About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

18 Criminology, Crim. Just. L & Soc'y 39 (2017)
Mental Illness as an Ecological Factor of Neighborhood Crime

handle is hein.journals/wescrim18 and id is 171 raw text is: VOLUME 18, ISSUE 2, PAGES 39-61 (2017) Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law, & Society E-ISSN 2332-886X Available online at httns ://scholasticah com/criminoloLv-criminal-instice-law-societv/ Mental Illness as an Ecological Factor of Neighborhood Crime Rupa Josea and John Hippb a University of California - Irvine b University of California - Irvine ABSTRACT AND ARTICLE INFORMATION Based on prior research, the presence of more residents diagnosed with mental illness in a neighborhood may indicate the presence of more offenders or more targets. We suggest that it may also indicate reduced guardianship and lower informal social control. Using data from blocks in 108 cities in Southern California, we examined the association between two types of mental disorders (affective disorders and substance use disorders) and crime rates. Even after controlling for more traditional predictors of neighborhood crime, we found a strong positive relationship between certain mental disorders and aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft rates. We also tested nonlinear interactions with economic disadvantage and found that a higher proportion of mentally ill residents in a zip code was associated with higher block-level crime rates in zip codes with lower levels of concentrated economic disadvantage. The findings suggest that mental illness is a unique ecological factor by which to understand neighborhood crime. Article History: Received 28 July 2016 Received in revised form 29 October 2016 Accepted 04 November 2016 Keywords: neighborhoods, crime, mental illness, mental health, concentrated disadvantage 0 2017 Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society and The Western Society of Criminology Hosting by Scholastica. All rights reserved. Corresponding author: Rupa Jose, University of California - Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA. Email: rupaj#_uci.edu CRIMINOLOGY, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, LAW & SOCIETY

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most