This paper reviews and critically evaluates three quantitative studies examining the relationship between alcohol outlet density and crime. The studies reviewed are Gruenewald et al. (2006) on violent assault rates and geospatial outlet density, Freisthler et al. (2005) on alcohol availability and child maltreatment, and Gorman et al. (2005) on drug hot spots, alcohol availability, and violent crime. After summarizing each study's research question, data strategy, and findings, the paper conducts an in-depth credibility assessment of the Gorman article using a structured evaluation framework covering purpose, hypothesis, methodology, conclusions, accuracy, authority, and currency. The paper concludes that the Gorman study is the most reliable of the three due to its use of hierarchical Bayesian modeling and thorough control of confounding variables.
The link between alcohol availability and crime has been studied for several years across a multitude of variables and using a number of different data collection and analysis techniques. Because socioeconomic status, household composition, age, and neighborhood characteristics can all affect the crime rates of a given area, researchers must account for all relevant variables before drawing conclusions from their particular study. Furthermore, the design, sampling, population, data analysis techniques, and overall methods must support a sound, valid, ethical, and reliable experiment in order for the research to be considered truly credible.
This paper discusses three research articles pertaining to the topic of alcohol availability and crime. It examines the research question, data strategy, and results of each article. It then analyzes one of the articles in depth — using the criteria outlined in Appendix A — in order to demonstrate that the article constitutes a valid and credible piece of scholarship.
The three articles reviewed are: Gruenewald et al. (2006), "Ecological Models of Alcohol Outlets and Violent Assaults: Crime Potentials and Geospatial Analysis"; Freisthler et al. (2005), "Is the Physical Availability of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs Related to Neighborhood Rates of Child Maltreatment?"; and Gorman et al. (2005), "Drug 'Hot Spots,' Alcohol Availability and Violence."
The first article examined is "Ecological Models of Alcohol Outlets and Violent Assaults: Crime Potentials and Geospatial Analysis" by Gruenewald et al. (2006). The research question was whether the density of alcohol outlets had an effect on the crime potential of the same area. According to the authors, crime potentials are often related to subpopulations within a given area; therefore, neighborhoods with certain subpopulations would be more likely to exhibit higher crime potentials (Gruenewald et al., 2006).
Their data strategy involved collecting violent assault discharge rates from hospitals within zip code areas, census data for those same areas, and counts of alcohol outlets within the areas. This was a quantitative quasi-experimental data analysis. The area studied consisted of locations within California whose zip codes fell within the 1637 range. Assault rates were measured using cross-sectional data on hospital discharges for violent assaults, which were then related to measures of population and alcohol outlet density using Poisson modeling procedures. The data was compiled using spatial statistical models, correcting for spatially autocorrelated errors (Gruenewald et al., 2006). This correction was applied to ensure that endogenous variables included in the regression specifications were not factored into the overall findings.
The researchers found that rates of assault were related to population statistics within the zip code area. Specifically, they noted a higher rate of association in dense, low-income, urban areas. Additionally, the researchers found a correlation between the density of off-premise alcohol establishments and crime, but found no relationship between the density of on-premise alcohol outlets and crime potential. The researchers concluded that alcohol outlets have a direct effect on crime potential within specific demographic groups (Gruenewald et al., 2006). The findings suggested that the density of alcohol outlets was significantly related to the number of violent crimes within unstable minority areas and in rural middle-income areas.
The second article, "Is the Physical Availability of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs Related to Neighborhood Rates of Child Maltreatment?" by Freisthler et al. (2005), was similar in content. The research question was whether there was a correlation between the availability of alcohol and illicit drugs — measured by alcohol outlet density and police incidents of drug possession — and neighborhood rates of child abuse and neglect, as reported by police officials. Three hundred four census block groups in California were examined in relation to the number of alcohol outlets within each area and the number of child neglect or abuse reports within each area. The data was analyzed using spatial regression techniques (Freisthler et al., 2005).
The researchers found that neighborhoods with higher concentrations of alcohol outlets also had higher numbers of child maltreatment incidents, even after controlling for neighborhood demographic characteristics (Freisthler et al., 2005). Areas with higher numbers of drug possession incidents similarly showed elevated levels of child maltreatment. The researchers concluded that a higher density of bars may indicate a lack of resources available for residents, may attract less desirable populations, or may contribute to increased alcohol consumption (Freisthler et al., 2005).
"Houston study on drug hot spots and violent crime"
"In-depth credibility assessment of Gorman study"
"Gorman identified as most credible of three studies"
"Framework criteria used to evaluate research credibility"
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