Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
12-2020
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph. D.
Department
Criminal Justice
Degree Program
Criminal Justice, PhD
Committee Chair
Swartz, Kristin
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Campbell, Bradley
Committee Member
Campbell, Bradley
Committee Member
Keeling, Deborah
Committee Member
Paulsen, Derek
Author's Keywords
assaults on officers; social disorganization; spatial; hot spots; census tract; community characteristics
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to gain a better understanding of assaults on law enforcement officers to identify correlations and spatial concentrations related to theoretical constructs of social disorganization. The present study was based on official assault on law enforcement officer data from a major metropolitan area within a southeastern state for the years 2010-2019. In addition to bivariate and multivariate statistical testing (e.g., Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression), multiple spatial analyses were utilized to understand the statistical significance, visualize results, and compare to previous theoretical explanations of crime concentration. The findings revealed that assaults on law enforcement officers are spatially concentrated in census tracts in the downtown urban core that exhibit indicators of social disorganization. More specifically, assaults on law enforcement officers are spatially concentrated within downtown urban core areas with high levels of the following characteristics of social disorganization: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit receivership, vacant housing units, and disrupted families.
Recommended Citation
Simpkins, Brian Keith, "Assaults on law enforcement officers: a spatial and theoretical analysis through social disorganization." (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3546.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/3546
