Criminology studies have posited theories based on the assumption that environmental features (e.g., street lighting, housing design) shape offenders' perceptions of risk and reward. In a new study, researchers used virtual reality (VR) to determine how incarcerated burglars evaluated a neighborhood with houses that differed in features. The study found that offenders adjusted their perceptions of risk and reward in response to environmental features.
The study was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University; the University of Alabama; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Leiden University; and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law. It is published in Criminology.
"A central tenet of research on criminal decision making is that perceptions of the environment shape decisions," explains Daniel S. Nagin, professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College, who coauthored the study. "But generally speaking, the underlying mechanisms that tie environmental features to perception have not been tested."
Between June and December 2022, researchers interviewed 160 male residential burglars incarcerated in Pennsylvania with varying degrees of criminal proficiency. The men were asked to assess the risks and rewards associated with burglarizing residences in a virtual neighborhood.
The average age of the men was 32, and about half were White and half were Black. The men explored a virtual neighborhood modeled after an actual neighborhood in Pittsburgh in which residences has different physical features (e.g., one house had a large TV box out for trash collection, another had a Second Amendment rights sign in the front yard).
Features of the houses affected the men's perceptions of the risks and rewards of burglarizing the residence, the study found. For example, the men said they were less likely to be seen and caught at a house surrounded by shrubbery. They evaluated the house with the TV box outside as likely to have valuable goods inside and said they were more likely to break into it. When a car was parked in a driveway of a house, the men said someone was more likely to be at home and that meant they were less likely to break in, which could lead to getting hurt.
The men thought they were more likely to get hurt at the house with the gun rights sign but they also said they thought the house was more likely to contain valuable goods, including a firearm, which is very valuable on illicit markets. Researchers did not find significant ties between houses' attractiveness and the men's likelihood of breaking in.
In addition, burglars who were more proficient differed from those who were less proficient, believing they were less likely to be seen and caught during a burglary attempt and as a result, more likely to break into a house. In other words, when proficient and less-proficient offenders were presented with the same environment, they perceived different features or perceived the same features but interpreted them differently, either of which could lead to different behaviors and choices, according to the authors.
"Our results have practical implications, such as encouraging individuals to take proactive steps to reduce their likelihood of victimization," says William P. McClanahan, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Alabama, who led the study. "These include not leaving garage doors open and not putting boxes from valuable purchases outside to be seen clearly."
The research was funded by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law.
