Guardianship in the Brisbane Suburbs: An Exploratory Study of Crime Control by Residents in a Non-Urban Context

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Reynald, Danielle
Stewart, Anna
Other Supervisors
Hart, Timothy
Year published
2017
Metadata
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Within the routine activity approach (Cohen & Felson, 1979) guardianship is argued to be a critical component of crime prevention. Guardians are defined as ordinary citizens who carry out supervision, which helps prevent or deter crime. Traditionally, criminological research has used measures that approximate levels of household occupancy to examine the relationship between guardianship and crime. More recently, however, Reynald (2009) developed the Guardianship in Action (GIA) model. The GIA model proposes a valid way to directly observe residents’ guardianship behaviour, and understand the spatio-physical and socio-demographic ...
View more >Within the routine activity approach (Cohen & Felson, 1979) guardianship is argued to be a critical component of crime prevention. Guardians are defined as ordinary citizens who carry out supervision, which helps prevent or deter crime. Traditionally, criminological research has used measures that approximate levels of household occupancy to examine the relationship between guardianship and crime. More recently, however, Reynald (2009) developed the Guardianship in Action (GIA) model. The GIA model proposes a valid way to directly observe residents’ guardianship behaviour, and understand the spatio-physical and socio-demographic factors that facilitate crime control behaviour by residents. Observations using the GIA model have thus far been applied in urban residential environments in The Hague, Netherlands (Reynald, 2009; Reynald, 2011a) and Boston, Massachusetts (Hollis-Peel, Reynald, & Welsh, 2012; Hollis-Peel & Welsh, 2014). These studies limited observations to weekdays. Collectively, The Hague and Boston studies show that the GIA model is an ecologically valid method to observe guardianship behaviour. Further, this research shows how different environmental and social factors help to facilitate or inhibit guardianship across high density, urban contexts. This thesis builds on these existing studies by applying GIA in Australia for the first time, and by testing the model for the first time in a suburban residential context.
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View more >Within the routine activity approach (Cohen & Felson, 1979) guardianship is argued to be a critical component of crime prevention. Guardians are defined as ordinary citizens who carry out supervision, which helps prevent or deter crime. Traditionally, criminological research has used measures that approximate levels of household occupancy to examine the relationship between guardianship and crime. More recently, however, Reynald (2009) developed the Guardianship in Action (GIA) model. The GIA model proposes a valid way to directly observe residents’ guardianship behaviour, and understand the spatio-physical and socio-demographic factors that facilitate crime control behaviour by residents. Observations using the GIA model have thus far been applied in urban residential environments in The Hague, Netherlands (Reynald, 2009; Reynald, 2011a) and Boston, Massachusetts (Hollis-Peel, Reynald, & Welsh, 2012; Hollis-Peel & Welsh, 2014). These studies limited observations to weekdays. Collectively, The Hague and Boston studies show that the GIA model is an ecologically valid method to observe guardianship behaviour. Further, this research shows how different environmental and social factors help to facilitate or inhibit guardianship across high density, urban contexts. This thesis builds on these existing studies by applying GIA in Australia for the first time, and by testing the model for the first time in a suburban residential context.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Subject
Guardianship
Guardianship in Action (GIA) model
Criminology research
Suburban crime