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Exploring the „Criminology of Place‟ in Chicago: a Multi-Level

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Exploring the „Criminology of Place‟ in Chicago: a Multi-Level EXPLORING THE „CRIMINOLOGY OF PLACE‟ IN CHICAGO: A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL VARIATION IN VIOLENT CRIME ACROSS MICRO-PLACES AND NEIGHBORHOODS by CORY G. SCHNELL A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School – Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Criminal Justice written under the direction of Dr. Anthony A. Braga and approved by __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ Newark, New Jersey May, 2017 © 2017 Cory G. Schnell ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Exploring the „Criminology of Place‟ in Chicago: A Multi-Level Analysis of the Spatial Variation in Violent Crime Across Micro-Places and Neighborhoods By CORY G. SCHNELL Dissertation Director: Dr. Anthony A. Braga Two historically distinct bodies of research evidence have developed in criminology to understand the spatial variability of crime patterns within cities. This study explores the integration of both units of analysis and theories from each literature to enhance our understanding of the spatial variability of violent crime across urban landscapes. Using historical and contemporary data sources from Chicago a multi-level, longitudinal analysis explores both the prospects of integrating key concepts from crime opportunity and social disorganization theories to explain spatial variation in violence and attempt to address some concerns raised about the viability of theory integration in micro-contexts. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted to analyze the spatial variation of violent crime incident reports from 2001 to 2014. This dissertation research focuses on three key questions. The first inquiry is designed to examine whether violent crime is clustered at street segments, neighborhood clusters, and community areas over time in Chicago. While violent crimes incidents were concentrated at all units of analysis in Chicago only patterns at street segments were characterized by developmental stability over the observation period. ii The second inquiry attempts to determine the unique contribution of each spatial unit of analysis to description of the total spatial variability of violent crime across Chicago over time. Street segments accounted for the largest share of the total spatial variability confirming that micro-places do indeed account for the most refined description of crime patterns within cities even when accounting for their hierarchical nesting within neighborhoods. The third inquiry examines the role of criminal opportunity measures at the street segments and social disorganization measures at the neighborhood clusters to explaining the spatial variability of violence within and between Chicago neighborhoods. The influence of criminal opportunity was found to vary noticeably between neighborhood clusters indicating the salience of neighborhood effects. Overall, this study suggests a multi-level integration of micro-places and neighborhoods in addition to criminal opportunity and social disorganization theories can offer a more comprehensive understanding of the spatial distribution of crime within cities. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It all starts with Anthony Braga. Thank you for the infinite amount of time, energy, and care you invested in this research. You are a force of nature. I would never have completed this dissertation or graduate school without help along the way from my beloved advisors: Robert Apel, Elizabeth Griffiths, Eric Piza, Rodney Brunson, Steven Chermak, and Robin Engel. Thank you for the wisdom over the years. I would also like to thank everyone at the School of Criminal Justice for the invaluable support while studying at Rutgers specifically including: Dennis Ng, Lori Scott-Pickens, Phyllis Schultze, Jimmy Camacho, Edith Laurencin, Jane Balbek, Sandra Wright, Sara Wakefield, Johnna Christian, Todd Clear, Shadd Maruna, and Jody Miller. Finally, I need to thank my family and friends for all of the love along the way: Debi Schnell, Tim Schnell, Jeremy Schnell, Noelle Schnell, Pamela Richards, Robert Richards, Josef Richards, Sandra Maynard, Jerry Maynard, Romie Graham, Jim Paxitzis, Colton Wetherwax, Josh Zielinski, Mitchell Allen Cicconetti, and Drew Toth just to name a few. Also, the dear friends I made at Rutgers must be thanked: Sarah Daly, Kashea Pegram, Leigh Grossman, Al Leberatto, Sam Dewitt, Will Anderson, Kathleen Powell, Will Moreto, Jill Drucker-Kehoe, Walter Campbell, Brandon Turchan, and my wonderful cohort mates. We did it. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ........................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Micro-Places and Criminal Opportunity ............................................................................. 4 Neighborhoods and Social Disorganization........................................................................ 8 Theoretical Integration ...................................................................................................... 12 The Study .......................................................................................................................... 15 Research Question One ............................................................................................. 16 Research Question Two ............................................................................................. 17 Research Question Three ........................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2 - MICRO-PLACES AND CRIME ......................................................... 21 Micro-Places and Spatial Aggregation ............................................................................. 22 The Distribution of Crime at Micro-Places ...................................................................... 25 Cross-Sectional .......................................................................................................... 25 Longitudinal............................................................................................................... 30 Opportunity Theories ........................................................................................................ 36 Rational Choice ......................................................................................................... 37 Routine Activities ...................................................................................................... 39 Crime Pattern Theory ................................................................................................ 42 Broken Windows Theory........................................................................................... 45 Understanding the Distribution of Crime Opportunities at Micro-Places ........................ 48 Facilities..................................................................................................................... 48 Site Features .............................................................................................................. 50 v CHAPTER 3 - NEIGHBORHOODS AND CRIME .................................................... 53 The Origin of Place-Based Criminology .......................................................................... 54 The Chicago School .......................................................................................................... 56 Neighborhoods........................................................................................................... 58 Social Disorganization ............................................................................................... 63 Shaw and McKay....................................................................................................... 65 Critiques..................................................................................................................... 68 Contemporary Resurgence ................................................................................................ 70 New Directions ................................................................................................................. 76 Integration ......................................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER 4 - RESEARCH METHODS: CHICAGO AND VIOLENCE ............... 85 Research Setting................................................................................................................ 86 Violence in Chicago .......................................................................................................... 92 Units of Analysis............................................................................................................... 96 Street Segments ........................................................................................................
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