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theses

In the 1980s, the United States experienced a significant increase in drug offenses and associated fear of crime among residents. Substantial research has been devoted to the proposition of drug addiction and crime to examine whether drug consumption makes addicts commit a crime, or crime-prone individuals are more likely to become drug addicts. However, the research about the relationship between the area where drugs are sold, namely open-air drug markets, and crime rates is sparse. The ecological criminology and opportunity theories that investigate the relationship between the crime and place, as well as informal social control mechanisms inspired many criminologists to investigate the distribution of crime at micro-spatial areas. Advances in the geographic information systems and technology in the late 1980s have allowed scholars to demonstrate crime distribution at micro places, which are very small geographic areas, such as addresses or street segments. Empirical research on micro crime places indicates that less than five percent of these micro settings account around for 50 percent of the offence incidents for an extended period. Additionally, crime significantly clusters at micro places, where illegal drug markets exist, as compared to non-drug hot spots. The current study examines the spatial correlation between open-air drug markets and violent and property crimes at the block level. Considering that using block group or census tract level data fail to capture block by block variation of crime, the variables were constructed from parcel-tax data. Using GeoDa's local spatial autocorrelation (LISA) analysis and regression functionality to identify violent and property crime clusters, results revealed a substantial effect of alcohol-related establishments on the elevated levels of crime that residents experience. The overwhelming impact of alcohol-related establishments on the occurrence of crime incidents hindered to examine the true extent of the role of open-air drug markets associated with the elevated levels of crime. However, the results, in conjunction with the significant body of empirical research on micro crime places, demonstrate that only less than five percent of the city blocks account for the high-high clusters of the offense incidents.

ETD_7378

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Engin Erken

doi:10.7282/T3TQ63P8

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.