Routine activities theory postulates that crime is a result of the convergence in time and space of motivated offenders, suitable targets, and a lack of guardianship. While this theory explains potential offenders and victims extensively, much less attention is paid to the issues of guardianship. The authors test the issue of guardianship through an examination of the self-protective behaviors of 1,513 university students in 8 States. The survey questionnaire focused on individual demographics, daily routines, fear of crime, residential and social community characteristics, perceptions of safety, self-protective behaviors, and substance use. Results of logistic regression analysis indicated that exposure to potential offenders and neighborhood characteristics had the most influence on lifestyle choices and self-protective behaviors. Only a small relationship was noted between self-protective behaviors and fear of crime, substance use, or individual demographics. The authors conclude that routine activities theory can thus account for all elements of the criminal incident and not just the most widely focused upon element of victimization risk. Guardianship has proven to be an important influence over criminal events and should be more thoroughly studied, especially within different population types. Notes, references