Spatial Distribution of Criminal Offenses by States, 1970-76

Abstract

The geographic, or spatial, analysis of crime in the United States has been relatively slighted by investigators interested in criminality and criminal justice. This paper treats the distribution of crime across the fifty states using crime rates from the Uniform Crime Reports, 1970-76. Our analysis indicates the pattern in which violent crime, with the exception of homicide, and property crime of all types are shifting away from the North and East to the Sun Belt and West. These shifts have definite policy implications for the criminal justice system. Effective responses to criminal activity must begin with an overall assessment of a locality's, state's, or region's major crime problem. This paper is one initial effort in this direction.The perennial social issue of crime is of concern to a wide variety of social analysts in the United States. Most writings on the topic have been behavioral or quasi-behavioral studies or theories by criminologists and by sociologists, who have dominated the field of criminology for the past fifty years (Hodgdon, 1975); there have been relatively few geographic (spatial) analyses of crime. This deficiency of geographic analysis has not inhibited considerable argument regarding the &dquo;why&dquo; and &dquo;how&dquo; of the spatial distribution of crime. The present paper treats the &dquo;how&dquo; of crime apportionment at the state level of areal aggregation, using crime rates from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), 1970-76 for fifty states.

Cultural and Economic Sources of Homicide in the United States

“…As can be seen, Nevada led the rest of the country with 20 homicides per 100,000 population and South Dakota trailed with less than one homicide per 100,000 population. Consistent with previous research (Harries 197 1; Kowalski, Dittman, and Bung 1980;Lottier 1938;Shannon 1954), southern states are heavily represented in the upper level of the distribution. Specifically, 6 of the 10 states with the highest homicide rates are located in the South (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama), two are located in the Southwest (Nevada and New Mexico), one in the far West (California), and only one in the Northeast (New York).…”

The Impact of the Rural Population Component on Homicide Rates in the United States: A County‐Level Analysis

“…Geographic region and homicide have long been associated. Throughout the twentieth century the South has exhibited higher homicide rates than other regions of the country (Gastil 1971;Hackney 1969;Hoffman 1925;Kowalski et al 1980;Lottier 1938;Porterfield 1949;Shannon 1954). Kowalski and Faupel (1985) found the South (a region with a high proportion of rural population) to consistently exhibit higher homicide rates than any other region in the Nation.…”