Susceptibility for criminal facilitation in social housing: a psychological perspective

In criminal networks, facilitators seem to play a subordinate role in terms of low financial profit and high risk of being identified in police investigations. Their role is hypothesized to be explained by factors related to poverty or, broadly stated, deprivation. This study explores these factors in a social housing context. Through standardized interviews with employees of social housing institutions, factors distinguishing between facilitators and non-facilitators were identified through univariate and network analyses. Drug use, unemployability, stress, one-person household, and high crime rate neighborhood discriminated most. Financial problems, deviant social relations, impulsivity, social isolation, and low self-esteem also appeared to be relevant. The conclusion that deprivation-related vulnerabilities might increase the risk of becoming a facilitator provides leads for future interventions and research.