Situational Crime Prevention and Terrorism: An Assessment of 10 Years of Research

Abstract

This study systematically reviews the Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) and terrorism literature published between 2006 and 2016. We examine several variables related to the backgrounds of authors, publication outlets, methods used, and countries and terrorist groups focused upon in these studies. We also investigate if studies have tested the pillars of terrorism opportunity relating to weapons, targets, tools, and facilitating conditions. We find a strong literature and much support for SCP’s claims in the terrorism context. We highlight some data and method obstacles in fully evaluating SCP’s EVIL DONE, MURDEROUS, and ESEER frameworks and tools pillar, and suggest a need for more multivariate designs. We end by identifying underexplored substantive issues that deserve more attention, such as possibly refining EVIL DONE and to more fully address displacement versus adaptation processes.

Investigating the applicability of situational crime prevention to the public mass violence context

“…These strategies would uncover whether SCP strategies were effective in reducing the likelihood of an attack. In addition, scholars should investigate whether our risk assessment dimensions are equally relevant or whether some matter more and should be weighted accordingly (Freilich et al., ).…”

“…Freilich et al. () found that in barely a handful of studies have scholars empirically investigated these claims, but the few that did so were supportive (Legault & Hendrickson, ; Mandala, ).…”

“…Facilities, locations, and times that are more at risk for public mass violence should receive more situational interventions to prevent these attacks from occurring. We draw from the SCP perspective generally, and its application to terrorism particularly (Clarke & Newman, ; Freilich & Newman, ; Freilich, Gruenewald, & Mandala, ; Perry, Apel, Newman, & Clarke, ), as well as from the public mass shootings/mass violence literature. We focus on target selection and maintain that certain locations and facilities are more attractive and/or more vulnerable targets to attack.…”

Carjacking: A Comparison Between Campinas, Brazil and Detroit, Michigan

“…This family of methods is often called situational crime prevention. During those four decades, well over a thousand situational crime reduction techniques have been developed and studied by researchers around the world (Aransiola & Ceccato, 2020;Eck & Clarke, 2019;Freilich et al, 2019;Scott, n.d.;Shariati & Guerette, 2017). We can roughly divide situational crime prevention techniques into two categories: (a) placebased techniques and (b) product-oriented techniques.…”

Country-level firearm availability and terrorism: A new approach to examining the gun-crime relationship

“…characteristics, and obtainability in particular (again, "O" from "MURDEROUS"), affects terrorism as an outcome (Freilich et al 2019). Indeed, much of what we know about the effect of guns and gun policy has been derived from studies about crime, despite evidence that terrorism is a distinct offense (Hoffman 2017), which has been differentially affected by policy (Dugan et al 2005).…”