The effect of social service agencies on crime rates in Kansas City, Missouri

This thesis examines whether social service agencies mediate the effects of social disorganization and subculture on crime in Kansas City, Missouri. Variables from social disorganization and subculture theory are combined in order to spatially and statistically examine the variation in the crime rates across the Kansas City area, and if these changes correlate with the presence of social service agencies. The thesis relies on the analysis of crime and census data at the census tract level that involved multiple tools of GIS, GeoDa, SPSS and other basic statistics; this multiple step approach allowed the data to visually and statistically portray relationships and patterns between the crime rates, the location and presence of social service agencies and the socioeconomic predictors. The results indicate that the combination of social disorganization and subculture theory have explanatory power in the prediction of the crime rate; however social service agencies do not mediate these effects. The research suggests that the value social service agencies offer to disorganized communities is not simply found in their spatial presence, and needs further investigation.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology (UMKC)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Gordon, Cynthia

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Oh, Sookhee, advisor

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10355/14653

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/14653