Generic and Specific Crime Habitats: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

• In Event: The Criminology of Space and Place

Abstract

Social-ecological theories of crime such as routine activities and social disorganization demonstrate how place and space interact with the broader social characteristics of a community to influence the differential distribution of crime across geographic locations. More recently, Felson has argued that crime should be studied in relation to both generic and specific crime habitats. Generic habitats foster high rates of many different crime types across a specific geographical location. Specific habitats refer to a high concentration of a particular crime type (e.g. bicycle theft) in a given area. Although Felson hypothesized that crime tends to “live, grow, and reproduce” in these habitats, he did not fully articulate how the spatial and social characteristics of certain areas would predict where these habitats may be located, as well as the types of crime that may or may not cluster together to form generic or specific habitats. To address this shortcoming, the current study uses GIS, Census data, arrest data, and a qualitative assessment of neighborhoods in a mid-size, southeast US city to determine where these crimes are likely to cluster, whether certain types of crimes are more likely to co-occur than others, and what qualitative aspects predict the former and the latter.

Authors

• William R. Smith, North Carolina State University

• Joshua A. Hendrix, North Carolina State University

• Cindy Brooks Dollar, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Nicholas J. Richardson, North Carolina State University

• Christopher McDaniel, North Carolina State University

• Laura A. Bray, North Carolina State University

• Damian Maddalena, North Carolina State University