Using environmental criminology theories to compare ‘youth misuse of fire’ across age groups in New South Wales

Abstract

Youth misuse of fire is a substantive community concern. Despite evidence which indicates youths account for a significant proportion of all deliberately lit fires within Australia, an absence of up-to-date, contextually specific research means the exact scope and magnitude of youth misuse of fire within Australia remains unknown. Despite research suggesting commonalities exist between youth misuse of fire and juvenile offending more broadly, misuse of fire is rarely explained using criminological theory. In light of this gap, a descriptive analysis of youth misuse of fire within New South Wales was performed. Routine Activity Theory and Crime Pattern Theory were tested to explain differences in misuse of fire across age groups. Results suggest these environmental theories offer useful frameworks for explaining youth misuse of fire in New South Wales. It is argued that the Routine Activity Theory and Crime Pattern Theory can be employed to better inform youth misuse of fire policy and prevention efforts.

Collective efficacy and arson: the case of Malmö

“…With one of the perspectives ruled out, the remaining perspective should receive more attention. It may be particularly fruitful to consider such issues from the perspective of youth, since several studies have discussed how youth often tend to be involved in fire-setting (Lowenstein, 2003;Pooley & Ferguson, 2015;Terjestam & Ryden, 1999), which also has been shown to be the case at the area-level in both the present study and previous research (Guldåker & Hallin, 2013;Malmberg et al, 2013). Large groups of youth who are experiencing strain due to unequal life chances would appear to constitute a likely explanation for arson, and future research would do well to test such a hypothesis through direct measurements of experienced strain and/or perceived inequality.…”

Environmental Conditions Associated With Youth Delinquency Events: A Temporal, Meteorological, and Contextual Perspective

“…The lighting level or, conversely, the level of darkness could also be relevant. It can be seen as an indicator of the hour of the day when the crime is committed but also, lighting/darkness can play a role in facilitating crime by increasing the offenders' awareness of the space or by reducing visibility, and therefore, the capability of potential guardians (Pooley & Ferguson, 2017;Tompson & Bowers, 2013). Previous research on temperature and level of darkness in street robberies in London and Glasgow found that level of darkness was more relevant than temperature (Tompson & Bowers, 2013).…”

Nodes, guardians and signs: Raising barriers to human trafficking in the tourism industry

“…Activity spaces are made up of (a) nodes that are the places routinely visited by criminals and (b) the pathways travelled between them (Iwanski et al, 2011). Nodes may offer conditions conducive to specific crimes and thus create opportunity (Pooley and Ferguson, 2017;Rossmo, 2014). The offenders' movement from node to node therefore becomes a 'crime journey' (Bernasco, 2014).…”

“…regions, communities, neighbourhoods) and micro level (e.g., specific buildings or types of business) (Groff et al, 2014). At both levels, these places can be distinguished as to whether they are crime attractors or crime generators (Pooley and Ferguson, 2017). The main distinction between the two is whether offenders purposefully visit the place to commit the crime or act on impulse while there.…”

“…Hotels are therefore crime attractors (Pooley and Ferguson, 2017), purposefully visited by traffickers in order to commit the crime of THB. Looking at the different types of THB conducted in hotels (mainly sexual and labour exploitation), traffickers are arguably using hotels as activity spaces (Iwanski et al, 2011) in both the front and the back-of-house.…”