Skip to main content
Log in

Burglars’ take on crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): reconsidering the relevance from an offender perspective

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Security Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) represents a multi-faceted approach to crime reduction that draws upon theories from urban design, psychology and criminology. Yet there remains a lack of clarity regarding CPTED’s definition and scope. CPTED has been defined by, amongst others Crowe (Crime prevention through environmental design: applications of architectural design and space management concepts, Butterworth–Heinemann, Oxford, 2000), Ekblom (Eur J Crim Policy Res 17:7–28, 2011) and Armitage (Crime prevention through housing design: policy and practice, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2013), and the principles upon which it is based have seen even greater discrepancy. Conscious that these principles have primarily been defined by academics and policy-makers, this research aims to rectify this imbalance. A sample of 22 incarcerated prolific burglars from three prisons (England), were asked to describe their response to 16 images of residential housing. The results confirm that the design of residential housing influences burglar decision making, but that the principles of CPTED should be re-examined, with surveillance, and physical security a clear deterrent, yet management and maintenance and defensible space not considered as important in offender decision making.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angel, S. 1968. Discouraging Crime Through City Planning. Working Paper Number 75, Center for Planning and Development Research. Berkeley: University of California.

  • Armitage, R. 2000. An Evaluation of Secured by Design Housing Within West Yorkshire. Home Office Briefing Note 7/00. London: Home Office.

  • Armitage, R. 2006. Predicting and Preventing: Developing a Risk Assessment Mechanism for Residential Housing. Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal 8 (3): 137–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, R. 2013. Crime Prevention through Housing Design: Policy and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, R., M. Monchuk, and M. Rogerson. 2010. It Looks Good, But What is it Like to Live There? Assessing the Impact of Award Winning Design on Crime. Special Volume of European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 17 (1): 29–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, R., and L. Monchuk. 2011. Sustaining the Crime Reduction Impact of Secured by Design: 1999 to 2009. Security Journal 24 (4): 320–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, R., and C. Joyce. 2017. “Why My House?”: Exploring the Influence of Residential Housing Design on Burglar Decision-Making. In Re-building Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), ed. R. Armitage, and P. Ekblom. Oxfordshire: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, J., B. Brown, B. Senior, and K. Pease. 1998. Repeat Victimisation: Offender Accounts. International Journal of Risk, Security and Crime Prevention 3: 269–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, T., and R. Wright. 1984. Burglars on Burglary. Prevention and the Offender. Vermont: Gower Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernasco, W., and F. Luykx. 2003. Effects of Attractiveness, Opportunity and Accessibility to Burglars on Residential Burglary Rates of Urban Neighborhoods. Criminology 41 (3): 981–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasco, W., and P. Nieuwbeerta. 2005. How do Residential Burglars Select Target Areas? British Journal of Criminology 44: 296–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. (1999) An Evaluation of the Secured by Design Initiative in Gwent, South Wales. Unpublished MSc Dissertation, Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order, Leicester.

  • Brown, B.B., and D. Bentley. 1993. Residential Burglars Judge Risk: The Role of Territoriality. Journal of Environmental Psychology 13: 51–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B.B., and I. Altman. 1983. Territoriality, Defensible Space and Residential Burglary: An Environmental Analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology 3: 203–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copes, H., and A. Hochstetler. 2014. Consenting to Talk: Why Inmates Participate in Prison Research. In In Their Own Words: Criminals on Crime, ed. P. Cromwell, and M. Birzer, 19–33. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cozens, P., D. Hillier, and G. Prescott. 2001. Defensible Space: Burglars and Police Evaluate Urban Residential Design. Security Journal 14 (4): 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cozens, P., D. Hillier, and G. Prescott. 2002. Criminogenic Associations and British Housing Design. International Planning Studies 7 (2): 119–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cozens, P., G. Saville, and D. Hillier. 2005. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED): A Review and Modern Bibliography. Property Management 23: 328–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cromwell, P.F., J.N. Olson, and D.W. Avary. 1991. Breaking and Entering: An Ethnographic Analysis of Burglary. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowe, T. 2000. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Applications of Architectural Design and Space Management Concepts, 2nd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekblom, P. 2011. Deconstructing CPTED…and Reconstructing it for Practice, Knowledge, Management and Research. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 17: 7–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everson, S. (2000) Repeat Offenders and Repeat Victims: Mutual Attraction or Misfortune? Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Huddersfield.

  • Groff, E.R., and N.G. LaVigne. 2001. Mapping an Opportunity Surface of Residential Burglary. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 38 (3): 257–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillier, B. 2004. Can Streets be Made Safer. Urban Design International 9: 31–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, J. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffery, C.R. 1971. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, S., and K.J. Bowers. 2010. Permeability and Burglary Risk: Are Cul-de-Sacs Safer? Quantitative Journal of Criminology 26 (1): 89–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montoya, L., M. Junger, and Y. Ongen. 2016. The Relation Between Residential Property and its Surroundings and Day- and Night-Time Residential Burglary. Environment and Behavior 48: 515–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nee, C., and M. Meenaghan. 2006. Expert Decision Making in Burglars. British Journal of Criminology 46: 935–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, O. 1973. Defensible Space: People and Design in the Violent City. London: Architectural Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascoe, T. 1999. Evaluation of Secured by Design in Public Sector Housing: Final Report. Watford: BRE.

  • Police Crime Prevention Initiatives Limited. 2016. Secured by Design Homes 2016. http://www.securedbydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Secured_by_Design_Homes_2016_V1.pdf. Accessed 12 July 2016

  • Poyner, B. 1983. Design Against Crime: Beyond Defensible Space. London: Butterworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poyner, B., and B. Webb. 1991. Crime Free Housing. Oxford: Butterworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert, G.F., and J.V. Wasilchick. 1985. Suburban Burglary. A Time and Place for Everything. Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R., and S.D. Gottfredson. 1987. Environmental Design, Crime and Prevention: An Examination of Community Dynamics. Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of the Research 8: 387–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teedon, P., Reid, T., Griffiths, P., Lindsay, K., Glen, S., McFayden, A., and Cruz, P. 2009. Secured by Design Impact Evaluation Final Report. Glasgow: Glasgow Caledonian University.

  • Teedon, P., T. Reid, P. Griffiths, and A. McFayden. 2010. Evaluating Secured by Design Door and Window Installations. Crime Prevention and Community Safety 12 (4): 246–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tseloni, A., and Pease, K. 2003. Repeat Victimisation. ‘Boosts’ or ‘Flags’? British Journal of Criminology 43: 196–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseloni, A., R. Thompson, L.E. Grove, N. Tilley, and G. Farrell. 2014. The Effectiveness of Burglary Security Devices. Security Journal. doi:10.1057/sj.2014.30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Der Voordt, T.J.M., and H.B.R. Van Wegen. 1990. Testing Building Plans for Public Safety: Usefulness of the Delft Checklist. Netherlands Journal of Housing and Environmental Research 5 (2): 129–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vollaard, B., and J.C. Ours. 2011. Does Regulation of Built-In Security Reduce Crime? Evidence from a Natural Experiment. The Economic Journal 121 (May): 485–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J.Q., and G. Kelling. 1982. The Police and Neighbourhood Safety. The Atlantic 1982 (249): 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winchester, S. and Jackson, H. 1982. Residential Burglary: The Limits of Prevention. Home Office Research Study Number 74. London: Home Office.

  • Wood, E. 1961. Housing Design: A Social Theory. New York: New York Citizens’ Housing and Planning Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, R.T., and S. Decker. 1994. Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-Ins. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel Armitage.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Armitage, R. Burglars’ take on crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): reconsidering the relevance from an offender perspective. Secur J 31, 285–304 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-017-0101-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-017-0101-6

Keywords

Navigation