Examination of the Link Between Alcohol Availability and Violent Crime in Arkansas

• NCJ Number: 226352
• Author(s): Sean Maddan; Gwen Ervin-McLarty; Jeffery T. Walker; Richard D. Hartley
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 30 pages
• Sale Source: Arkansas Crime Information Ctr
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded March 18, 2009

Annotation

As a part of this Arkansas county-level analysis of the theory that Southern subcultural values and behaviors contribute to greater violence in Southern States, the researchers focused on the availability of alcohol as one of the situational factors.

Abstract

Regarding homicide, this study partially supports the argument for a regional subculture of violence. There was no variation among counties with different percentages of males compared with females or with different percentages of Whites compared to non-Whites. Also, no structural variables (average household income and extremely disadvantaged counties) were significant predictors of murder. This could be interpreted to show a distinctly Southern predisposition toward murder. There were other findings, however, that counter the argument for a Southern subculture of violence. There was evidence that variation in the availability of alcohol, as a situational factor, strongly influenced county-level homicides. The fact that “wet” counties experienced two more murders in 1995 than their “dry” county counterparts is even more significant when considering that the average number of murders in all Arkansas counties in 1995 was 3.11. Further evidence against a subculture of violence in Arkansas is the migration of individuals into the State’s population. Over the course of the late 1980s and through the 1990s, Arkansas was undergoing a massive influx of migration from people not originally from the South. Regarding violent crime in general (not just homicides), there was mixed support for a subculture of violence. There was no variation across gender having an effect on violent crime in the State. In terms of race, however, counties with a higher percentage of non-White population had a significant influence on violent crime (aggravated assaults and rape). This evidence suggests differences across race and argues against a Southern subculture of violence that would apply across race. 5 tables and 60 references