Robert Nash Parker

Deterrence, Poverty, and Type of Homicide

The assumption that homicide is a unidimensional phenomenon has rarely been questioned in empirical research. Using newly available data, this analysis classifies homicide into two types, primary and nonprimary, based on the victim/offender relationship. Two models that have appeared in the literature are replicated, utilizing this classificatory scheme. State primary-homicide rates are found to be related to poverty and to the percentage of the population aged 20-34, while nonprimary homicide rates are significantly related only to the percentage of the state living in urban areas. Replication of the original models demonstrates that the failure to classify homicides in this manner results in the incorrect assessment of the relative size and importance of the various predictors of homicide included in these models.

Immigrants and Violence: The Importance of Neighborhood Context.

This study examined the relationship between violence and immigration. The importance of neighborhood context, including alcohol availability, was also investigated. Using data from block groups, these relationships were examined in three California communities with significant immigrant populations. Data on socioeconomic characteristics were combined with police data concerning youth and data on alcohol availability. These data were geocoded in a block group, and population-based rates were calculated. A specialized regression package was used to examine these relationships. Results indicated that immigration and youth violence were not related, but that violence was predicted by alcohol availability. Contextual factors such as family breakdown and professional role models were also found to be significant predictors of youth violence. Furthermore, the context of violence is important in understanding why violence varies within communities. Violence prevention efforts may benefit from regulatory efforts to reduce the high concentrations of alcohol outlets that exist in Latino neighborhoods.

Bringing “Booze” Back In: The Relationship Between Alcohol and Homicide

Although there has been a great deal of theoretical and empirical research on the causes and distribution of homicide during the past 30 years, almost all of this research has excluded from consideration the relationship between homicide and alcohol consumption. Based on theoretical analysis, a U.S. state-level study was conducted to test hypotheses concerning the relationship between alcohol and homicide from four major theoretical perspectives; specific predictions based on previous research on the causes of types of homicide were also derived. Five types of homicide rates were examined, with findings revealing that alcohol consumption rates change the way important predictors such as poverty and deterrence are related to specific types of homicide. Alcohol consumption has important direct net effects on two types of primary homicide, and alcohol regulation was found to interact with other forms of social control like capital punishment. Support was also found for a rational choice-based interaction between alcohol consumption and the application of death sentences. The article concludes with a discussion of the value of theoretical analysis, particularly when applied to the prediction of interactions.

Alcohol and Homicide in the United States 1934-1995 - or One Reason Why U.S. Rates of Violence May Be Going Down

In the last few years, a great deal of attention has been devoted to the apparent decline in rates of homicide and other kinds of violence in the United States. Commentators debate whether rates of violence are actually declining, and what are the reasons for this apparent decline. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility that one reason for the apparent recent decline in homicide may be its relationship to the rate of alcohol consumption during this same time period. As there is a growing body of research that shows a significant relationship between alcohol and violence at different levels of aggregation, in different countries and sub-units of countries, among different types of people, and across time periods, we will also explore the homicide and alcohol relationship by race and by type of alcoholic beverage. There are also the beginnings of a theoretical body of knowledge that would explain why variations in alcohol consumption and availability should be considered part of the explanation for variations in the rate of homicide and other types of violence. These issues will be discussed in detail in this

Alcohol and Violence: Connections, Evidence and Possibilities for Prevention

Abstract This anicle reviews a number of theoretical and substantive arguments and models concerning the link between alcohol and violent crime which have appeared in the research literature in the past decade. These arguments and models form a firm foundation for the expectation that alcohol plays a causal role in violent crime, and that interventions designed to reduce or eliminate this link between alcohol and violence have the potential to become effective violence prevention policies. Four studies on the relationship between alcohol and violence are summarized. including one in which a natural alcohol policy experiment is evaluated. Taken together, these studies provide substantial empirical evidence that alcohol policy can be an effective crime prevention tool.

Alcohol, Homicide, and Cultural Context A Cross-National Analysis of Gender-Specific Homicide Victimization

The study of homicide in North America has been limited by its focus on U.S. data and cross-sectional analyses, as well as a lack of consideration of alcohol in homicide causation. European research has been more dynamic, dealing extensively with the alcohol and violence relationship, but these studies also have limited generalizability. A cross-national dynamic analysis of homicide victimization by gender is reported here as an extension and replication of Gartners theoretical model of homicide, with alcohol-related concepts integrated into this model. Results based on the analysis of 17 nationstates for the period 1950-1980 provide evidence that two aspects of alcohol-related behavior, consumption rates and the drinking culture, produce interaction effects with divorce rates that are strongly predictive of homicide victimization. However, gender differences are in the nature of these interactions. The importance of these results for homicide causation and violence prevention policy are discussed.

Alcohol availability and youth homicide in the 91 largest US cities, 1984–2006

The aggregate relationship between homicide and alcohol availability is well established across a number of national and sub-national settings in North America, Europe and some parts of Asia. However, results linking youth homicide and alcohol availability at the retail level are largely absent from the literature, especially at the city level and across longer time periods. In a multivariate, pooled time series and cross-section study, youth homicide offending rates for two age groups, 13-17 and 18-24, were analysed for the 91 largest cities in the USA between 1984 and 2006. Data for social and economic characteristics, drug use, street gang activity and gun availability were also used as time series measures. Data on the availability of alcohol for each city were gathered from the US Census of Economic Activity, which is conducted every 5 years. These data were used to construct an annual time series for the density of retail alcohol outlets in each city. Results indicated that net of other variables, several of which had significant impacts on youth homicide, the density of alcohol outlets had a significant positive effect on youth homicide for those aged 13-17 and 18-24. Such positive effects have been found for adults in national and neighbourhood level studies, but this is the first study to report such evidence for teenagers and young adults. An important policy implication of these findings is that the reduction of the density of retail alcohol outlets in a city may be an effective tool for violent crime reduction among such youth.

Longitudinal Design and Longitudinal Analysis A Comparison of Three Approaches

The desirability of longitudinal data is generally accepted among researchers in aging and gerontology. In recent years, a great deal of such data have been collected either in the form of large scale national surveys of more local efforts. Not uncommonly, such data are underanalyzed. While part of the reason for this waste of data has to do with the unavailability of suitable methods of data analysis, recent developments provide researchers with several new and exciting ways of looking at longitudinal data. This article surveys three of them: multivariate analysis of variance, the LISREL model, and event history analysis.

The impact of retail practices on violence: The case of single serve alcohol beverage containers

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS This paper examines the role that sales of single serve alcoholic beverages plays in violent crime in surrounding areas. Increasingly a target of regulatory measures, this is the first study to systematically assess the impact of single serve containers on neighbourhood violence. DESIGN AND METHODS The relative proportion of shelf space in each liquor establishment in San Bernardino, CA devoted to single serve alcohol containers was surveyed. Assuming that this is a rough indicator of the amount of sales derived from single serve containers, we use this indicator as a measure of the impact of specific retail practice on violence around the outlet. RESULTS Results show that the average proportion of shelf space devoted to single serve containers in the unit of analysis, the US Census Bureau block group, was positively related to violent crime, net of overall retail availability of alcohol and relevant social and economic indicators often used to predict violent crime rates in such units. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that if the city were to make the voluntary ban on single serve container sales mandatory, violence in the surrounding areas would decline, all other things being equal. This study provides a much more grounded and specific justification for enacting such policy changes and once again shows the utility of alcohol policy for the reduction of crime and violence.

Trends in victimization in schools and elsewhere, 1974–1981

Trends in the rate of victimizations of juveniles in three settings-schools, homes, and streets/parks-are examined monthly during the period 1974–1981. The relationship between in-school victimization rates and those occurring outside of school are analyzed with multivariate ARMA models informed by previous research on school victimization (Gottfredson and Gottfredson, 1985) and an importation perspective on the source of crime and victimization in institutions such as schools. Results indicate that the overall in-school victimization rate remained relatively stable during this period but that victimization rates of juveniles in other settings had significant effects on in-school victimizations. This suggests that underlying causes of victimization in general are important determinants of victimization in schools. These results are limited, however, as we examine these sources of victimization only indirectly via relationships among the different victimization rates in dynamic models and by the aggregate nature of the monthly data from the National Crime Survey.