TIER COUNTIES AND DELINQUENCY IN KANSAS

• NCJ Number: 59610
• Journal: Rural Sociology Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1937) Pages: 310-322
• Author(s): M SMITH
• Date Published: 1937
• Length: 13 pages
• Corporate Author: Texas A&M University
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RELATIVELY SPARSE SETTLEMENT AND ABSENCE OF LARGE CITIES IN THE STATE OF KANSAS MADE THIS STATE IDEAL FOR A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF DISTANCE FROM CITIES TO JUVENILE DELINQUENCY RATES.

Abstract

THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WERE INVESTIGATED: IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SIZE OF THE LARGEST COMMUNITY IN A COUNTY AND ITS DELINQUENCY RATE? IS THERE A CONSISTENT TENDENCY FOR DELINQUENCY RATE TO INCREASE OR DECREASE AS DISTANCE FROM THE FOCAL CITY INCREASES? IS THE CHANGE DUE TO DISTANCE ALONE, OR IS IT A FUNCTION OF SIZE COMBINED WITH DISTANCE? THE DATA CONSISTED OF THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF CASES TRIED IN THE JUVENILE COURTS OF EACH COUNTY FOR THE 5 YEARS FROM JULY 1, 1926, THROUGH JUNE 30, 1931, OBTAINED FROM THE 'REPORTS' OF THE STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION. DELINQUENCY RATES PER 1,000 CHILDREN AGED 7 TO 17 YEARS WERE CALCULATED FOR EACH COUNTY, USING 1930 CENSUS DATA AS A BASE. TIER COUNTIES WERE DETERMINED BY INCLUDING AS MEMBERS OF ANY GIVEN TIER ONLY THOSE COUNTIES WHICH ARE REASONABLY LIKELY TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE CITIES AROUND WHICH THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED. EXAMPLES OF THE TIER-COUNTY STRUCTURE ARE GIVEN. USING THIS SYSTEM OF TIER COUNTIES, IT WAS SHOWN THAT (1) A MODERATE POSITIVE CORRELATION EXISTS BETWEEN COUNTY JUVENILE DELINQUENCY RATES AND THE SIZE OF THE LARGEST COMMUNITY IN THE COUNTY; (2) DELINQUENCY RATES TEND TO DECLINE AS TIER DISTANCES FROM A FOCAL COUNTY INCREASE--WHETHER THE AGE GROUP IS 7 TO 17 OR 10 TO 19 YEARS OF AGE; (3) THE MALE DELINQUENCY RATES THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS TIERS ARE MORE THAN TWICE AS HIGH AS THE FEMALE RATES; AND (4) MOST EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECT OF THE SIZE OF THE LARGEST COMMUNITY IN A COUNTY UPON THE TENDENCY FOR TIER-COUNTY RATES TO DECLINE SUGGESTS THAT THE SIZE OF THE COMMUNITY IS NOT AN IMPORTANT FACTOR. THUS, DELINQUENCY RATES ARE RELATED TO DISTANCE FROM URBAN COMMUNITIES; REGARDLESS OF THE ABSOLUTE SIZE OF THE FOCAL COMMUNITY, SO LONG AS THE SURROUNDING REGIONS CONTAIN COMMUNITIES NOT KNOWN TO BE INDEPENDENT OF THE FOCAL COMMUNITY, THE RELATIONSHIP HOLDS. TABLES ILLUSTRATE THE TEXT.