Routine Activity Theory and Petty Theft at Car Washes

Name Instructor Course Date Routine Activity Theory to Petty Theft Getting hosed: Petty theft in the car wash industry and the fifth suitability criterion in routine activities theory The main research question is how one can apply Routine Activity Theory to explain how varying opportunity structures encourage or discourage criminal behavior and victimization. The authors hypothesize that increased deviant behavior enhances crime activity and victimization. One can argue that the current study is inductive research since it starts with the specific arguments that scholars associate with RAT and ends with the general findings based on their researchers’ observations. It is a study whose results remain based on experience and observations on the extent to which drivers' perception fosters actual crime in the long run. The current study is an explanatory goal-oriented study since the authors explain why phenomena occur (in this case, why petty theft occurs at car washes) and what fosters such p