The Geography of Crime: Placing Geographers in the Space of Criminologists
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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2019 The Geography of Crime: Placing Geographers in the Space of Criminologists Anthony WV Piscitelli WLU, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Criminology Commons, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Human Geography Commons, and the Place and Environment Commons Recommended Citation Piscitelli, Anthony WV, "The Geography of Crime: Placing Geographers in the Space of Criminologists" (2019). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2119. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2119 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Geography of Crime: Placing Geographers in the Space of Criminologists by Anthony Piscitelli Master of Arts, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2009 Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Doctorate of Philosophy Wilfrid Laurier University © Anthony Piscitelli 2018 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge a number of people who contributed to the completion of this dissertation and supported me throughout my doctoral studies. I must first thank Dr. Sean Doherty. I could not have asked for a better advisor. His constant support and encouragement kept me on track and allowed me to complete the Ph.D. process well ahead of schedule. I would also like to acknowledge the other members of my committee. Thank you to Dr. Myrna Dawson for allowing me to co-author a paper with her and for her highly valuable insights into intimate partner violence. Thank you to Dr. Bob Sharpe and Dr. Colin Robertson for your support, advice, and constructive criticisms throughout the process. During my comprehensive exams, they both encouraged me to delve deeper into the concept of place, which ultimately reshaped the direction of my dissertation. Lastly, thank you to my external examiner, Dr. Martin Andresen. I enjoyed answering his questions during my defence and I appreciated his comments regarding my research and the field. I would like to acknowledge the support received for Chapter 5. Stephanie Francis assisted in scheduling the interviews, transcription, and offered thematic suggestions. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society for the funding they provided and interviewees who contributed their insights. Finally, thank you to my family for their love and patience throughout this process. To my children, Franklin and Grace, for playing quietly beside me while I worked, only interrupting once in a while. Last, and most importantly, I must thank my loving wife Crystal. She served as my sounding board for new ideas, editor through multiple drafts, and a constant source of encouragement throughout the doctoral process. She did this all well picking up significantly more than her fair share of the work at home. I am entirely grateful for your support. i Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Table of Contents ii Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Table #1: List of Dissertation Articles 4 Figure #1: Flow Chart Connection Between Articles 10 Authorship Explanation/Disclaimer 11 References 14 Chapter #1: Emerging Opportunities for Geographers to Explain the Spatial 17 Distribution of Crime Abstract 17 Introduction 17 Geographers and the Geography of Crime 18 Broken Windows Theory 22 Social Disorganization Theory 23 Routine Activity Theory 24 Opportunities for Geographers 25 Conclusion 31 References 32 Chapter #2: Connecting social disorganization to broken windows and routine 36 activities Abstract 36 Introduction 36 Social Disorganization Theory 37 Routine Activity Theory 39 Broken Windows Theory 41 Past attempts at theory integration 43 Integrated conceptual framework of the spatial distribution of neighbourhood 45 crime Figure #2: Concept map for theories on the spatial distribution of crime 46 Conclusion 49 References 50 Chapter #3: Spatial Regression of Juvenile Delinquency: Revisiting Shaw and 54 McKay Abstract 54 Introduction 54 Methodology 63 Table #2: Dependent Variables 65 Table #3: Independent Variables 65 Table #4: Moran’s I Values 66 Results 68 Table #5: Spatial Lag Model 71 Table #6: Spatial Error Model 72 ii Discussion 72 Conclusion 75 References 77 Chapter #4: The Social Disorganization of Intimate Partner Violence 80 Abstract 80 Introduction 80 Social Disorganization Theory 82 Social Disorganization Theory and Intimate Partner Violence 85 Concept Map: Social Disorganization Theory and Intimate Partner Violence 90 Figure #3: Social Disorganization Theory and Intimate Partner Violence 92 Concept map as a Framework for Understanding Neighbourhood IPV 95 Conclusion 98 References 100 Chapter #5: Distinct Places to Address Intimate Partner Violence 105 Abstract 105 Introduction 105 Methodology 110 Results 112 Home 112 Women’s Shelter 114 Hair Salons 117 Prison 118 Court 119 Schools 120 Conclusion 121 References 124 Conclusion 127 Figure #4: The Venn Diagram Connection Between Articles 132 References 136 References 139 iii Introduction By Anthony Piscitelli Introduction Ecological approaches to studying crime date back to the 1800s when the first published research examining the relationship between geography and crime appeared. The most prominent was Guerry (2002) and Quetelet (1984) who both separately examined administrative data from France show the statistical relationship between crime and social issues. Decades later in the early 1900s scholars, such as Park, Burgess and McKenzie (1925) and Shaw and McKay (Shaw & McKay, 1942, 1969), would build on these early works from a sociological perspective. Ecological approaches to crime attempt to provide an explanation of why crime is concentrated in certain areas by examining the geographic attributes of an area and the impact of socio-economic circumstances (Stark, 1987). Ecological approaches fall primarily into three central frameworks: Routine Activity Theory (RAT), Social Disorganization Theory (SDT), and Broken Windows Theory (BWT). RAT focuses on what explains crime in a specific location and why it occurs at a specific time. RAT does this by explaining crimes are a result of a suitable target, a motivated offender and a lack of capable guardians (Cohen & Felson, 1979). RAT considers how humans create suitable targets and how the absence and presence of different types of individuals create opportunities for crime. RAT assumes the presence of someone who wants to commit a crime without exploring their motivations or how these motivations originally arose. SDT focuses on the sociological reasons why some areas have higher crime rates than others. This approach looks at the socio-economic conditions that cause some neighbourhoods to 1 have higher crime rates while also exploring why individuals in this area may be more likely to become involved in crime and delinquency (Shaw & McKay, 1942, 1969). BWT uses sociological processes in an area as an explanation for why crime occurs at a specific location and time. The processes discussed focus on how disorder creates fear of crime and, ultimately, more disorder and crime (Wilson & Kelling, 1982). BWT assumes the presence of individuals who wish to commit crimes. However, BWT also considers how aggregate community conditions help shape a sense of community. These aggregate conditions are considered alongside the context of specific locations and communities which are at a higher risk for crime. A fourth theoretical approach, Ecological (Dis)advantage, is worth noting when considering the spatial dimensions of crime. Ecological (Dis)advantage is a recent approach and has not gained the prominence of RAT, SDT, or BWT, nonetheless, its insights have helped to shape the direction of the five articles presented in this dissertation. St. Jean (2007) proposes Ecological (Dis)advantage as an extension of SDT and BWT. According to St. Jean (2007) offenders look for locations to commit crimes which offer advantages for the offender and, in turn, disadvantages for the victims. These specific localized advantages explain why some areas with high levels of disorder and/or low level of collective efficacy do not experience crimes. Although Geographers have made important contributions to the study of crime (see for example Andresen, 2006; He, Páez, Liu, & Jiang, 2015; Ratcliffe, 2010; Sharpe, 2000; Spicer, Song, Brantingham, Park, & Andresen, 2016; Wang & Arnold, 2008; Woo & Joh, 2015), the field is still dominated by sociologists and criminologists (LeBeau & Leitner, 2011). This is unfortunate as geographers have a unique perspective to contribute to the study of crime. 2 This dissertation consists of five articles (see Table 1), starting off with an article that elaborates on Emerging opportunities for geographers to explain the spatial distribution of crime. It provides a broad introduction to the dissertation showing what gaps in the crime literature exist, especially those ripe for analysis by geographers. Three primary directions emerged as a focus of this dissertation: overarching theoretical contributions, specialized geographic quantitative techniques, and qualitative approaches centred on the concept of place. Two articles provide a theoretical synthesis. Connecting social disorganization to broken windows and routine activities, proposes a concept