Social Structure, Crime, and Social Control: An Examination of Factors Influencing Rates and Probabilities of Arrest

• NCJ Number: 129995
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (1991) Pages: 19-29
• Author(s): B R McCarthy
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the impact of social structure on patterns of arrest, as measured by the level and certainty of police sanctioning, using data on all felony arrests disposed of in 1981 in California. The variables included arrest rate and arrest certainty; structural variables including unemployment rate, percent of nonwhite population, and percent of families below the poverty line; and property and violent crime rates.

Abstract

Analyses were conducted on the county level, with separate analyses of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Findings suggest that structural variables were related to use of arrest and arrest certainty, calculated by dividing the number of arrests by the total volume of crime reported to police. Structural variables also impacted arrest patterns in multivariate analyses when crime rates were controlled. However, when urbanization was controlled, only unemployment had a direct effect on the use of arrest and arrest certainty. In nonmetropolitan areas, only crime rates significantly influenced the use of arrest. 6 tables, 1 note, and 49 references (Author abstract modified)