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When released from prison, sex offenders are typically required to register with designated law enforcement officials as a condition of their parole. These officials can warn local community members, organizations, and establishments of the offender's incoming presence. Research indicates that community notification can adversely affect sex offenders in terms of their interpersonal and family relationships, employment opportunities and housing, and can lead to offender harassment that extends to the family members of sex offenders (Burchfield & Mingus, 2008; Levenson & Cotter, 2005a, 2005b; Levenson, D'Amora, & Hern, 2007; Tewksbury, 2004, 2005; Tewksbury & Lees, 2007; Zevitz & Farkas, 2000b). The current analysis seeks to build on and extend the existing literature by investigating the consequences of sex offender registration and community notification from the perspective of registered sex offenders and sexually violent predators in Pennsylvania. Using multiple methods of data collection (i.e., survey and interview research) and analyses, the present study contributes to the current understanding of how sex offenders experience registration and community notification and focuses on the positive and negative effects (e.g., unintended and unanticipated consequences) of being labeled and subject to community notification. Data for the present study were collected in collaboration with four providers of sex offender treatment. These treatment facilities are non-profit mental health organizations that provide both outpatient examinations and treatment services for sex offenders. All treatment providers are located in Pennsylvania, and will remain anonymous in the current study. The survey sample consists of 200 adult male sex offenders. For the purposes of making comparisons, 181 of the sampled sex offenders were further classified as the following three subsamples: (1) registered sex offenders (RSOs) (n = 121), (2) sexually violent predators (SVPs) (n = 13), and (3) non-registered sex offenders (and non-sexually violent predators) (n = 47). Nine of the SVPs elected to participate in the face-to-face interview portion of this research where topics focused on the impact of active community notification, the process whereby the state police are required to mail out letters to community members about an offender's physical description and home address. The age of the interview sample ranged from 35 to 63, and the average was 49.22 years old. Descriptive results of the complete survey sample reveal that most sex offenders are White or African American, middle-aged, and not married, and have relatively little formal education. Most sex offenders are working in some capacity, self-identify as "working class," and earn less than $20,000 per year. The majority of the total sample of sex offenders has been convicted of indecent assault/indecent sexual assault (24.6%) followed by possession of child pornography (12%) and then rape (11.4%). Overall, most victims are minor-aged females who were known by - but not related to - the offender. Findings from the anonymous survey also indicate that over 40 percent of the sampled RSOs are restricted by a 1,000-foot-rule, have primary group members who sustained some type of harm, and have had meaningful, personal relationships severed. Sexually violent predators experienced job loss, denial of employment, loss of housing, and denial of a place to live, and were treated rudely in public, and had primary group members who experienced emotional harm and, separately, had personal relationships severed at a higher rate (i.e., at least 10 percentage points) than RSOs. None of the SVPs were physically assaulted, whereas six RSOs (i.e., 5 percent of 120 RSOs) were physically assaulted. Using only a combination of two of the three subsamples of sex offenders (i.e., RSOs and SVPs), the multivariate contingency table analyses assessed how sex offenders' selection of victim-type, relationship to victim, and race influenced the fifteen different economic, residency-related, and harassment outcomes. Specifically, if offenders victimized a child (i.e., victims from age 5 to 17), as opposed to an adult (i.e., 18 or older), they were significantly more likely to be restricted by a 1,000-foot-rule, as expected. Offenders who victimized children were also more likely than offenders who victimized adults (by at least 10 percentage points) to experience job loss and receive harassing telephone calls, and to have primary group members who sustained some form of emotional harm and, separately, have personal relationships severed. Findings gleaned from the interviews indicate that SVPs are experiencing several of the problems identified in the previous and related literature. Specifically, six of the interviewees (66.67 percent) indicated that, since the notification process began, they have had a difficult time locating and obtaining affordable housing. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the effect of sex offenders' socio-demographics, offender characteristics, victim characteristics, and negative experiences resulting from registration and/or notification on self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), mastery (Pearlin et al., 1981; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978), stigma (Link, 1987; Link et al., 1997), and depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The multivariate regression results were quite unexpected. After controlling for sex offenders' sociodemographics, offender characteristics, and victim characteristics, none of the scales devised to measure the impact of registration and/or community notification significantly predicted any of the four outcomes. The significance of these findings for criminological theory, and offender rehabilitation and reintegration are discussed. / Criminal Justice

Although recent years have seen a dramatic increase in research on the relationship between space and crime, few studies have examined the impact of space on the juvenile justice outcomes of treatment non-completion and recidivism. Fewer yet have investigated how such effects might differ on those outcomes when disaggregated by the reason for non-completion and recidivism offense type. This study seeks to address those theoretical gaps by determining the effects of distance to treatment for juvenile offenders on type of treatment non-completion and recidivism. By estimating the effects of not only linear and temporal distance, but also social distance, this analysis represents a valuable inquiry into the influence of space on juvenile offenders. Data on juvenile offenders adjudicated in Philadelphia's Family Court to attend community-based treatment from 1996 through 2002 provide this study with 6,208 individual units of analysis. Data describing the neighborhoods in which the juveniles live and the programs that they attend are also included in this analysis. The use of hierarchical linear models allows for the simultaneous estimation of multiple levels of control variables when modeling the effects of distance to treatment. Separate models are constructed to estimate the direct effects of distance to treatment on treatment non-completion and then the subsequent, indirect effects of distance to treatment on juvenile recidivism. Results from two-level models that control for both neighborhood and program context indicate that distance to treatment does influence the likelihood of both treatment non-completion and recidivism. In general, distance to treatment was found to increase the likelihood of both treatment non-completion and recidivism as distance to treatment increases. Interaction effects that represent the joint effects of distance and race indicate that the impact of distance is generally greater for non-Whites, as they are more likely than Whites to fail to complete treatment as distance increases. Results from cross-classified models reveal limitations of the data related to statistical power and noise. Findings from this analysis contribute to several bodies of literature, including criminology and geography, and strongly support the consideration of distance to treatment by policymakers within the juvenile justice system. / Criminal Justice

Considering the extent of the motor vehicle theft (MVT) problem, it is surprising that there is such a dearth of studies on these crimes at the neighborhood level. In 2008, nearly one million vehicles, valued at 6.4 billion dollars, were reported stolen in the United States. Additionally, only half of these stolen vehicles were ever recovered. The purpose of this study is to increase the limited knowledge base on the characteristics of neighborhoods that predict MVT levels. Its focus is on the identification of specific types of land use that increase MVT levels, net the impact of sociodemographics, as posited by the opportunity theories of rational choice, routine activities, and crime pattern theory. The study site is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with its 1816 census block groups serving as the unit of analysis. The percentage of total land area for each block group utilized by various theorized criminogenic land uses is determined by Geographic Information System (GIS). Evaluated land uses include shopping centers, bars, high schools, colleges, parking lots, youth hangouts, and single family homes. A `proximity space' variable is also computed consisting of the percentage of block group area that is located within one street block of the combined criminogenic land uses. Its usefulness is in determining whether the impact of crime-producing land uses spreads into the surrounding neighborhood. Negative binomial regression models test various hypotheses around the general research question "After controlling for socio-structural correlates, is the presence of certain land uses predictive of MVT levels found at the neighborhood level?" Results demonstrate that land use, both independently and through neighborhood demographic structure, promotes or suppresses MVT levels, a finding consistent with opportunity theories. Specifically, the percentage of land use in block groups utilized by shopping centers, bars, and commercial parking lots is related to higher MVT counts, but that utilized by colleges and single family homes predicts lower MVT counts, net the impact of neighborhood sociodemographics. Interaction models demonstrate that SES, racial heterogeneity, single-parent families, and percentage 15-24 year olds moderate the impact of land use on MVT. Findings are relevant to urban planners, crime practitioners, and crime theorists. / Criminal Justice

Klinger's (1997) ecological theory of policing addresses the intersection of environment and police organizational structure on police patrol practices. It argues that officer actions can be characterized along a continuum of formal authority ranging from vigorous to lenient, where arrest represents more vigor than non-arrest, filing a report more vigor than not filing a report, and so forth. The theory has the potential to explain the spatial patterning of police behavior by incorporating both formal and informal organizational practices and community characteristics. Although the theory has been cited extensively, evaluations have been limited. The single existing direct assessment of Klinger's theory was qualitative, on a small scale, and resulted in findings both consistent with, and in disagreement with, key theoretical postulates (Hassell, 2006). This dissertation is an extensive quantitative examination of this key policing theory, which addresses the following research question; "Is police response to calls for service and self-initiated activity influenced by the level of serious violent crime?" Police responsiveness was measured by the final disposition given to a case and the number of arrests made for low seriousness events; self-initiated activity was measured by the level of traffic enforcement. Additional questions are also addressed such as: Does the relationship between police workload and responsiveness and police workload and self-initiated activity vary over time? If there is a cross-sectional relationship found between these factors, is it contingent upon socio-demographic or land use characteristics of where the events occur? If Klinger's ecological theory of policing is correct it is expected that police will expend less vigor towards low seriousness events and self-initiated activity if there is a great deal of serious crime demanding their attention. The current work also extends the ecological theory in two ways: by expanding and clarifying the impact of environmental factors and by examining the proposed relationship between crime level and vigor within a longitudinal framework. These questions were addressed using data supplied by the Philadelphia Police Department, demographic data from the U.S. Census, and environmental data drawn from a number of sources. Three dependent variables quantified police vigor at different stages of case processing; (1) the number of incidents that resulted in a final disposition of unfounded; (2) the number of low seriousness incidents that ended in an arrest; and (3) the number of traffic stops. These count outcomes were measured at both the census block group level and at the police district level of aggregation. Low seriousness offenses present the greatest opportunities for officer discretion and, therefore, provide officers the most latitude in selecting the vigor of their response. These data were analyzed using both cross-sectional multilevel model (MLM) design and a repeated measure MLM design. Additionally, exploratory spatial data analyses (ESDA) investigated the spatial distributions of these dependent variables. Findings generally support key propositions of Klinger's ecological theory of variations in policing behavior. Vigor varied as a result of officer workload (the number of serious crime incidents) and resource constraint (the number of officer hours assigned to patrol duties). Yet other findings suggested that further conceptual development is still required. The relationship between vigor and key theoretical variables was frequently sensitive to the way vigor was operationalized. More problematically, variations in vigor were expected to be greatest in events of low seriousness. Yet, crime types fall along a continuum of seriousness and imposing arbitrary cut points between low seriousness events and high seriousness events was a difficult task that required either arbitrary distinctions between crime types or value judgments about the seriousness of a crime. Furthermore, these findings suggested that the spatial and temporal resolution through which vigor is investigated will have potentially dramatic impacts upon whether the findings support, or are in contradiction to, key theoretical relationships. These findings, taken a whole, suggest that the ecological theory of policing has strength and utility in explaining patterns of police activity but also that a number of issues could benefit from further conceptual development. / Criminal Justice

The current study examines the relationship between shootings and police firearm arrests at a more detailed spatial and temporal level than has previous work. Using data from Philadelphia during the years 2004 to 2007 two dynamics are investigated: the relationship between a shooting and subsequent police firearm arrests nearby in space and time; and the relationship between a police firearm arrest and subsequent shootings nearby in space and time. In order to simultaneously consider spatial and temporal variation at a more micro-level, the current study uses a modified version of the Knox (1964) close pair method, a spatio-temporal clustering technique first used to study contagious diseases, and later used to analyze near-repeat patterns in the study of crime. The first question explored the relationship between a shooting and subsequent police firearm arrests. Results showed elevated patterns of firearm arrests were approximately two and a half times greater than would be expected levels of firearm arrests than if shootings and subsequent firearm arrests lacked a spatio-temporal association. Greater than expected elevated patterns persisted for up to about a fifth of a mile away and about one week but the strength of these associations waned. The observed patterns suggest an immediate and geographically targeted police response to a shooting and a somewhat sustained effort. Turning attention to the next question, an initial slightly elevated level of shootings followed a firearm arrest but for only a couple of days and about one block; shooting swiftly dropped below expected levels as one moves away in time and space. The waning and eventual significant drop in shootings may arise from ecological deterrence, but any suppression of shootings was short-lived. Overall, the current work highlights the close associations in space and time between police and offenders and suggests that police and offender activity is not simultaneous as the police response to a shooting immediately whereas potential offender's response to police actions is moderately delayed. Potential implications for theory and policy regarding both police behavior/police organizational responsiveness and ecological deterrence are discussed. / Criminal Justice