The foraging perspective in criminology: A review of research literature

Abstract

In order to explain how crimes are carried out, and why at a particular place and time and against a specific target, crime studies increasingly harness theory from behavioural ecology, in particular Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT). However, an overview of their main findings does not exist. Given the growing focus on OFT as a behavioural framework for structuring crime research, in this article we review the extant OFT-inspired empirical crime research. Systematic search in Google Scholar and Web of Science yielded 32 crime studies, which were grouped into four categories according to their research topic. Empirical results largely support predictions made by OFT. However, there remains much potential for future OFT applications to crime research, in particular regarding the theoretical foundation of OFT in criminology, and through the application of contemporary extensions to OFT using specific tools developed for the study of animal foraging decisions.

Early Detection of Suspicious Behaviors for Safe Residence from Movement Trajectory Data

“…It assumes that offenders should be aware of a location in order to be able to choose it as a target [39]. Besides, the foraging perspective also emphasizes that offenders learn about their environment when committing the first offence in a particular location [11]. For example, a possible drug dealer, sex offender, or burglar may observe the planned crime scenes without lights at night, around schools, residential streets, or playgrounds.…”

“…(1) Loitering around a public place Similar to frequent short stops, the optimal foraging and crime pattern theory can also explain the behaviors of loitering around a public place [11,38]. Loitering around refers to observing planned crime scenes repeatedly before committing crimes.…”

“…Accordingly, the offender (e.g., theft) searches for a suitable crime scene and target to conduct criminal activities around places and the paths among them. Besides, crime studies increasingly adopt a foraging perspective when exploring criminal activities [11]. The adopted foraging perspective emphasizes that offenders learn about their environment when committing the first offence in a particular location [12].…”

It’s About Time

“…The power of decision-making models is that we can analyze the spatio-temporal decision-making behavior of the offenders as if they are making 1 19 such trade-offs (either implicitly or explicitly). This also applies to models from behavioral ecology, such as optimal foraging theory (for an overview, see Vandeviver, Neirynck & Bernasco, 2021). In this model, trade-offs between potential risks and rewards are modelled without the necessity to assume that animals are making these trade-offs consciously.…”