Abstract
Opportunity theories of crime are concerned with situational predictors of crime and include what Jacques and Wright refer to as the “theoretical siblings”: Cornish and Clarke’s rational choice perspective and Cohen and Felson’s routine activity approach. Routine activity approach posits that crimes take place when a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian intersect in space and time. Once presented with a crime opportunity, rational choice perspective suggests that an offender weighs the costs associated with engaging in crime against the potential benefits. Such “rational” decision-making is bounded by one’s life circumstances and the available information. Super Mario Bros. is side-scrolling videogame and cultural phenomenon released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. The central protagonist of the game, Mario is tasked with making his way through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool from her captor, Bowser, King of the Koopa. Along the way, Mario collects coins and various power-ups, and must avoid pitfalls and eliminate enemies. Mario is motivated to collect such targets by his need to survive and complete his mission. Many targets are difficult to reach due to environmental hazards and game enemies serving as guardians over the desired rewards. This chapter provides an explanation of opportunity theory and several theoretical offshoots. Perspectives are applied to Super Mario Bros., and policy implications and empirical evidence of opportunity theories of crime are presented.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Rather than assault and murder Mario may actually be engaging in cruelty to animals, depending on how one chooses to conceptualize the Koopa—which are not human, but are sometimes anthropomorphic in nature as in the case of Bowser.
- 2.
As in the case of Lakitu, “the mysterious turtle who controls the clouds” (NAI, 1985, p. 12).
References
Beccaria, C. (1872). An Essay on Crimes and Punishments (New ed.). Albany: W.O. Little and Co.
Bentham, J. (1789). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation: Printed in the Year 1780, and Now First Published. London: T. Payne.
Braga, A. A., Turchan, B., Papachristos, A. V., & Hureau, D. M. (2019). Hot Spots Policing of Small Geographic Areas Effects on Crime. Campbell Systematic Reviews. Oslo, Norway: Campbell Collaboration.
Brantingham, P. J., & Brantingham, P. L. (1991). Environmental Criminology. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Brantingham, P. J., & Brantingham, P. L. (2008). Crime Pattern Theory. In L. Mazerolle & R. Wortley (Eds.), Environmental Criminology & Crime Analysis (pp. 78–93). New York: Willan Publishing.
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.
Clarke, R. V. (1980). Situational Crime Prevention: Theory and Practice. British Journal of Criminology, 20, 136–147.
Clarke, R. V. (1983). Situational Crime Prevention: Its Theoretical Basis and Practical Scope. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and Justice (Vol. 4, pp. 225–256). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Clarke, R. V., & Cornish, D. B. (1985). Modeling Offenders’ Decisions: A Framework for Research and Policy. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and Justice (Vol. 6, pp. 147–185). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588–608.
Colquhoun, P. (1800). Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis. London: Baldwin.
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (1986). Introduction. In D. B. Cornish & R. V. Clarke (Eds.), The Reasoning Criminal: Rational Choice Perspectives on Offending (pp. 1–13). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (1987). Understanding Crime Displacement: An Application of Rational Choice Theory. Criminology, 25(4), 933–947.
Eck, J. E. (1994). Drug Markets and Drug Places: A Case-Control Study of the Spatial Structure of Illicit Drug Dealing. Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Eck, J. E. (1995). A General Model of the Geography of Illicit Retail Market Places. In J. Eck & D. Weisburd (Eds.), Crime and Place: Crime Prevention Studies (Vol. 4, pp. 67–94). Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
Eck, J. E., & Spelman, W. (1987). Problem Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in Newport News. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
Felson, M. (1986). Routine Activities, Social Controls, Rational Decisions, and Criminal Outcomes. In D. Cornish & R. V. Clarke (Eds.), The Reasoning Criminal (pp. 119–112). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Felson, M. (1995). Those Who Discourage Crime. In J. Eck & D. Weisburd (Eds.), Crime and Place: Crime Prevention Studies (Vol. 4, pp. 53–66). Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
Felson, M., & Clarke, R. V. (1998). Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory for Crime Prevention. Police Research Series (Paper 98). London, UK: Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Home Office.
Goldstein, H. (1979). Improving Policing: A Problem-Oriented Approach. Crime and Delinquency, 25, 236–258.
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (Eds.). (1987). Positive Criminology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Jacques, S., & Wright, R. (2011). Informal Control and Illicit Drug Trade. Criminology, 49, 729–765.
Jeffery, C. R. (1971). Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Newman, O. (1972). Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design. New York: Macmillan.
Nintendo of America, Inc. (1985). Super Mario Bros. Instructional Booklet. Redmond, WA: Nintendo.
Piquero, A. R., & Tibbetts, S. G. (1996). Specifying the Direct and Indirect Effects of Low Self-Control and Situational Factors in Offenders’ Decision Making: Toward a More Complete Model of Rational Offending. Justice Quarterly, 13, 481–510.
Piza, E. L., Welsh, B. C., Farrington, D. P., & Thomas, A. L. (2019). CCTV Surveillance for Crime Prevention: A 40-Year Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Criminology & Public Policy, 18(1), 135–159.
Pratt, T. C., Cullen, F. T., Blevins, K. R., Daigle, L. E., & Madensen, T. D. (2006). The Empirical Status of Deterrence Theory: A Meta-Analysis. In F. T. Cullen, J. P. Wright, & K. R. Blevins (Eds.), Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory (Vol. 15). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Sherman, L., & Weisburd, D. (1995). General Deterrent Effects of Police Patrol in Crime “Hot Spots”: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Justice Quarterly, 12(4), 625–648.
Smith, W. R., Frazee, S. G., & Davison, E. L. (2000). Furthering the Integration of Routine Activity and Social Disorganization Theories: Small Units of Analysis and the Study of Street Robbery as a Diffusion Process. Criminology, 38(2), 489–524.
Weisburd, D., Telep, C. W., Hinkle, J. C., & Eck, J. E. (2008). The Effects of Problem-Oriented Policing on Crime and Disorder. Campbell Systematic Reviews. Oslo, Norway: Campbell Collaboration.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sytsma, V.A. (2021). Opportunity Theories and Super Mario Bros.. In: Daly, S.E. (eds) Theories of Crime Through Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54434-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54434-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-54433-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-54434-8
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)