A Spatial Analysis of Crime in Appalachia

To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally-funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Discussed in this Brief: A research project designed to demonstrate the contributions that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis procedures can make to the study of crime patterns in a largely nonmetropolitan region of the United States. The project examines the extent to which the relationship between various structural factors and crime vary across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan locations in Appalachia between 1980 and 1990. Exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and confirmatory spatial data analysis (CSDA) procedures are also applied to identify patterns of spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of crime. Key Issues: One common denominator throughout much of the empirical work on aggregate patterns of crime is an almost exclusive focus on urban and metropolitan settings. By comparison, there have been relatively few attempts to look at rural or nonmetropolitan crime. The spatial dynamics of crime in nonmetropolitan locations can be understood as a product of social, economic, and demographic influences, that are often unique to those areas. Thus there is a need for research on nonmetropolitan crime that takes location and geographic context seriously. In this report, GIS and spatial analysis applications are used to examine the effects of location in a more systematic way. t Appalachia is a region characterized by a substantial amount of demographic diversity and socioeconomic change. This study documents the large and often growing spatial inequalities in aggregate characteristics and indicators of well being between counties and subregions. Economic decline and population loss in Nevertheless, a majority of Appalachia's population continues to reside in counties characterized by economic distress and poverty. In spite of growing diversity in the region, a majority of the population resides in counties designated as having a distress ranking characterized by one or more of the following: at least 150 percent of the U.S. unemployment rate, at least 150 percent of the U.S. unemployment rate, or less than 67 percent of the U.S. per capita market income. Regional crime rates in Appalachia are lower than those for the nation as a whole. While the social and economic distress experienced by much of Appalachia would seem to make the region particularly vulnerable …