In the late 1970s, routine activity theory, a subcategory of opportunity theory of crime, emerged as a key theoretical approach within the criminology. Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen first proposed this theory in their explanations of changes in the crime rate in the United States from 1947 to 1974, concluding that crime was opportunistic rather than planned and executed (Felson and Cohen 1979). This theory has since been widely applied and has become one of the most cited theories in criminology. However, unlike most criminological theories, routine activity theory examines how criminal events are produced and closely links crime to the environment, as well as emphasizing ecological processes, in order to attempt to divert attention academic from why/motivation of people to commit crimes. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Routine activity refers to the generalized patterns of social activities within society, or to a greater extent; Spatial and temporal patterns in family, work and recreational activities. Routine activity theory therefore suggests that the organization of routine activities in society creates opportunities for crime. These routines allow crime to be easy/low risk or difficult/high risk. As opportunities vary across time and space, along with different people, the likelihood of crime also varies. Thus routine activity theory links a macro-level situational model, using spatial and temporal patterns of routine activities in society, to a micro-level situational model. with the intent of explaining why a crime occurs. The situational model predicts that a criminal act occurs as a result of the convergence of three minimal elements in space and time: An offender motivated and ready to commit the crime. A suitable target, such as a human victim to attack or a good to steal. The Absence of a Capable Guardian to Prevent Crime Without any of these three elements, Cohen and Felson argued that they would be sufficient to prevent a crime from occurring. and social changes, such as unemployment rates, poverty and inequality. For example, after World War II, the economies of Western countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, were booming and expanding significantly. However, despite this, crime had increased significantly in the post-war period (Cohen, 1989). Cohen and Felson argued that crime rates had increased after World War II, due to the routine activities of society beginning to shift away from homes, for example, more women had to have full-time jobs, thus increasing the probability that a motivated offender would converge in space and time with a suitable target in the absence of a capable guardian. This is especially true for residential burglaries, as when people carry out routine tasks away from their property and their belongings are left unattended without a capable guardian, there would be greater opportunities for a crime to occur. A significant contribution to routine activity theory is the theory The idea that opportunities for crime are unevenly distributed in society and are not even infinite. However, there is a limit to the number of accessible targets considered attractive to the motivated offender. Cohen and Felson (1979) suggested that there were four elements.