Social vulnerability and property crime victimization:

Abstract

Urban property crime victimisation patterns are complex interactions of individual vulnerabilities and environmental risk factors. This study considers social factors that lead to property crime victimization in Colombo Municipal Council area. The study utilised a mixed-methods approach to analyse victims of property crime. And six major themes representing social vulnerability factors were identified: absence of formal social control mechanisms; breakdown of informal social control; environmental and situational vulnerabilities; social isolation and living arrangements; routine activities and lifestyle exposure; and social trust and risk awareness. Key findings showed that living alone (58.3%) and absence of CCTV surveillance (58.3%) were the most important vulnerability factors, but routine working hours (50%) and unattended houses (50%) were the crime opportunity factors. Police officials unanimously cited routine lifestyle patterns and predictability (100%) as the major victimization risk factor. The nexus of social isolation, environmental vulnerabilities and routine activity patterns represent constellations of risk exploited by motivated offenders. These results confirm the Routine Activity Theory, Social Disorganization Theory, and Environmental Criminology frameworks in the Sri Lankan urban context that show effective crime prevention depends on multi-pronged strategies that address multiple social aspects simultaneously instead of concentrating on individual risk factors in isolation.