Situational Crime Prevention and Terrorism: An Assessment of 10 Years of Research
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Marissa Mandala,Joshua D. Freilich,Jeff Gruenewald |
| DOI | 10.1177/0887403418805142 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2018
Article
Criminal Justice Policy Review
2019, Vol. 30(9) 1283 –1311
Situational Crime
© The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
Prevention and Terrorism:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403418805142
DOI: 10.1177/0887403418805142
journals.sagepub.com/home/cjp
An Assessment of 10 Years
of Research
Joshua D. Freilich1, Jeff Gruenewald2,
and Marissa Mandala1
Abstract
This study systematically reviews the Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) and terrorism
literature published between 2006 and 2016. We examine several variables related
to the backgrounds of authors, publication outlets, methods used, and countries and
terrorist groups focused upon in these studies. We also investigate if studies have
tested the pillars of terrorism opportunity relating to weapons, targets, tools, and
facilitating conditions. We find a strong literature and much support for SCP’s claims in
the terrorism context. We highlight some data and method obstacles in fully evaluating
SCP’s EVIL DONE, MURDEROUS, and ESEER frameworks and tools pillar, and suggest
a need for more multivariate designs. We end by identifying underexplored substantive
issues that deserve more attention, such as possibly refining EVIL DONE and to more
fully address displacement versus adaptation processes.
Keywords
crime control policy, crime prevention, homeland security, terrorism, terrorism
prevention
Introduction
This study systematically reviews the Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) and terror-
ism literature published between 2006 and 2016. Studying terrorism has historically
1John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
2Indiana University–Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Corresponding Author:
Joshua D. Freilich, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Haaren Hall, Room 636.11, New York, NY
10019, USA.
Email: jfreilich@jjay.cuny.edu
1284
Criminal Justice Policy Review 30(9)
been the domain of psychologists and political scientists who have highlighted the
individual dispositions and collective grievances of ideologically motivated actors.
Only recently have criminologists begun to seriously focus their attention on issues of
terrorism and homeland security (Freilich & LaFree, 2015; LaFree & Freilich, 2016,
for exceptions, see Hamm, 1993; Smith, 1994). Some crime scholars remain interested
in the applicability of traditional sociological theories of crime to terrorism (LaFree &
Dugan, 2004; Rausch & LaFree, 2007; Rosenfeld, 2004), while others eschew the
intractability of individual behavior and note the promise of preventing terrorist crimes
by altering their environments. Enviromental perspectives of crime illuminate tempo-
ral and spatial elements that may shape offender decision making and patterns of vic-
timization, a different complementary approach to addressing the many complex
psychological and social causes and correlates of terrorism. These place-based crime
prevention approaches have been developed to reduce situated opportunities for com-
mitting crime and include crime pattern theory (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1990),
routine activities theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979), hot spot analysis (Sherman, Gartin,
& Buerger, 1989; Weisburd & Green, 1995), and crime prevention through environ-
mental design (CPTED; Cozens, 2011), among others.
Incorporating key tenets of these theories, Situational Crime Prevention (SCP)
seeks to understand how actors take advantage of situated opportunities to commit
crime. Based on particular crime patterns, intervening SCP mechanisms are designed
and introduced to manipulate environments by increasing risks and efforts needed to
successfully commit crime, thereby reducing rewards and provocations of crime and
removing excuses used to justify crime (Clarke, 1980; Freilich & Newman, 2017).
In 2006, Clarke and Newman (2006) published their book titled Outsmarting the
Terrorists in which they argued that SCP interventions could be used to reduce terrorist
attacks. Others noted than an SCP approach could also complement “root causes”
approaches by managing the problem and buying valuable time allowing for peace pro-
cesses to emerge (Freilich & Newman, 2009). Although Clarke and Newman’s (2006)
book was mostly conceptual, a growing body of work has extended, critiqued, and tested
their ideas in the ensuing decade. Scholarly articles examining SCP’s applications to ter-
rorism have been published in criminal justice, terrorism, and other disciplines journals,
while an increasing number of graduate students have investigated Clarke and Newman’s
SCP and terrorism claims in master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.
SCP has been found to be an effective approach to reducing crime (Clarke, 1997;
Guerette & Bowers, 2009; Hesseling, 1994; Weisburd, Wycoff, Ready, Eck, & Hinkle,
2006), but its applicability to terrorism has yet to be systematically evaluated.
Considering its potential for reducing terrorism, we suggest that it is now appropriate
to take stock of the first 10 years of the SCP and terrorism literature by outlining what
has been accomplished and learned. Just in the period since Clarke and Newman’s
(2006) call to apply SCP to terrorism, over 60 works have been published on this topic.
To date, however, researchers have yet to provide a thorough review of this growing
literature.
The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of journal articles, book
chapters, doctoral dissertations, and master’s theses examining SCP and terrorism that
Freilich et al.
1285
were published between the issuance of Clarke and Newman’s book (March 2006) and
March 31, 2016. Given the state of the SCP and terrorism literature, it is not yet pos-
sible to conduct a meta-analysis where effect sizes are summarized across a range of
quantitative studies. Instead, we conduct a systematic review, in which we identify
relevant works using well-defined inclusion criteria and then code key attributes about
them (Hemingway & Brereton, 2009).
We examine several variables related to the backgrounds of authors, publication
outlets, methods used in the study, whether the study empirically examines the pillars
of terrorism opportunity, and which countries and terrorist groups it focused upon. The
remainder of our paper unfolds by first providing an overview of Clarke and Newman’s
SCP and terrorism claims. Second, we discuss the issues examined and how we identi-
fied and analyzed key attributes from the relevant studies. Third, we present our find-
ings and attempt to make sense of them. Our goal is to identify the strengths of these
studies and the lessons learned from research on this topic during the last decade, as
well as highlight the gaps and weaknesses of this literature. We end by providing sug-
gestions for future research to address these gaps and to extend the application of SCP
to terrorism.
Outsmarting the Terrorists Through SCP
In Clarke and Newman’s (2006) Outsmarting the Terrorists, the authors contend that
established techniques of SCP can be applied to terrorism due to the similarities in
ideological crime and other nonideological forms of crime. For instance, both crime
and terrorism often involve a combination of motives, some level of determination and
planning, peer networks, and, importantly, the exploitation of opportunities. Therefore,
limiting opportunities available for ideologically motivated offenders to commit crime
will in theory reduce future terrorism. Importantly, the research lens of SCP extends to
the situated context of terrorist events rather than solely focusing on the backgrounds
of individual offenders. SCP proponents assume that there will usually be an unlimited
supply of potential terrorists who adhere to aggrieved ideological movements and
whose goals are difficult to satisfy. Thus, many counterterrorism policies currently in
use that aim to eliminate (e.g., drone strikes) or incapacitate terrorists (e.g., Guantanamo
Bay) may be limited in their effectiveness for reducing terrorism.
Clarke and Newman (2006) argue that the opportunity structure of terrorism con-
sists of four pillars, including targets, weapons, tools and facilitating conditions, and
that the key is to examine how these pillars will help or hinder preparation for and
execution of terrorist acts. The first pillar of opportunity involves the selection of tar-
gets. A common critique of the application of SCP to terrorism is that it is impossible
and too expensive to protect all of the potential targets that terrorists may choose
(Mueller, 2010; Stewart, 2008). However, Clarke and Newman (2006) counter that not
all targets need to be protected because they are not all equally at risk. Some targets are
more attractive to terrorists, and thus more at risk and in need of protection.
Building upon prior successes in applying SCP interventions for identifying prod-
ucts most vulnerable for theft (Felson & Clarke, 1998), Clarke and Newman (2006)
1286
Criminal Justice Policy Review 30(9)
devised a terrorism target risk assessment template, known by the acronym EVIL
DONE. Targets that are more exposed, vital, iconic, legitimate, destructible, occupied,
near, and easy are thought to be more at risk for a terrorist attack. Those that stand out
and are more visible are considered more exposed targets. Vital targets, such as power
plants or water supplies, are those that provide important...
To continue reading
Request your trial