eds.), The reasoning criminal (pp. 119–128). New York, NY: Springer.

55.

Felson

Clarke

R. V.

(1998). Opportunity makes the thief (Police research series, paper, 98). London, UK: Home Office.

56.

Feng

Luo

(2016). When do luxury cars hit the road? Findings by a big data approach eprint. arXiv:1605.02827. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/1605.02827.pdf

57.

Fleming

Brantingham

(1994). Exploring auto theft in British Columbia. Crime Prevention Studies, 3, 47–90.

58.

Flowers

(2006). A spatial temporal analysis of motor vehicle theft in the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: Institute for Public Safety & Justice, University of the District of Columbia.

59.

Flowers

A. S.

(2006). Fact sheet: Motor vehicle theft in the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: Institute for Public Safety & Justice University of the District of Columbia.

60.

Freedom to Marry. (2014). About us. Freedom to Marry Internationally. Retrieved from http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/the-freedom-to-marry-internationally

61.

Hannon

DeFronzo

(1998). Welfare and property crime. Justice Quarterly, 15, 273–288.

62.

Harlow

C. W.

(1988). Motor vehicle theft. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

63.

Harrendorf

Heiskanen

Malby

(2010). International statistics on crime and justice. Helsinki: European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI).

64.

Henry

L. M.

Bryan

B. A.

(2000). Visualising the spatio-temporal patterns of motor vehicle theft in Adelaide, South Australia. Paper presented at the Post Graduate Diploma Student, September 2000, GISCA National Key Centre for Social Applications of GIS Lecturer, GISCA National Key Centre for Social Applications of GIS.

65.

High Commission for Development of Riyadh. (2012). Environmental features for Riyadh, datasets. Unpublished work.

66.

Higgins

(1997). Exploring motor vehicle theft in Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology Canberra.

67.

Hipp

J. R.

(2007). Block, tract, and levels of aggregation: Neighborhood structure and crime and disorder as a case in point. American Sociological Review, 72, 659–680.

68.

Home Office. (2012). Crime in England and Wales, quarterly first release to December 2011. London, England: Office for National Statistics.

69.

Howden

L. M.

Meyer

J. A.

(2010). Age and sex composition: 2010 (2010 Census Briefs). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.

70.

Ḥumayd

A. A. S.

(1979). Islamic criminal law: A comparative study between Islamic criminal law and positive laws. Saudi Arabia: Dār Ṭuwyaq.

71.

Kapland

O’kane

Lavrakas

Pesce

(1978, 5). Crime prevention through environmental design: Final report on commercial demonstration, Portland, OR: National Institute of Justice.

72.

Kennedy

L. W.

Forde

D. R.

(1990). Routine activities and crime: An analysis of victimization in Canada. Criminology, 28, 137.

73.

Lockwood

(2012). The presence and nature of a near-repeat pattern of motor vehicle theft. Security Journal, 25, 38–56.

74.

Lofquist

Census

U. S. B. O. T.

(2012). Households and families: 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.

75.

(2006). Spatial choice of auto thefts in an urban environment. Security Journal, 19, 143–166.

76.

Mahya

(2003). The relationship between crime rates and growth and density of population of Riyadh at police district levels (in Arabic). Master of Police Science, Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (Unpublished), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

77.

McCaghy

C. H.

Giordano

P. C.

Henson

T. K.

(1977). Auto theft-offender and offense characteristics. Criminology, 15, 367.

78.

McCormick

A. V.

Plecas

D. B.

Cohen

I. M.

(2007). Motor vehicle theft: An analysis of recovered vehicles in the Fraser Valley. University College of the Fraser Valley, Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, Canada.

79.

Messner

S. F.

Blau

J. R.

(1987). Routine leisure activities and rates of crime: A macro-level analysis. Social Forces, 65, 1035–1052.

80.

Miethe

T. D.

Stafford

M. C.

Long

J. S.

(1987). Social differentiation in criminal victimization: A test of routine activities/lifestyle theories. American Sociological Review, 52, 184–194.

81.

Ministry of Interior. (2014). Statistical yearbook of the Ministry of Interior. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

82.

Ministry of Interior. (2015). Crime statistics in Saudi Arabia for 1435 H (in Arabic). Retrieved February 13, 2017, from www.moi.gov.sa/wps/portal/Home/sectors/moidiwan/contents/!ut/p/z0/fY49C8IwFEX_SpeM5b3E2LoWh_oFog7WLOHRBok2iW2D-PNtdnG4wzlcLhcUNKA8ve2dog2e-plvqtC4lXLDpdivFmuJVXE-lcdDzbEUcKERdqD-l-YV-xgGVYFqg4_mE6Fpg3PkuywlyTH0DH_IjEaGU6TojI8TQxesTmgSay5yjrlAviQ9P3k96-sXGFz4CQ!!/

83.

Ministry of Interior. (2016). Crime statistics in Saudi Arabia for 1436 H (in Arabic). Retrieved February 13, 2017, from www.moi.gov.sa/wps/portal/Home/sectors/moidiwan/contents/!ut/p/z0/fY49C8IwFEX_SpeM5b3GtHUtDvULRB2sWcKjBok2iU2D-PNtdnG4wzlcLhckdCAdvc2dovGOhpmvslK4EWJdCL5bLlYCm-p0rA_7tsCaw5kCbEH-L80r5jGOsgHZexf1J0LXe2vJ3bKUJIMfGP6QGQWGU6RotYsTQ-uNSqgTK17mWOYci4rU_OT1bC9fzERYPQ!!/p0/IZ7_11D8H2G0LO24E0AMO2THI10080=CZ6_0I44H142K83C40A6RQ7OLG1072=MECTX!QCPmoiQCAdiwanQCPmoiQCAhomeQCAcontentQCAarQCPhomeQCPnewsQCPnewsQCAarchiveQCPmoi_news_15-06-2016b_ar==/

84.

Mirrlees-Black

Mayhew

Percy

(1996). The 1996 British Crime Survey England and Wales. London, England: Home Office Statistical Bulletin.

85.

Office for National Statistics. (2009). Office for National Statistics: National Population Projections 2008-based. London, England: Office for National Statistics in UK.

86.

Office for National Statistics. (2013). Full report—Women in the labour market. London, England: Author.

87.

Office for National Statistics. (2014). Large increase in 20 to 34-year-olds living with parents since 1996. Retrieved March 10, 2016, from www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/family-demography/young-adults-living-with-parents/2013/sty-young-adults.html

88.

Office for National Statistics. (2015). Annual mid-year population estimates, 2014 (Vol. 2016). London, England: Author.

89.

Paynich

Hill

(2011). Fundamentals of crime mapping: Principles and practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

90.

Piza

Feng

Kennedy

Caplan

(2016). Place-based correlates of motor vehicle theft and recovery: Measuring spatial influence across neighbourhood context. Urban Studies. doi:10.1177/0042098016664299

91.

Police Department in Riyadh. (2014). Crime statistics in Riyadh. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Interior, Public Security, Police Department in Riyadh.

92.

Qari

A. A.

Balobaid

A. S.

Rawashdeh

R. R.

Al-Sayed

M. D.

(2013). The development of genetic counseling services and training program in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 22, 835–838.

93.

Reher

D. S.

(1998). Family ties in Western Europe: Persistent contrasts. Population and Development Review, 24, 203–234.

94.

Rengert

G. F.

(1997). Auto theft in central Philadelphia. Policing for Prevention: Reducing Crime, Public Intoxication and Injury, Crime Prevention Studies, 7, 199–219.

95.

Rice

K. J.

Smith

W. R.

(2002). Socioecological models of automotive theft: Integrating routine activity and social disorganization approaches. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39, 304–336.

96.

Roberts

Block

(2012). Explaining temporary and permanent motor vehicle theft rates in the United States: A crime-specific approach. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. doi:10.1177/0022427812453143

97.

Sadik-Khan

(2012). New York City bridge traffic volumes 2010. New York: New York City Department of Transportation.

98.

Sallybanks

Brown

(1999). Vehicle crime reduction: Turning the corner. London, England: Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.

99.

Sa’ud

I. U. O. I. M. I.

(1984). The application of Islamic punishments and its effects on society: Selections of papers presented to the Conference on Islamic Jurisprudence organized by the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ibn. Sa’ud, Riyadh (1396 H). Imam University Press.

100.

Saville

Murdie

(1988). The spatial analysis of motor vehicle theft: A case study of Peel Region, Ontario. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 16, 126–135.

101.

Silver

(2007). Crime statistics in Canada, 2006. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.

102.

Suresh

Tewksbury

(2013). Locations of motor vehicle theft and recovery. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 200–215.

103.

The World Bank. (2016). Labor force, female, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2016, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS

104.

Tremblay

Clermont

Cusson

(1994). Jockeys and joyriders changing patterns in car theft opportunity structures. British Journal of Criminology, 34, 307–321.

105.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2013). Women in the labor force: A databook. Retrieved from United States, https://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook-2012.pdf

106.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). Population and housing unit estimates. Retrieved March 15, 2016, from www.census.gov/popest/data/national/totals/2014/index.html

107.

U.S. Department of Justice. (2000). Analysis of motor vehicle theft using survival model. Crime in the United States. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2000/00sec5.pdf

108.

Van Dijk

Tseloni

Farrell

(2012). The international crime drop: New directions in research. New York, NY: Springer.

109.

Wallace

(2003). Motor vehicle theft in Canada, 2001. Canada: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.

110.

Walsh

J. A.

Taylor

R. B.

(2007a). Community structural predictors of spatially aggregated motor vehicle theft rates: Do they replicate? Journal of Criminal Justice, 35, 297–311.

111.

Walsh

J. A.

Taylor

R. B.

(2007b). Predicting decade-long changes in community motor vehicle theft rates impacts of structure and surround. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44, 64–90.

112.

Webb

(1994). Steering column locks and motor vehicle theft: Evaluations from three countries. Crime Prevention Studies, 2, 71–89.

113.

Weisburd

Groff

Yang

S.-M.

(2011). Understanding developmental crime trajectories at places: Social disorganization and opportunity perspectives at micro units of geography. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

114.

Weisel

D. L.

Smith

W. R.

Garson

G. D.

Pavlichev

Wartell

(2006). Motor vehicle theft: Crime and spatial analysis in a non-urban region. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice.

115.

White

(2012). 2011 Census: Key statistics for England and Wales, March 2011. Statistical Bulletin. London, UK: Office for National Statistics.

116.

Wortley

Mazerolle

(2008). Environmental criminology and crime analysis: Situating the theory, analytic approach and application. In Wortley

Mazerolle

(Eds.), Environmental criminology and crime analysis (pp. 1–18). Devon: Willan.

117.

Yar

(2005). The novelty of ‘cybercrime’ an assessment in light of routine activity theory. European Journal of Criminology, 2, 407–427.