Testing criminological theories beyond the West: evidence from Czechia during and after transition

JÍCHOVÁ, J., PŘIDALOVÁ, I., OUŘEDNÍČEK, M. (2019): Testing criminological theories beyond the West: evidence from Czechia during and after transition. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 59, č. 5-6, s. 733-759.

While the theories of social disorganization and routine activities receive considerable support in explaining crime in Western Europe and America, their applicability to other geographical contexts remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, this paper presents empirical evidence from a Central European post-socialist country, Czechia. Regression analyses at the level of administrative districts are used to identify the key variables affecting property and violent crime during the transformation from socialism to democracy during the 1990s and in the post-transformation period after 2010. Contrary to the Western and some other post-socialist contexts, the theories receive little support in the context of present-day Czechia. Reasons for the limited applicability of the theories to the Czech post-transformation setting are discussed.