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Offenders' choice of target: Findings from victim surveys

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Abstract

This paper argues that victimological research on risks can contribute to the study of offender decision-making. It examines some of the problems in conventional approaches to the topic and discusses strengths and weaknesses of surveys of victimization as an additional source of information. It presents and discusses a conceptual framework for examining target selection, the key elements of which are proximity, yield, and accessibility. It presents a “worked example” in the shape of findings on burglary from the British Crime Survey.

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Hough, M. Offenders' choice of target: Findings from victim surveys. J Quant Criminol 3, 355–369 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066836

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