May 2007: Crime-Related Secondary Effects of Sexually-Oriented Businesses: Report to the Los Angeles City Attorney
Crime-Related Secondary Effects of Sexually-Oriented Businesses: Report to the Los Angeles City Attorney
by Richard McCleary, Ph.D.
The criminological theory of ambient crime risk, known as the “routine activity theory,” predicts that SOBs have large, significant crime-related secondary effects. The effect is the product of three factors. (1) SOBs draw patrons from wide catchment areas. (2) Because they are disproportionately male, open to vice overtures, reluctant to report victimizations to the police, etc., SOB patrons are “soft” targets. (3) The high density of “soft” targets at the site attracts predatory criminals, including vice purveyors who dabble in crime and criminals who pose as vice purveyor in order to lure or lull potential victims.
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