How Well Does Western Environmental Theory Explain Crime in the Arabian Context? The Case Study of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Date: 01 March 2019
• Author: Alison J. Heppenstall,Nicolas S. Malleson,Andrew J. Evans,Nawaf Ibrahim Alotaibi
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567717709497
• Published date: 01 March 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article
International Criminal Justice Review
2019, Vol. 29(1) 5-32
How Well Does Western
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Environmental Theory
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DOI: 10.1177/1057567717709497
journals.sagepub.com/home/icj
Explain Crime in the Arabian
Context? The Case Study
of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Nawaf Ibrahim Alotaibi1, Andrew J. Evans1,
Alison J. Heppenstall1, and Nicolas S. Malleson1
Abstract
Crime within Arabic countries is significantly different from Western crime in type, frequency, and
motivation. For example, motor vehicle theft (MVT) has constituted the largest proportion of
property crime incidents in Saudi Arabia (SA) for decades. This is in stark contrast to Western
countries where burglary and street theft dominate. Environmental criminology theories, such as
routine activity theory and crime pattern theory, have the potential to help to investigate Arabic
crime. However, there is no research that has sought to evaluate the validity of these theories within
such a different cultural context. This article represents a first step in addressing this substantial
research gap, taking MVT within SA as a case study. We evaluate previous MVT studies using an
environmental criminology approach with a critical view to applying environmental criminology to an
Arabic context. The article identifies a range of key features in SA that are different from typical
Western contexts. These differences could limit the appropriateness of existing methodologies used
to apply environmental criminology. The study also reveals that the methodologies associated with
traditional environmental crime theory need adjusting more generally when working with MVT, not
least to account for shifts in the location of opportunities for crime with time.
Keywords
routine activity theory, crime pattern theory, motor vehicle theft, Saudi Arabia
Introduction
Crime within Arabic countries is significantly different from Western crime in type, frequency,
and motivation. Western commentators often concentrate on the difference in crime types, focusing
on religious crimes, associated policing organizations, and cultural ramifications. However, the
1 University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
Corresponding Author:
Nawaf Ibrahim Alotaibi, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom.
Email: ml08nia@leeds.ac.uk

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International Criminal Justice Review 29(1)
day-to-day experience of crime events inside most Arabic countries is vastly more centered on
crimes that are common to both cultures and handled by standard policing. Even within this area
of overlap, there are significant differences in modus operandi, spatial and temporal distributions,
and socioeconomic drivers. Standard environmental criminology theories, such as routine activity
theory (RAT) and crime pattern theory (CPT), have the potential to help investigate such crime, as
elsewhere. However, the Western context in which these theories originated is substantially different
from the Arabian context, and there is no research that has sought to evaluate the validity of these
theories within such a different cultural context. This article represents a first step in addressing this
substantial research gap.
Here, we take Saudi Arabia (SA) as a case study, although we recognize that there will be large
cultural variations within Arabic countries. However, as a stable and flourishing country with a
religious society, heavily oil-based socioeconomic system, and a desert climate, SA presents a
series of themes which play out to a greater or lesser extent across the Arab world and provides an
informative exemplar of the differences with Western culture that might play a role when trying to
understanding crime. Specifically, this article utilizes motor vehicle theft (MVT) as a lens through
which to examine the applicability of Western environmental criminology theory. MVT is espe-
cially pertinent as it has constituted the largest proportion of property crime incidents in SA for
decades. This is in stark contrast to Western countries where burglary and street theft dominate
and where these crimes have had an important role in the development of environmental crimin-
ology. For example, in the United States in 2015, larceny theft accounted for 71.4% of property
crimes, followed by burglary (20%), with MVT making up about 9% of property crimes (Federal
Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2016). Meanwhile, in England and Wales, criminal damage
accounted for the largest component of property crime in 2010, at about 24%, with burglary
accounting for nearly 18% and MVT only 3.7% (Home Office, 2012). In Canada, in 2006, theft
amounting to CA$5,000 or below accounted for 52% of property crimes, whereas MVT accounted
for 13.6% and burglary 21.4% (Silver, 2007). The specific case study area chosen is Riyadh, the
capital of SA.
Over the last two decades, MVT has accounted for the largest proportion of property crime
incidents in SA. A study by Alwelaie (1993) indicated that the MVT in SA made up 24.7% of
all property crimes between 1985 and 1990 (1406–1411 H under the Islamic Hijri calendar1)
and rises dramatically to 31% by 1435 H (2014; Ministry of Interior, 2015). In 2015, despite
a reduction in most property crimes, MVT increased to account for 34% of property crimes by
1436 H (2015; Ministry of Interior, 2016). In the capital city, Riyadh, MVT accounted for
48.2% of all property crimes between 1430 H and 1434 H (2009 and 2013; Police Department
in Riyadh, 2014).
Despite the clear evidence that SA suffers from a MVT problem, few studies have attempted
to tease out its causality. This lack of research into the patterns and causes of crime is not just
limited to MVT; the research literature offers few insights into the causation of any forms of
crime in SA. The few articles on Saudi Arabian crime that have been published focus on the
occurrence of crime from a geographical perspective, but generally do not engage with the
associated theoretical explanatory frameworks. In addition, they struggle in the face of poor
previous data availability, with consequential limited quantitative analyses (Aldawsari, 1997;
AlMarzougi, Almatrafi, 2005; Alwelaie, 1993; Al-Ghamdi, & Alsyad, 1986; Al-Khalifah, 1997;
Mahya, 2003). In short, they lack the appropriate contextualization or data that would be
needed to apply a Western criminology theory to this very different geographical, cultural,
and social context.
However, crime theory and explanation are important, especially for intelligent, practical
policing. In the absence of understanding, policing becomes purely reactive rather than pre-
emptive. Globally, many crime prevention strategies have been designed based on crime

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Alotaibi et al.
7
analysis research, which in turn is backed by theories from environmental criminology and
similar disciplines (Paynich & Hill, 2011). Typically, these theories have been constructed from
research undertaken in “Western” countries. For example, RAT was formulated from work in
the United States (Cohen & Felson, 1979) and CPT from work in Canada (P. J. Brantingham &
Brantingham, 1993). Within this article, we refer to “Western countries” as those that share
similar cultural ideals and traditions to Europe, for example, United States, Canada, and
Australia. Given its dominance within the field, we focus predominantly on literature emerging
from the United States and Canada, with some relevant UK and Australian studies. It is beyond
the scope of the article to encompass other Western literature, though this may form future
work.
The main aim of this article is to explore the extent to which the concepts of RAT and CPT can
be applied outside of their original contexts in a very different geographical and social context.
To achieve this aim, in the second section, we first present an overview of the RAT and CPT and
highlight the context within which they were originally formulated. Following this, we briefly
review Western MVT studies contextualized within the theoretical frameworks. The third section
discusses the social differences, environmental contexts, and legal circumstances that distinguish
Saudi Arabian and Western contexts. The fourth section critically reviews the previous work on
MVT in SA, highlighting a relative lack of relevant previous literature to draw on. Finally, we
discuss how different contexts between the two environments could limit the appropriateness of
these theories in the context of SA in the fifth section. The article concludes with thoughts and
suggestions about how to reconcile Western criminology theory to a non-Western context in the
sixth section.
Environmental Criminology and MVT
Environmental criminology focuses on the context surrounding a crime occurrence, such as
offender and victim characteristics, the physical surroundings, and spatiotemporal aspects
(Boba, 2005; P. J. Brantingham & Brantingham, 2008; Chainey & Ratcliffe, 2005). In envi-
ronmental criminology, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are important from
the point of view of representing the location of (some) people involved in (some) crimes. It
is not, generally, a field that gives a detailed understanding of the life stages and drivers of
individual criminals. From an environmental criminology perspective, a crime event is the
result of complex interactions between human behavior and the environment (Wortley &
Mazerolle, 2008). Theories such as RAT and CPT seek to explain how opportunities exist
and come together for crime to occur (Boba, 2005). This is particularly relevant for...