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<p>Mayhew and colleagues (1976) showed that opportunities for crime matter, sparking a revolution in crime theory, research, and prevention. But they could not resolve a conflict between subjective and objective interpretations of opportunity: does a crime opportunity depend on an offender perceiving it, or is it an objective fact of a situation? We reconcile these interpretations. Using a vehicle theft example, we illustrate the conflict and suggest that the subjective interpretation helps describe opportunity exploitation by offenders; only an objective interpretation can account for opportunity creation. We review 62 ideas elaborating crime opportunities. These ideas show that crime scientists embrace both opportunity exploitation and opportunity creation, which we call the <i>Janus-faced opportunity perspective</i>. It requires us to replace the offender view of opportunity with three alternative views: one subjective and two objective. Each has strengths and weaknesses. We conclude that the assumed conflict disappears when we realize that we use subjective explanations and objective explanations for different purposes.</p>

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Creation and exploitation in crime opportunity: how 62 ideas help tackle a 50-year-old problem

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月2日

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  • John E. Eck,
  • Shannon J. Linning,
  • Kate Bowers

摘要

Mayhew and colleagues (1976) showed that opportunities for crime matter, sparking a revolution in crime theory, research, and prevention. But they could not resolve a conflict between subjective and objective interpretations of opportunity: does a crime opportunity depend on an offender perceiving it, or is it an objective fact of a situation? We reconcile these interpretations. Using a vehicle theft example, we illustrate the conflict and suggest that the subjective interpretation helps describe opportunity exploitation by offenders; only an objective interpretation can account for opportunity creation. We review 62 ideas elaborating crime opportunities. These ideas show that crime scientists embrace both opportunity exploitation and opportunity creation, which we call the Janus-faced opportunity perspective. It requires us to replace the offender view of opportunity with three alternative views: one subjective and two objective. Each has strengths and weaknesses. We conclude that the assumed conflict disappears when we realize that we use subjective explanations and objective explanations for different purposes.