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Agent-Based Assessments of Criminological Theory

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Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Synonyms

ABM; Agent-based modelling; Computational criminology; Individual-based modelling; Simulation

Overview

This entry discusses the application of computational agent-based models (ABM) in exploring the ramifications of crime event mechanisms proposed by criminological theory. In particular, it describes how simulation experiments can be used to systematically assess the plausibility of crime event theories in explaining commonly observed patterns of crime and how the use and development of ABM may offer a viable method of theoretical prototyping free from traditional empirical constraints which in turn encourages theorists to explicitly specify the mechanisms by which they propose observed crime phenomena come about.

Introduction

A wide range of criminological theories provide individual-level depictions of the crime event. Such theories outline hypothesized mechanisms of cognition and action for both potential victims and offenders and, in turn, the influences that the local...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Center of Excellence in Policing and Security, CEPS, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

    Daniel Birks

  2. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Henk Elffers

Authors
  1. Daniel Birks
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  2. Henk Elffers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Birks .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  2. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David Weisburd

  4. Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Weisburd

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Birks, D., Elffers, H. (2014). Agent-Based Assessments of Criminological Theory. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_687

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_687

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

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