NCJ Number
182543
Date Published
2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews macrolevel and microlevel spatial research concerning social and physical environments and discusses the applicability of this research to actual police activity.
Abstract
The central issue addressed is the nature of the information provided by each type of spatial research and how this information can be used to reduce crime. The review of macrolevel research highlights the major findings of ecological researchers and provides a glimpse of the size of the task facing ecological researchers in the future. Researchers must identify relevant variables from a large list of possible candidates and better specify the relationship of ecological research to individual-level research. Ecological research, however, provides important guidance to law enforcement officials and policymakers regarding the deployment of personnel and resources where future criminal activity might increase. In addition, city planners should take note of the impact of structural density and concentrated poverty. Effective policing can mitigate the harmful effects of these conditions. Macrolevel research on the relationship between the physical environment and crime differs methodologically from most ecological research in one important way: the research includes environmental variables, not just socioeconomic and demographic variables, in the spatial analysis. Both macrolevel and microlevel studies discussed in this chapter provide researchers and police officials with valuable information on the spatial distribution of criminal activity. Individuals interested in using this research, however, must be aware of the positive and negative aspects of the different levels of analysis. 31 references