Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Filters

2005 - 20062

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Groff, ElizabethSubject: search.filters.subject.Geography

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the Geography of Routine Activity Theory: A Spatio-Temporal Test Using Street Robbery
    (2006-07-10) Groff, Elizabeth; Dubayah, Ralph; Weisburd, David; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Many social phenomena have a spatio-temporal dimension and involve dynamic decisions made by individuals. Investigations focusing on the spatio-temporal dimensions of human behavior have received a great deal of theoretical attention; however, empirical testing of these theories has been handicapped by a lack of micro-level data and modeling tools that can capture the dynamic interactions of individuals and the context in which they occur. This research presents a methodology for evaluating theory through the implementation of a simulation model; the assumptions of the theory are operationalized in a model, a series of experiments are run, and the outcomes are analyzed to discover if they match what the theory would predict. Specifically, the concepts of routine activity theory (RAT) (Cohen and Felson, 1979) are formalized in a computational laboratory representing Seattle, Washington. The computational environment for implementation, Agent Analyst, merges agent-based modeling (ABM) software with geographic information systems (GIS). A strategy for developing activity spaces is implemented and demonstrates how agents can move along existing street networks, and land use patterns can be used to create representational activity spaces. Three versions of a model of street robbery are developed; each version implements a different level of constraints on agent's routine activities. In one version (Simple), individuals are either at home or not at home. In another, individuals follow a temporal schedule (Temporal). Last, individual's schedules are both temporally and spatially constrained (Activity Space). A series of experiments are conducted which compare the incidence and spatial pattern of street robbery events from each version. The results of the experiments provide strong evidence of the important role routine activities play in street robbery events. The addition of temporal and spatio-temporal schedule constraints reduces the incidence and changes the pattern of street robberies. Support for routine activity theory's premise, as time spent away from home increases street robbery will increase, is found in the Simple and Temporal, but not the Activity Space version of the model.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Geography of Juvenile Crime Place Trajectories
    (2005-09-14) Groff, Elizabeth; Weisburd, David L; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The crime drop of the 1990s has been the subject of a large body of research, which has suggested juvenile crime was the major source of this decline. However, a satisfactory explanation for the crime drop remains elusive. While most of the work has focused on longitudinal studies of the development of delinquency in juveniles and macro-level patterns of juvenile crime, recent empirical and theoretical developments indicate that the processes driving crime trends may be operating at micro-level places. Thus, an examination of micro-level places may hold clues to understanding the crime drop. This research builds on two earlier studies in Seattle, Washington, that used trajectory analysis to identify temporal changes in crime at street blocks over a fourteen-year time period. Specifically, this research used a variety of spatial techniques to describe the distribution of the street blocks in each trajectory and their relationship to one another.