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Predicting Neighborhood-Level Recidivism and Residential Status of Sexual Offenders within the Context of Social Disorganization Theory

Freedman, Daniel Brian
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1291055501

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.
There is a paucity of research of macro-level risk factors for sexual offender recidivism. Further, criminal justice entities make concerted efforts to identify where sexual offenders reside in the community. In light of these observations, this research uses hypotheses derived from social disorganization theory to predict neighborhood-level recidivism and residential status of sexual offenders. Initially two types of recidivism, general and sexual were going to be measured, however sexual recidivism was dropped due to limited observations. Therefore observations for sexual recidivism were included in the general recidivism measure. Social disorganization theory postulates the neighborhood conditions that foster crime and delinquency. As such, this research analyzes data from 142 neighborhoods across an urban county in North Carolina to predict which areas have sexual offender recidivism, and which have sexual offender residents. The results indicate that neighborhoods with higher amounts of family poverty and ethnic heterogeneity are more likely to have general recidivism, while neighborhoods with higher amounts of individual and family poverty, owner-occupied dwellings, and ethnic heterogeneity are more likely to have sexual offender residents. Interestingly, the positive relationship between owner-occupied dwellings and residential status is counter to theoretical expectations. In terms of the three exogenous constructs of social disorganization theory: (1) ethnic heterogeneity supports the theoretical predictions, (2) concentrated disadvantage reveals mixed support, and (3) residential stability does not support the theory. On a micro-level, 61.35% of the sexual offenders have general recidivism during the 100 months of tracking. The most prevalent type of recidivism is for failure to register, followed by drug and alcohol offenses, assaults, and sexual offenses. The risk of recidivism lasts for over eight years but does decrease as a function of time.
Rudolph Alexander, PhD (Advisor)
Mo Yee Lee, PhD (Committee Member)
Keith Warren, PhD (Committee Member)
Christopher Weait, PhD (Committee Member)
106 p.
Social Work
Sexual Offenders; General Recidivism; Social Disorganization Theory; Survival Analysis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Freedman, D. B. (2010). Predicting Neighborhood-Level Recidivism and Residential Status of Sexual Offenders within the Context of Social Disorganization Theory [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1291055501

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Freedman, Daniel. Predicting Neighborhood-Level Recidivism and Residential Status of Sexual Offenders within the Context of Social Disorganization Theory. 2010. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1291055501.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Freedman, Daniel. "Predicting Neighborhood-Level Recidivism and Residential Status of Sexual Offenders within the Context of Social Disorganization Theory." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1291055501

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.