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Not 'Islands, Entire of Themselves': Exploring the Spatial Context of City-level Robbery Rates
G Deane1, S F Messner, K McGeever
1G. Deane . S. F. Messner . K. McGeever; Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA,
Journal of Quantitative Criminology
|December 4, 2009
Summary
City robbery rates are spatially dependent, meaning crime in one city influences nearby areas. Spatial error models better explain this relationship than spatial lag models, highlighting state-level connections.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Urban Studies
- Spatial Analysis
Background:
- Spatial dependence is often overlooked in city-level crime research.
- Understanding spatial processes is crucial for accurate crime analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate spatial dependence in robbery rates across U.S. cities.
- To determine if spatial error or spatial lag models better explain robbery variations.
Main Methods:
- Regression analyses were performed on data from 1,056 U.S. cities (2000-2003).
- Spatial error and spatial lag models were compared.
- Various spatial weights matrices were explored to identify spatial relationships.
Main Results:
- City robbery rates demonstrated significant spatial dependence.
- Spatial error models provided a better fit than spatial lag models.
- Robbery rates within the same state were found to be related, irrespective of geographic proximity.
Conclusions:
- Spatial processes significantly influence city-level robbery rates.
- State-level spatial effects are a key factor in understanding robbery patterns.
- Future research should consider spatial dependencies to avoid omitted variable bias.
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