Award Date
May 2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Criminal Justice
First Committee Member
Hong Lu
Second Committee Member
Seong Min Park
Third Committee Member
William Sousa
Fourth Committee Member
Rebecca Rice
Number of Pages
55
Abstract
Terrorist incidents have increased dramatically in the past several decades, leading to significant casualties and property damage worldwide. While prior studies grounded in lifestyle exposure theory have explored how victim demographics, lifestyle, and routine activities influence the likelihood of victimization, this study applies Routine Activity Theory to examine whether increased guardianship in the form of target security reduces the severity of terrorist incidents. Using data from 15,138 terrorist incidents in 2015 from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), this study investigates the relationship between offender motives, target security, and the severity of attacks, measured by fatalities, injuries, and property damage. Furthermore, it assesses regional variations in these relationships to determine whether the impact of target security on attack severity differs across geographic contexts. By explicitly testing whether higher levels of security mitigate attack severity, this study contributes to the theoretical development of Routine Activity Theory in terrorism research. It offers insights for designing effective counterterrorism strategies.
Keywords
Criminology; Routine Active Theory; Security Measurement; Terrorist
Disciplines
Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Song, Yiwei, "Routine Activity Theory and the Severity of Terrorist Act" (2025). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 5339.
https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/5339
Rights
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