Urban crime: The effects of government and social disorganization factors
Abstract
Criminologists for years have considered causes of crime at various levels of analysis, which include cities. Other scholars, such as William Julius Wilson, examine the causes of crime in urban areas and link such occurrences to a disappearance of jobs. This study examines the causes of crime relative to the occurrences of government related factors. Factors such as intergovernmental transfers, tax structure, and local autonomy are considered as possible variables involved in the social disorganization-crime relationship. Social disorganization theorists examine structural and relational dynamics of urban communities to explain crime. What is missing from most analyses is the role that government institutions play in answering questions relative to crime in large cities. This study relies on Messner and Rosenfeld's work on institutional anomie as a way to examine institutional links to the social-disorganization relationship. Path analysis is used to analyze an over-identified model before and after theory trimming. The findings of this study suggest that urban policies relative to institutional arrangements may answer some questions regarding socially disorganized cities and crime.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Stahura, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Criminology|Social structure|Public administration
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