Community characteristics and child sexual assault: Social disorganization and age

doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.06.016

Journal of Criminal Justice

Volume 42, Issue 2, March–April 2014, Pages 173-183

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.06.016 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
We find that the sources of sexual assault differ between preteen and teen victims.
•
More registered sex offenders in a community increases only teen sexual assault.
•
Social disorganization adds moderately to explaining preteen & teen sexual assault.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the utility of social disorganization theory as an explanation for community rates of child sexual assault. We explore the sources of preteen (<=12) and teen (13-17) sexual assault victimization.

Methods

Drawing on 1,172 child sexual assault incidents reported to law enforcement agencies in Orange County, Florida in 2004-2006, the present study assesses whether social disorganization theory can explain variation in amounts of preteen and teen sexual assault across census tracts. Social disorganization is assessed using measures of economic disadvantage, collective efficacy, and social cohesion, along with measures of population density, violent crime and presence of sex offenders in the community, and gender-related socioeconomic standing.

Results

Economic disadvantage is positively related to the amount of both preteen and teen sexual assault. Surprisingly, immigrant concentration is negatively related to both preteen and teen sexual assault. Housing density is positively related to preteen sexual assault and the presence of registered sex offenders is positively related to teen sexual assault.

Conclusion

Social disorganization provides a moderate explanation for community variance in the amount of preteen and teen sexual assault. Also, sources of child sexual assault are different between younger children and older adolescents.

Introduction

Sexual offenses, especially those perpetrated against children, are among the most serious and most despised crimes in American society. Public and official attitudes and responses to such offenses have resulted in numerous criminal justice and social service policies designed to efficiently respond to, as well as to prevent, the assault of children and reduce recidivism among known offenders. The last two decades have witnessed the rapid development and growth of longer prison terms for sex offenders, requirements for sex offender registration, community notification of sex offenders’ addresses, and policies designed to prevent sexual assaults of children.

The proliferation of such practices are well intentioned, but may not be based on scientific evidence regarding either the limited efficacy of such practices (Sandler et al., 2008, Tewksbury and Jennings, 2010, Vásquez et al., 2008, Zgoba et al., 2008) or an accurate understanding about the dynamics of child sexual assault. While the scholarly evidence concerning the identification of characteristics of children at heightened risk of victimization is fairly well developed, it tends to focus on micro-level sources of known instances of sexual assault such as demographics and relationship/situational factors. Although some scholars (Paulsen, 2003, Zuravin, 1986, Zuravin, 1989) have considered community structures as they relate to the maltreatment and abuse of children in general, there is a lack of research that examines the more macro-level characteristics that may be related to differential rates of child sexual victimization.

If community-level characteristics have significant influences on rates of child sexual assault, both criminal justice officials and child welfare officials working to prevent victimizations can better design and target their efforts in pursuit of enhanced public safety. Knowing that particular types of communities are conducive to higher rates of child sexual assault is important not only for understanding which residents may be at greatest risk for victimization, but also for where investigative and prevention efforts can be most efficiently and effectively focused. To do this requires an understanding of both micro and macro level sources of child sexual assault victimization and which areas have the highest concentrations of child sexual assault and why. Examining macro determinants is at the heart of the current study.

Section snippets

Rates of child sexual assault

Researchers estimate that children comprise 66% of all known victims of sexual assault (Snyder, 2000). And, sexual abuse accounts for approximately 7% to 10% of all reports of child maltreatment in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2009). Despite the heinous nature of child sexual assault and a body of well-established detrimental consequences of sexual abuse (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008, Browne and Finkelhor, 1986, Dube et al., 2005, Finkelhor

Data

We obtained datasets for incidents, victims, and offenders for homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and sexual assault for the 2004-2006 calendar years from the Orlando Police Department (OPD) and Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO). OPD data for each offence are maintained in three files; those for the OCSO are in a single file. The variable “case number” was present in all of the original datasets and was utilized as the common field to merge data from the separate files.

One problem with

Cases

There are 1172 cases of child sexual assault included in the analyses. Fully 86% of cases have female victims, 13% have male victims, and 2% have no victim sex recorded. Racially, 62% of victims are white, 35% are black, 2% are unknown, and .6% are “other” (e.g., Native American, Alaskan Native, Asian). The mean age of the victims was 11.56 with a median of 13 years old. Eight-six percent of incidents had single child victims, while 14% had multiple victims. With regard to the suspects (s), 94%

Discussion and conclusion

This study finds, quite conclusively, that although several concepts tied to social disorganization theory are strongly related to rates of child sexual assault, many are not. As one of the only studies to specifically asses correlations between community characteristics of locations and varying amounts of both preteen and teenaged sexual assault victimization, the present findings offer important theoretical and practical implications.

To elaborate, measures of violent crime provide at least a

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Community characteristics and child sexual assault: Social disorganization and age

Highlights

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Section snippets

Rates of child sexual assault

Data

Cases

Discussion and conclusion

Child Abuse & Neglect

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Computational Statistics and Data Analysis

Facts for families: Child sexual abuse

The violent south: Culture of honor, social disorganization, and murder in Appalachia

Criminal Justice Review

Protecting your children from sexual predators

Predicting the impact of a statewide residence restriction law on South Carolina sex offenders

Criminal Justice Policy Review

Four theories of rape in American society: A state-level analysis

Stopping rape: Successful survival strategies

Neighborhood disadvantage, individual economic distress and violence against women in intimate relationships

Journal of Quantitative Criminology

Sexual abuse of children

Child sexual abuse: Its scope and our failure

Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the research

Psychological Bulletin

The span of collective efficacy: Extending social disorganization theory to partner violence

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Neighborhoods and crime: The dimensions of effective community control

Crime, corrections, and California: What does immigration have to do with it?

Population Trends and Profiles

Unemployment and child abuse and neglect reporting

Trends in the prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence: A cohort analysis

Violence and Victims

Community level factors and child maltreatment rates

Child Development

How widespread is child sexual abuse?

Child abuse reported to the police

How to work with sex offenders: A Handbook for Criminal Justice, Human Service, and Mental Health Professionals

The role of neighborhood environment and risk of intimate partner familicide in a large urban area

American Journal of Public Health

The growth of neighborhood disorder and marijuana use among urban adolescents: A case for policy and environmental interventions

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Child maltreatment as a community problem

Child Abuse & Neglect

Beyond betrayal

Poverty and violence towards children

American Behavioral Scientist

Violent crime in African American and white neighborhoods: Is poverty’s detrimental effect race specific?

Journal of Poverty

Sexual abuse, family violence, and female delinquency: Findings from a longitudinal study

Violence and Victims

Female status and infant and child homicide victimization in rural and urban counties in the U.S.

Gender Issues

The emotionally abused and neglected child

A modified version of Moran’s I

International Journal of Health Geographics

How families and communities influence youth victimization

Juvenile Justice Bulletin

Sex offender residence restrictions: Sensible crime policy or flawed logic?

Federal Probation

Adolescents, neighborhoods and violence: Recent findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods

Coming to America: The impact of new immigration on crime