ABSTRACT
Risk is a term frequently used in criminological research. A cursory search of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service or Criminal Justice Abstracts using the term “risk” yields thousands of “hits.” Yet few of the associated articles, books, and reports conceptualize risk from the risk assessment, management, and governance framework presented in this volume and observed in fields such as environmental science, food security, business, and public health. In criminology, risk is often focused on individual-level factors associated with the risk of being victimized, the risk of committing criminal or delinquent acts, and the risk of re-offending. Another body of research examines the perceived risk of being victimized and the perceived likelihood of the detection and punishment of offending. Some research comes closer to the risk assessment and governance framework when examining security risks and emerging crimes such as terrorism, transnational crime such as money laundering and internet-based fraud, and identity theft. Yet, rare are the applications of the risk framework to traditional street crime.
