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dc.contributor.advisorStewart, Anna
dc.contributor.authorBirks, Daniel J
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-23T02:52:17Z
dc.date.available2018-01-23T02:52:17Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.identifier.doi10.25904/1912/3030
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/367327
dc.description.abstractThis thesis demonstrates that agent-based modelling offers a viable compatriot to traditional experimental methodologies for criminology scholars, that can be applied to explore the divide between micro-level criminological theory and macro-level observations of crime; and in turn, aid in the assessment of those theories which aim to describe the crime event. The following overarching research question is addressed: Are the micro-level mechanisms of the opportunity theories generatively sufficient to explain macroscopic patterns commonly observed in the empirical study of crime? Drawing on the approach of generative social science (Epstein, 1999), this thesis presents a systematic assessment of the generative sufficiency of three distinct mechanisms of offender movement, target selection and learning derived from the routine activity approach (Cohen & Felson, 1979), rational choice perspective (Clarke, 1980; Cornish & Clarke, 1986) and crime pattern theory (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1978, 1981). An agent-based model of offending is presented, in which an artificial landscape is inhabited by both potential victims and offenders who behave according to several of the key propositions of the routine activity approach, rational choice perspective and crime pattern theory. Following a computational laboratory-based approach, for each hypothetical mechanism studied, control and experimental behaviours are developed to represent the absence or presence of a proposed mechanism within the virtual population.
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherGriffith University
dc.publisher.placeBrisbane
dc.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
dc.subject.keywordsAgent-based modelling
dc.subject.keywordsCriminological theory
dc.subject.keywordsRoutine activity approach
dc.subject.keywordsRational choice perspective
dc.subject.keywordsCrime pattern theory
dc.titleComputational Agent-Based Models of Offending: Assessing the Generative Sufficiency of Opportunity-Based Explanations of the Crime Event
dc.typeGriffith thesis
gro.facultyArts, Education and Law
gro.rights.copyrightThe author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
dc.contributor.otheradvisorTownsley, Michael
dc.rights.accessRightsPublic
gro.identifier.gurtIDgu1357093456832
gro.source.ADTshelfnoADT0
gro.source.GURTshelfnoGURT1336
gro.thesis.degreelevelThesis (PhD Doctorate)
gro.thesis.degreeprogramDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
gro.departmentSchool of Criminology and Criminal Justice
gro.griffith.authorBirks, Daniel J.


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