ASSESSING THE EXTENT OF CRIME DISPLACEMENT AND DIFFUSION OF BENEFITS: A REVIEW OF SITUATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION EVALUATIONS*
Abstract
Few criticisms of situational crime‐prevention (SCP) efforts are as frequent or prevalent as claims of displacement. Despite emerging evidence to the contrary, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that crime displacement is inevitable. This study examined 102 evaluations of situationally focused crime‐prevention projects in an effort to determine the extent to which crime displacement was observed. The results indicate that of the 102 studies that examined (or allowed for examination of) displacement and diffusion effects, there were 574 observations. Displacement was observed in 26 percent of those observations. The opposite of displacement, diffusion of benefit, was observed in 27 percent of the observations. Moreover, the analysis of 13 studies, which allowed for assessment of overall outcomes of the prevention project while taking into account spatial displacement and diffusion effects, revealed that when spatial displacement did occur, it tended to be less than the treatment effect, suggesting that the intervention was still beneficial. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.
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Guerette and Bowers's review of SCP evaluations finds that approximately three-quarters of interventions produce measurable reductions in targeted offending.
“Guerette and Bowers's review of SCP evaluations finds that approximately three-quarters of interventions produce measurable reductions in targeted offending [25]”
From Geopolitical competition, online radicalisation, and organisational culture as vectors of the evolving insider threat (2026) · cites this paper as [25]
Cites
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Effects of Hot Spots Policing on Crime <sup/>
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RATCLIFFE, J. H., TANIGUCHI, T., GROFF, E. R., & WOOD, J. D. (2011) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00240.x · Cited by 436 · see citing works
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Self-citationDOES WHAT POLICE DO AT HOT SPOTS MATTER? THE PHILADELPHIA POLICING TACTICS EXPERIMENT*
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“Recent empirical evidence suggests immediate spatial displacement is less of a concern and a diffusion of crime control benefits is more likely (Guerette and Bowers, 2009; Weisburd et al., 2006).”
BackgroundStudent Academic Dishonesty: The Potential for Situational Prevention
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The efficacy of foot patrol in violent places
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Wood, P. (2026) · Discover Global Society · doi:10.1007/s44282-026-00510-7
“…and Bowers’s review of SCP evaluations finds that approximately three-quarters of interventions produce measurable reductions in targeted offending [25],while the evidence base for commercial insider threat applications remains underdeveloped, the theoretical mechanisms appear directly applicable,…”
- Authors
- GUERETTE, R. T., & BOWERS, K. J.
- Affiliations
- Florida International University (US)
- University College London (GB)
- Venue
- Criminology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-11
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1331-1368
- ISSN
- 0011-1384 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-9125
- OpenAlex
- W2004944439
- Cited by
- 492
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 69.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Criminology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Keywords
- situational crime prevention, crime displacement, diffusion of benefits, spatial displacement, crime prevention effectiveness
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