PERSPECTIVE OF CRIMINOLOGY STUDENTS ON CRIME;

ITS IMPACT TO CRIME PREVENTION PRACTICES OF SHOPPING MALLS IN

GENERAL SANTOS CITY
(ADOPTED AND MODIFIED FROM AHMAD, ISMAIL, AND NASIM, 2015)

An Undergraduate Thesis

Presented to
The Faculty of the College of Criminology
CRONASIA FOUNDATION COLLEGE INC.
General Santos City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CRIMINOLOGY

DANIEL S. ESCOLANO
CLIFFORD C. ERECILLA
ROLANDO J. PAQUIT JR.
RICHELLE L. PALAS
LEONARD O. LOREGAS

NOVEMBER 2023
CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Background of the Study

Crime is a multifaceted concept with varying definitions across different

jurisdictions. Globally, crime includes transnational offenses that extend beyond

national borders, such as cybercrime, human trafficking, and acts of international

terrorism (Natarajan, 2017). Crime encompasses a wide array of violations

against the laws of a specific country, ranging from violent crimes and property

offenses to financial crimes, all falling within the purview of the national legal

system (Adler et al., 2019).

According to Sherman et al (1998), while there are numerous crime prevention

programs developed to combat crime, most crime prevention practices fail to

work due to various factors. This includes the lack of scientific verification of their

effectiveness. In view of Sherman et al.’s (1998) assertion, it is imperative to

evaluate the various crime prevention practices and the underlying principles.

Shopping centre’s are privately owned properties and that their safety and

security remain to its proprietors. To survive economically, capitalists and their

tenants create strategies of attracting customers. Moreover, a shopping centre’s

is not a new concept and by its very existence attracts thousands of visitors each

and every day. A number of factors attract customers to shopping centre’s

because of the unlimited variety of goods and merchandise; the same tempts the

criminal element of society to make its living outside the law. Shopping centre’s
have become the focal point of crime due to there being more people, vehicles

and goods sited at shopping centre’s (Austria, M. C. A., & Diaz, I. M., 2019).

The Province of Nueva Ecija has establishments and businesses that could

be involved in a number of crimes. Even though Nueva Ecija focuses mainly on a

range of agricultural SME ventures, shopping malls, hospitals, banks, and

financial institutions continue to proliferate, especially in its five (5) cities. It's

possible that the province's economic growth and an increase in business-related

crimes are related. The Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office (NEPPO) reportedly

recorded 231 cases of theft in the year 2017; this was followed by physical

injuries (230), robberies (200), car thefts (134), rapes (90), murders (81), and

homicide (12), though the incidence of crime decreased by 43.31 percent in the

following year (Arcellaz, 2018).

In view of Estabillo (2011) assertion, that the Police Regional Office 12 has

established police assistance centers (PACs) in various malls and department

stores in the region including General Santos City, in a bid to help deter crimes

and other related incidents within their premises. As Chief Supt. Benjardi

Mantale, Region 12 police director, said that the establishment of the PACs is

part of their efforts to ensure security and provide maximum visibility in public

areas within the region’s four provinces and five cities.

Statement of the Problem

The researchers sought to determine the crimes and crime prevention

measures being implemented by shopping malls in General Santos City.

Hence, the researchers offer the following problems:

1. What are the level understanding of Criminology students on Crime?

2. What are the crime prevention practices being used by Shopping Malls?

Significance of the Study

This researchers envisioned that the findings of the study would be beneficial

and significant in the following:

The Philippine National Police. These sectors gain from this study’s

increased knowledge of the value executing crime prevention practices such as

installing Close-Circuit Television (CCTV), and Security Officers in shopping

malls to deter crimes.

The Establishment Owner. This study would be their basis for determining

how to upgrade their monitoring and securities in their establishment. It also

helps encourage other businesses to enhance their safety and security measures

by adopting crime prevention practices.

The Customer’s. These findings may provide more understanding of the

effectiveness of crime prevention practices in shopping malls. Due to the active

security measures of the malls, it can demoralize people from considering

committing crimes.
The Student’s. This study would help them expand their knowledge regarding the

efficiency of crime prevention practices in shopping malls in General Santos City.

The Researchers. The results of this study will enable the researchers to

elaborate more about their perspective on crimes: its impact to crime prevention

practices of shopping malls in General Santos City. Additionally, it will aid in

developing our abilities to advance the crime prevention in the current

generation.

The Future Researchers. For those who plan to carry out a similar study,

the findings of this one will be helpful resource. This could be used to support a

future with additional literature.

Scope and Delimitations

The study was delimited to evaluate the impact of crime prevention practices

of Shopping Malls in General Santos City. The respondents of this study were

thirty (30) person randomly selected among Criminology students in Cronasia

Foundation College, Inc. This study will be conducted during the academic year

2023 – 2024, potentially limiting depth in breadth of data collection and analysis.

Hence, the availability of resources, including access to related literature and

data is restricted, which may affect the comprehensiveness of the research.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the literature relevant to and connected to the current

study, theoretical framework, conceptual framework, hypothesis, and definition of

terms. This gave the researchers a broader viewpoint that helped the

researchers conceptualize and understand the study on the impact of crime

prevention practices of shopping malls in General Santos City.

Related Literature

How Criminology Students Understand Crime

Based on Popa (2020), cited that in order to further prove its relevance and

impact on other fields, criminology needs to follow some trends and, at the same

time, create chapters that respond to the needs of society. Furthermore,

criminology is an interdisciplinary, dynamic discipline that changes together with

society. On its future, there isn't currently agreement, though. Rather,

conversations are happening regarding other directions it could go, like how the

topic should be taught in colleges or which subfields of criminology could become

more significant in the years to come. As a result, this essay will offer a succinct

assessment of criminology's future as seen through the lenses of potential

outcomes and emerging fields.

Crime Preventions Practices

Any plan or strategy that aims to lower or eliminate the level of criminal

activity and the risk and fear of becoming a victim of crime is considered a form
of crime prevention. Security agencies would need modern automated

information systems and to actively pursue community policing for effective crime

detection, prevention, and control in the current technology-assisted society to

reduce crime and ensure that citizens’ rules of law and fundamental rights are

adequately protected (Ikuesan, 2020).

The four types of crime prevention strategies are developmental, social,

situational, and criminal justice models. The main crime prevention strategies are

creating a crime profile, investigating crime prevention techniques, securing

support, creating an action plan, implementing the strategy, and tracking its

effectiveness. The primary methods of preventing crime include environmental

crime prevention, urban design and planning, developmental crime prevention,

social crime prevention, and community development. The tactics and strategies

developed to prevent crime should be detailed with a primary emphasis on

everyone adhering to them as laws (Kapur. 2019).

According to White & Hertz (2018) that shopping centers must constantly

raise knowledge of potential networks of solutions to corporate crime vocabulary,

actions, and administrative remedies for criminal justice in addition to existing

laws. The data included in this article's proposed model was gathered through

interviews, firsthand observations, and the experiences of entrepreneurs and

business owners who have been victims of robbery. This procedure may

effectively strike a compromise between the aggressive prosecution of a criminal

offenders and current, pending legislation about criminal justice professional

acts.
Although violence in shopping centers is rare given the volume of people that

frequent them, it does happen, which is one of the key causes for concern.

Armed robbery and domestic fights on the property are examples of these violent

crimes. Environmental cues can also influence a customer's impression of

danger in retail settings, either favorably or unfavorably. When it comes to a

customer's idea of safety, look might have just as much power as actual safety.

Certain indicators, such as loiterers, beggars, abandoned cars, graffiti, broken

lights, vandalism signs, dirty or dark restrooms, and merchandise-cluttered

aisles, might affect a customer's sense of safety at shopping centers or retail

establishments (Hayes, 2015).

According to Redstone (2015), he states that the terms "safety" and

"security" encompass a wide range of aspects related to a shopping center,

beginning with the outdoor parking lots and continuing into the public spaces and

retail store merchandising areas. These three areas can be further broken down

into features like cash control, emergency power, and emergency

communication, handling of demonstrators and/or employee strikers, armed

robberies, various forms of electronic surveillance, locking devices, and fire

protection.

Utilizing five distinct methodologies totaling twenty-five techniques,

Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) is a criminological methodology that has

been demonstrated to decrease the likelihood of crime. Practitioners and

researchers are looking more closely at ways to employ SCP strategies and

techniques to stop cyber-focused and cyber-enabled crimes in light of the rise in

cybercrime worldwide. Some recent studies suggest applications of SCP to

cybercrime. However, the majority of this study only makes use of a small

number of SCP approaches, and it is rarely made clear how the SCP techniques

relate to prospects for lowering cybercrimes. In this paper, they assess the

applicability of the entire range of SCP methodologies to cybercrime and

describe how SCP concepts are applied by computer scientists, cyber security

experts, and researchers to deter and manage cyber-enabled crime. They

examines the increase of cybercrimes, defines terminology, and emphasizes the

importance of SCP for reacting to cybercrimes through a focused systematic

review of 352 articles from the literature in criminology, criminal justice, and

computer science using the PRISMA technique. We summarize the work that

has been done so far to apply SCP to cybercrimes and end with a discussion of

research gaps and possible directions for future work (Ho, Ko, & Mazerolle,

2021).

The economic benefit that an individual might gain from shopping centers is

the main motivation for crimes committed there. The monetary benefits linked to

committing crimes like these can serve as a significant inducement for criminal

activity and may even act as a catalyst for the criminals' decisions (Stewart &

Davis, 2015).

Related Studies

According to U.S Dept. of Justice, National Institute of Justice (2020), states

that there were around 16,000 assaults, 100 homicides, 10,000 thefts, and

10,000 forgeries between 2019 and 2023. It seems that there are more people
worried about business crimes that take place in shopping centers. Because of

this, there has been a rise in empirical research on the diagnosis and incidence

of business crimes in the malls found in impoverished communities of America, in

addition to investigative stories and other journalistic sources. The idea that

corporate crimes are common was fostered by conjecture, mostly from the

media, prior to this surge in research.

In this study conducted by Kajalo & Lindblom (2019) states that there is a

high perceived efficacy of both formal and informal surveillance in decreasing all

three categories of criminal activity. Patrols by security guards are undoubtedly

thought to be the most successful type of formal surveillance. Additionally, it is

believed that the actions of staff members and clearly observed areas are highly

helpful in lowering the rate of crime in shopping centers.

Based on Austria, M. C. A., & Diaz, I. M. (2019), the majority of the chosen

malls have transportation access, meet national regulations, employ hundreds of

staff members, and serve at least a thousand customers each day. The majority

of issues are related to employment and stolen theft. They were all appropriately

prepared for crises and disasters. Although there are clearly security measures in

place and efforts to prevent crime, there is still room for improvement. The

suggestions that follow from the conclusions are as follows. Promote taking

personal safety and preventive precautions in order to create alliances and

exchange knowledge. Furthermore develop instructional and awareness

campaigns. Encourage the anonymous reporting of suspicious situations, and

make sure security guards have the necessary additional training. Because of

the tiny sample size, it is also advised that more study be done.

In the study of Freilich, Chermak, & Klein (2019) cited that in along with

preventing public mass violence, the situational crime prevention (SCP)

techniques can lessen the damage that still results from attacks that do happen.

They draw from the literature on public mass violence as well as the SCP

perspective in general and its application to terrorism specifically. They

concentrate on the opportunity pillars, which comprise the choice of target,

choice of weapon, instruments employed, and circumstances that enable acts of

public mass violence.

One of the first comparative empirical investigations of private policing in

comparable retail centers in Korea and the UK is presented in this research. The

study is based on 200 interviews with mall patrons, 200 hours of observation,

and 39 interviews with security personnel and other relevant parties. The study

adds a third "servicemen" orientation to the conventional views of security guards

as either "watchmen" or "parapolice." The study also highlights a number of

further role distinctions and demonstrates the public's generally favorable

perceptions of private security. This study compares the public's perceptions of

private security in shopping malls in South Korea (henceforth referred to as

Korea) with the United Kingdom empirically. In recent decades, the private

security sector has grown in importance and scale in several nations, the UK and

South Korea included (Kim, Button, & Lee, 2018).

The study conducted by Arizona (2015) cited that crime rates tend to be

higher in malls that attract juveniles and non-shoppers and where there is access

to crowded stores. The upscale architecture of many shopping centers and strip

malls can lull visitors into a false sense of security, which can result in behaviors

that place them at an increased risk of crime victimization. This study was to

explore the physical design and managerial implementation of Crime Prevention

through Environmental Design (CPTED) at a strip mall located in the

southeastern part of the United States. The management practice such as (a)

installation of surveillance camera, (b) maintenance of lighting, (c) shared

surveillance, (d) options for green landscaping, and (e) imposition of regulations

were five management practices that ensure the deterrence of criminal activities.

This study identified the importance of the physical design of the structures,

ownership structure, guardianship, shared surveillance and illumination facilities.

It is advised that more studies could be done using the cases of other CPTED

strip malls in the country.

Theoretical Framework

In examining the impact of crime prevention practices in shopping malls

through the lens of Structural Functionalism Theory by Robert K. Merton (1996),

it can be used to analyze how these practices contribute to the stability and

functionality of the broader societal structure. Merton's theory posits that society

is a complex system with interdependent parts, each serving a specific function

to maintain stability. Applied to shopping malls, crime prevention measures, such

as surveillance systems and security personnel, can be seen as functional

components that contribute to the overall order and safety within the social

structure. Security measures act as a societal "buffer" against deviant behavior,

ensuring that the shopping environment functions smoothly. Merton's concept of

manifest and latent functions can be applied here, where the manifest function is

the explicit purpose of crime prevention in reducing criminal activity, and the

latent function includes the unintended positive outcomes, such as enhanced

customer confidence and a sense of security. Moreover, Merton's strain theory

can be employed to understand how crime prevention practices address the

strain caused by societal expectations and goals. Through mitigating the risk of

criminal incidents, shopping malls alleviate the strain on individuals who might

otherwise resort to criminal behavior due to economic or social pressures. In

conclusion, the Structural Functionalism Theory provides a framework for

understanding the impact of crime prevention practices in shopping malls by

emphasizing their role in maintaining social order, fulfilling manifest and latent

functions, and addressing the strain on individuals within the societal structure.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework shown in figure 1 illustrate the relationship

between the independent and dependent variables. The level perspective of

criminology students in crime is the independent variable, while crime prevention

practices is dependent variable.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

PERSPECTIVE OF
CRIME PREVENTION
CRIMINOLOGY
STUDENTS OF CRIME PRACTICES

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

Definition of Terms

The following terms are conceptual and operational defined for easy

understanding of this study.

Criminology Students. Students of criminology are those who are pursuing an

academic understanding of the reasons behind, trends in, and effects of criminal

conduct in society. They study the complex interplay between social, economic,

psychological, and environmental elements and criminal behavior, among other

issues. In order to aid in the creation of efficient crime control measures,

criminology students study criminal justice practices, crime prevention tactics,

and the operation of legal institutions (Akers & Sellers, 2013).

As used in the study, the criminology students are the respondents of the

researchers in the study.

Shopping Malls. As shopping malls have developed from a collection of stores

to sizable enclosed malls with a wide variety of services and functions, for many

of us, "going shopping" is believed to be an activity filled with immense joy. Most

recently, shopping malls are all over the world. They may be strip malls or giant

complexes with stores, office complexes and cinemas as well as department

stores, banks and schools. Regardless of their size or type, these facilities

generate and attract crime (Savard & Kennedy, 2014).

As used in the study, it is where the researcher will based and research on

the impact of crime prevention practices being used by shopping malls.

Crime Prevention Practices. Crime prevention refer as the steps taken by a

community, society, or government forces to prevent criminal acts and behaviors

from occurring. It also entails deterring people from committing crimes (Sanam,

2023).

As used in the study, it refers to reducing and preventing possible crime in

shopping malls in General Santos City. A program or strategy to reduce or

eliminate crime and the chance and fear of becoming a victim.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

The research design, research locale, respondents, research instruments,

data-gathering procedures, and statistical treatment are all covered in this

chapter. It describes the procedures the researcher followed during the data

collection, analysis, and interpretation of the study.

Research Design

The researchers used a quantitative, non-experimental research with the

descriptive-correlation method. As the name implies, the descriptive method

helped the researchers get information on current circumstances, events, and

conditions. In contrast, the correlational method was concerned with creating

potential, but not necessarily existing, correlations between variables (Khaldi,

2017). The researchers considered this design the most appropriate because the

study aimed to determine the impact of crime prevention practices in shopping

malls of General Santos City.

Research Respondents

The researchers used the random sampling method to gather the data, and

fifty (50) person of Criminology students of Cronasia Foundation College Inc.,

General Santos City.

Research Locale

This study was conducted at Cronasia Foundation College Inc., General

Santos City. This place was selected to measure the perspective of Criminology

students regarding to the impact of crime prevention practice in shopping malls of

General Santos City.

Figure 2. Location Map

Research Instruments

The researchers used an adapted quantitative research questionnaire from

the study of Cuevas et al. (2016) entitled “PERSPECTIVE OF CRIMINOLOGY

STUDENTS ON CRIME; Its Impact to Crime Prevention Practices of Shopping

Malls in General Santos City.” The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part

I was used to determine the level perspective of Criminology students on crime.

Part II of the questionnaire was to determine the crime prevention practices being
used by the shopping malls in General Santos City. A five-point Likert scale was

used to interpret the data which was describe in part 1 as: 1 – Strong Disagree; 2

– Disagree; 3 – Moderately Agree; 4 – Agree; and 5 – Strongly Agree. As part 2

which describe as: 1 – Not Practiced; 2 – Less Practiced; 3 – Moderately

Practiced; 4 – Highly Practiced; 5 – Very Highly Practiced.

Data Gathering Procedure

These were the steps and procedures researchers used to conduct this

research.

First, the researchers sought approval from the research director of Cronasia

Foundation College, Inc. through the dean of the Criminology program and the

school administator to conduct the study.

Second, after receiving the requested letter’s consent, the researchers

administered the survey questionnaire to the respondent using printed copies of

the questionnaire.

Third, after the respondents had finished answering the surveys, the

researchers collected them.

Lastly, after collecting the data, it was tallied and submitted to the statisticial

for appropriate statistical treatment.

Statistical Treatment

These were the following statistical tools that the researchers used for this

study:
Weighted Mean will use to determine the level perspective of criminology

studens on crime.

Formula:

Weighted Mean will use to determine the crime

prevention practices being by shopping malls.

Formula: