Inequality and metropolitan rape rates: A routine activity approach

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Abstract
Past studies of the effect of inequality on violent crime assumed that inequality produces in individuals feelings of rage and alienation which increase the chances that certain people will engage in violent crime. Yet the mediating variable in this proposition (e.g., frustration, rage, alienation) cannot be measured directly. In this paper I argue that inequality produces lifestyles which are associated with the opportunity for offenders and victims to come into contact with each other outside the company of suitable guardians. Using routine activity theory, I constructed two criminal opportunity indexes: one measures general opportunity, the other racial differences in lifestyle. I used the FBI's rape rate as the dependent variable because less research has been devoted to understanding why women are at greater risk of rape in some areas than in others. The results showed that the opportunity indexes 1) were the strongest predictors of geographic variation in rape and 2) mediated the effects of inequality (both general inequality and racial inequality) and racial composition on rape.