Strengthening Theoretical Testing in Criminology Using Agent-based Modeling

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Computational Social Science

Background:

• Traditional social science research faces challenges in theory development and empirical testing.
• The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency (JRCD) has published significant work in criminological theory and testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the challenges of traditional research methods in criminology.
• To discuss agent-based computational modeling (ABM) as a complementary approach.
• To identify opportunities for strengthening criminological theories using ABM.

Main Methods:

• Two literature reviews were conducted.
• The first review identified influential articles in JRCD and their theoretical perspectives.
• The second review identified studies using ABM for criminological theories and the theories examined.

Main Results:

• Ecological theories of crime pattern formation are the most studied using ABM.
• Numerous other criminological theories can be effectively examined using ABM.

Conclusions:

• Systematic use of ABM can help overcome limitations of traditional research methods.
• ABM should be integrated into the criminologist's toolkit for theory testing and falsification.