Breaking Rules: The Social and Situational Dynamics of Young People's Urban Crime

• Presents the findings of a major longitudinal study (PADS+), involving a cohort of 700 young people from the age of 12
• Introduces Situational Action Theory, an innovative theory and methodology in the study of the role of the social environment in crime causation
• Reviews the literature on urban crime, highlighting key theoretical and methodological problems, and demonstrates how Situational Action Theory can overcome these difficulties

Readership: Sociologists, criminologists, undergraduates and graduates, as well as policy-makers and practitioners interested in issues of urban environments, social cohesion and crime.

Per-Olof H. Wikström, Professor of Ecological and Developmental Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, and Professorial Fellow of Girton College, Dietrich Oberwittler, Senior Researcher / Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute, Kyle Treiber, Research Associate (PADS+), and Beth Hardie, Research Manager (PADS+)

"among the most significant works in criminology in decades" - Professor Michael Gottfredson, University of California, As quoted in The Independent

"a breakthrough that deserves a wide readership" - Professor Robert Sampson, Harvard University, as quoted in the Independent

"Breaking Rules is among the most significant works in criminology in decades. It sets the standard for sophisticated and innovative measurement, for careful and well - executed research design, and for clarity and precision of presentation. It both presents and explicates an innovative theory of crime, one that is broad in scope and appropriately ambitious. The data and their analyses are of vital importance to cumulative knowledge in criminology. With this book, Situational Action Theory takes its place as among the most important perspectives in modern criminology and the study provides data of unprecedented scope and quality.Breaking Rules represents the best tradition of the science of criminology and as such it commands the attention of the field." - Professor Michael R. Gottfredson, University of California

"Breaking Rules is a truly impressive book that combines all of the features of first-rate scholarship in the social sciences. The theorizing, in the form of Situational Action Theory (SAT), is creative. The methodological procedures are carefully crafted and skillfully executed to serve the theoretical objectives of the research. Moreover, the extensive and rich analyses of the data from the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) yield compelling insights about who commits crimes, when, where, and - most importantly - why." - Professor Steven F. Messner, University at Albany

"Criminology has produced a staggering amount of data and findings. Correlates of crime are everywhere but theoretical interpretation of their meaning is fraught with disagreement, Wikström and colleagues cut through the fog with a compelling new theory and multi-faceted longitudinal study of adolescents that lays bare the fundamental importance of situational dynamics and their interaction with both person-level characteristics and the larger social environment of the city. The theoretical emphasis on situation and individual action in context is original and the empirical analysis is carefully constructed to assess major hypotheses. Breaking Rules is a breakthrough that deserves a wide readership." - Professor Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University

"Breaking Rules presents one of the most significant recent studies of crime and offending involving young people, and should be essential reading for Howard League early career researchers. It offers a template for how good criminological research should be conducted, and affords ample material for teaching undergraduate and post-graduate criminology." - Gary Manders, Howard League for Penal Reform

"One of the most important recent studies of crime and offending involving young people and a crucial book for police officers leading or designing crime reduction or preventive strategies." - Peter Neyroud, Policing: A Journal of Policy & Practice

PART 1 - Analysing crime as situational action: Theory, methods, key constructs, and basic findings
1: Situational Action Theory (SAT)
2: The Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+)
3: Young people's crime, crime propensity, and criminogenic exposure: Key constructs and basic findings
PART 2 - The social dynamics of young people's urban crime
4: Peterborough, its urban structure, and crime
5: Young offenders and their crimes in the urban environment
6: Young people, their activities, and criminogenic exposure
PART 3 - The situational dynamics of young people's crime
7: The crime convergence: Kinds of people in kinds of settings
8: Choosing crime as an alternative: Crime propensity, the perception-choice process, and crime
PART 4 - It's all about interactions
9: Key findings and implications
Appendices
Technical appendix
Space-time budget coding appendix

Related news article - Crime: the antidote is morality, The Telegraph, 6 July 2012
Related news article - Peterborough: Youth Crime Study, Interview with Prof Wikstrom