“Motivation” and Routine Activities Theory

ABSTRACT

This study examines the motivation aspect of routine activities theory as it pertains to sex offenders. Using logistic regression, data from 163 convicted sex offenders who participated in treatment programs between 1982 and 2000 were analyzed to determine if demographic, abuse histories, sex abuse histories, drug/alcohol use, and other “motivating” variables were predictive of in and out of the home offending. Results indicate abuse and drug use are predictive of home sex offenses while alcohol use is indicative of community offending. While the results and differences were modest, they warrant further exploration of the motivation aspect of routine activities theory.

I am grateful to Wayne Osgood, Barb McMorris, and Dennis Brown for helpful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper and to Jeff Martin for his invaluable help in collecting the data. This paper is dedicated to Jeffrey Roy Martin's memory.

Notes

¹See also Anechiarico (1998) for further discussion of this point.

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

**X ² significance < .01

²The use of a weapon with community offdenders also was verified acecdotally through interviews and screening instruments.