Determinants of crime prevention behaviors: From the perspective of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Despite having positive attitudes about crime prevention behaviors, many people do not engage in actions to prevent crime. In this study, therefore, we tried to explain the gap between attitudes and behaviors from the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). In Study 1, female undergraduate and graduate students (N = 302) answered a questionnaire containing TPB variables (attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, and perceived control). In Study 2, a web-based survey constructed from TPB variables was conducted with mothers (N = 725) that had children aged 7-12 years. Results of the structural equation modeling indicated that the fitness of model to the data was good in both studies. In Study 1, subjective norm and self-efficacy facilitated behavioral intention, which in turn led to personal crime prevention behavior. In Study 2, attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, and perceived control facilitated behavioral intention, which resulted in cooperative crime prevention. These findings suggest that in order to encourage crime prevention behavior, we should take into account not only attitudes but also subjective norms and self-efficacy.