The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention

Recreational hunting is a highly regulated activity, in part because it can give rise to a variety of deleterious social, environmental, and economic harms. It provides an interesting area for those interested in community safety because of the way in which both formal (e.g., enforcement officers, p...

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Main Authors: Andrew Day, Stuart Ross, Jason Flesch, Simon J. Toop
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/6/343
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author Andrew Day
Stuart Ross
Jason Flesch
Simon J. Toop
author_facet Andrew Day
Stuart Ross
Jason Flesch
Simon J. Toop
author_sort Andrew Day
collection DOAJ
description Recreational hunting is a highly regulated activity, in part because it can give rise to a variety of deleterious social, environmental, and economic harms. It provides an interesting area for those interested in community safety because of the way in which both formal (e.g., enforcement officers, proscribed areas and times for hunting, licensing, etc.) and informal (e.g., community awareness and education, conservation) methods of crime prevention are applied. And yet, the criminological literature on effective regulation is not only limited but diverse in terms of scope, types of behavior considered (e.g., poaching, wildlife trading, recreation, etc.), and the context that is considered (e.g., geographical, cultural, etc.). In this paper, we present how a crime prevention and compliance response can be used to understand the nature of the issue and the individual and socio-political processes that result in non-compliance with hunting regulations. We present an overview of the status of recreational hunting in an Australian jurisdiction and locate the regulatory issues that arise within the research literature that explores the various motivations that are known to drive illegal hunting. These are then considered in relation to how community-oriented and non-coercive measures might be employed to improve prevent criminal behavior at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
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spelling doaj-art-4ccf764ef9904ee096b4deed0de9a9782025-08-20T03:29:43ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-05-0114634310.3390/socsci14060343The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime PreventionAndrew Day0Stuart Ross1Jason Flesch2Simon J. Toop3School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaSchool of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaGame Management Authority, Benalla, VIC 3672, AustraliaGame Management Authority, Benalla, VIC 3672, AustraliaRecreational hunting is a highly regulated activity, in part because it can give rise to a variety of deleterious social, environmental, and economic harms. It provides an interesting area for those interested in community safety because of the way in which both formal (e.g., enforcement officers, proscribed areas and times for hunting, licensing, etc.) and informal (e.g., community awareness and education, conservation) methods of crime prevention are applied. And yet, the criminological literature on effective regulation is not only limited but diverse in terms of scope, types of behavior considered (e.g., poaching, wildlife trading, recreation, etc.), and the context that is considered (e.g., geographical, cultural, etc.). In this paper, we present how a crime prevention and compliance response can be used to understand the nature of the issue and the individual and socio-political processes that result in non-compliance with hunting regulations. We present an overview of the status of recreational hunting in an Australian jurisdiction and locate the regulatory issues that arise within the research literature that explores the various motivations that are known to drive illegal hunting. These are then considered in relation to how community-oriented and non-coercive measures might be employed to improve prevent criminal behavior at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/6/343recreational huntingillegal huntingregulationsituational crime preventiongame managementAustralia
spellingShingle Andrew Day
Stuart Ross
Jason Flesch
Simon J. Toop
The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
Social Sciences
recreational hunting
illegal hunting
regulation
situational crime prevention
game management
Australia
title The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
title_full The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
title_fullStr The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
title_full_unstemmed The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
title_short The Motivations of Recreational Hunters Who Violate Wildlife and Game Hunting Regulations: Implications for Crime Prevention
title_sort motivations of recreational hunters who violate wildlife and game hunting regulations implications for crime prevention
topic recreational hunting
illegal hunting
regulation
situational crime prevention
game management
Australia
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/6/343
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