Out of sight: Contextualizing risk avoidant routine activity

Individuals often attempt to mitigate crime risk through avoidance behaviors, thus shaping their routine activities. Several theoretical approaches help understand such avoidance behavior, including (1) a framework that views avoidance as a rational choice based on crime risk interpretation, and (2) a framework that views avoidance as rooted in perceptions of weakened collective security and police illegitimacy. The current study examines these perspectives simultaneously, using both fear of victimization and perception of police illegitimacy as key variables underlying avoidance behavior. Further, we examine the extent to which these two variables differentially serve as mechanisms underlying avoidance across demographic positionality (gender and race/ethnicity), place (urbanicity), and the intersection thereof. Using a representative sample of U.S. residents (N = 1500), we estimate structural equation models to observe the direct and indirect pathways linking positionality, perceived risk of victimization, attitudes towards police, and avoidance behaviors.