When Crime Fiction Meets Criminology: Routine Activities Theory Analysis of Identity Theft in Mary Higgins Clark’s I’ll Walk Alone
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol21.Iss4.1332Keywords:
crime fiction, criminology, Routine Activities Theory, identity theft, impersonating and victimology.Abstract
Mary Higgins Clark's I'll Walk Alone (2011), which is her thirtieth novel, presents identity theft crime as one of the most dangerous problems of the contemporary digital age. She, through the novel, shows how people can be easy prey to identity thieves and how technological improvements help those thieves and make their actions unbelievable and hard to discover. With the appearance of computers and the internet and the fast development of telecommunication technologies, stealing other people's personal information became easy. Clark also concentrates on the harmful consequences of such crime and demonstrates what the victims really need to overcome it. This study analyzes Clark's I'll Walk Alone through the lens of routine activities theory, demonstrating how crime fiction can be used to clarify criminological issues. The analysis illustrates that Clark's representation of identity theft exemplifies Cohen and Felson's (1979) three essential components of crime: motivated offenders, appropriate targets and the lack of guardianship.
Downloads
References
Al-Dirawi, A. A. Y. (2025). The Misrepresentation of Iraqi Women’s Collective Identity in Translation: A Text World Approach. , 21(2), 980-951. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol21.Iss2.933
Arata Jr, M. J. (2010). Identity theft for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
Argun, Uğur & Dağlar, Murat. (2016). Examination of Routine Activities Theory by the property crime. International Journal of Human Sciences. 13. 1188. 10.14687/ijhs.v13i1.3665.
Bernard, T.J., Mannheim, H. (2025, July 2). Criminology. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/criminology
Bossler, A. M., & Holt, T. J. (2009). On-line activities, guardianship, and malware infection: An examination of routine activities theory. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 3(1).
Branic, N. (2015), “Routine activities theory”, The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, Wiley, London, pp. 1-3, doi: 10.1002/9781118519639.wbecpx059.
Clark, M. H. (2012). I'll walk alone. Simon and Schuster.
Cuddon, J. A. (2012). A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. John Wiley & Sons.
De Roche, L. (2003). Revisiting Mary Higgins Clark: A Critical Companion. Library of Congress.
Dennis, M. A. (2019). Cybercrime. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/cybercrime/Spam-steganography-and-e-mail-hacking
Eck, J. E., & Clarke, R. V. (2003). Classifying common police problems: A routine activity approach. Crime prevention studies, 16, 7-40.
Goni, Osman. (2022). Introduction to Cyber Crime. International Journal of Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. 3. 9-23. 10.55923/jo.ijeal.3.1.701.
Hasan, M. N. (2022). Applicability of Routine Activity Theory: An analysis based on cybercrime in Bangladesh. SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.4265385.
Hoffman, S. K., & McGinley, T. G. (2010). Identity theft: a reference handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Jennings, Wesley G. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Routine Activities Theory., 10.1002/9781118519639(), 1–3. doi:10.1002/9781118519639.wbecpx059
Kiesling, S. F. (2013). Constructing identity. The handbook of language variation and change, 448-468. Doi: 10.1002/9781118335598.ch21.
Levay, M. (2020). Crime fiction and criminology. In The Routledge Companion to Crime Fiction (pp. 273-281). Routledge.
Longley, Robert. (2024, June 26). Criminology Definition and History. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-criminology-part-1-974579
Madero-Hernandez, A., & Fisher, B. S. (2012). Routine Activity Theory. Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199747238.013.0027
Maloku, A., Maloku, E., & Gabela, O. (2024). Criminological Study of General Aspects of the Preventive Influence of the theory of Routine Activity on Criminal Behavior. Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 16(3).
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Identity theft. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 6, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity%20theft
Miró-Llinares, Fernando. (2014). Routine Activity Theory. 10.1002/9781118517390/wbetc198
Mosharraf, M. and Haghighatkhah, F. H. (2023). Exploring Identity Theft: Motives, Techniques, and Consequents on Different Age Groups. Journal of Innovations in Computer Science and Engineering (JICSE), 1(1), 62-73. doi: 10.48308/jicse.2023.231077.1017
Nahar, Habiba & Emran, A. (2021). Applying Routine Activity Theory to Cyber Victimization: A Secondary Analysis. 3. 69-87
Newman, G.R. and McNally M.M. (2005). Identity theft literature review. A report prepared for the U.S. National Institute of Justicehttps://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/identity-theft-literature-review
Nowikowska, Monika. (2023). Identity Theft. Protection of Personal Data in Cyberspace. 10.13166/HR/HQNC8939.
Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Identity theft, n. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved March 27, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/2960130083
Saunders, K. M., & Zucker, B. (1999). Counteracting Identity fraud in the Information Age: the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. International Review of Law Computers & Technology, 13(2), 183–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869955134
Sileo, J. (2010). Privacy Means Profit: Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line. John Wiley & Sons.
Trojan, J. (2020). Remembering Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020) https://judithtrojan.com/2020/02/21/remembering-mary-higgins-clark-1927-2020/
Weinman, S. (2020). Appreciation: Mary Higgins Clark and her endearing women in peril. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-02-01/appreciation-mary-higgins-clark-and-her-endearing-women-in-peril
Whiting, J. (2013). Identity theft. Reference Point Press, Inc.
Yar, M.(2005). The Novelty of ‘Cybercrime’: An Assessment in Light of Routine Activity Theory. European Journal of Criminology, 2(4), 407-427. https://doi.org/10.1177/147737080556056
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Asst. Lect. Amina Hasseeb Mahdi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
