Understanding the offending of homeless street youth through the elaborated social schematic theory of crime

Utilizing a sample of 287 youth experiencing homelessness, this paper draws on the social schematic theory (SST) of crime to explore the relationship between the criminogenic knowledge structure (CKS) and the propensity to offend. It examines this relationship through several theoretically organized associations that involve criminogenic situational definitions, risky activities, and criminogenic activity spaces. The findings suggest that the CKS has a direct positive relationship with intentions to offend. Further, it has three indirect positive associations with prospective offending through its relationships with the other theoretical variables. First, the CKS is indirectly positively associated with intentions to offend via its relationship with criminogenic situational definitions. Second, the CKS is indirectly positively associated with prospective illegal actions via its relationship with risky activities. Finally, the CKS has a positive indirect relationship with offending propensity through an associational chain involving criminogenic activity spaces, criminogenic situational definitions, and potential offending. The results are theoretically contextualized and directions for future research advanced.