Alcohol Availability and Crime

Paper Summary:

This paper examines three research articles pertaining to the topic of alcohol availability and crime, namely "Ecological Models of Alcohol Outlets and Violent Assaults: Crime Potentials and Geospatial Analysis" by Gruenewald, et al , "Is the Physical Availability of Alcohol and Illicit Drugs Related to Neighborhood Rates of Child Maltreatment?" by Freisthler, et al and "Drug "Hot Spots", Alcohol Availability and Violence" by Gorman et al. The paper discusses the research question, data strategy and results of each and analyzes Gorman's article in order to show that this article is the most valid and credible piece. The criteria used to evaluate the three research articles is included as an appendix to the paper.

From the Paper:

"The link between alcohol availability and crime has been studied for several years across a multitude of variables and using a number of different data collection and analysis techniques. Since socio-economic status, head of household, age, and neighborhood information can all affect the crime rates of a given area, researchers must account for all other variables before examining the results of their particular study. Further, the design, sampling, population, data analysis techniques, and overall methods must support a sound, valid, ethical, and overall reliable experiment in order to be truly credible."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gruenewald, P. J., Freisthler, B. T., Remer, L., LaScala, E. A., A. & Treno, A. (2006). Ecological models of alcohol outlets and violent assaults: Crime potentials and geospatial analysis. Addiction, 101(5): 666-677.
• Freisthler, B., Needell, B., & Gruenewald, P.J. (2005). Is the physical availability of alcohol and illicit drugs related to neighborhood rates of child maltreatment? Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(9): 1049-1060.
• Gorman, D., Zhu, L., & Horel, S. (2005). Drug "hot spots", alcohol availability and violence. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24(6): 507-513.

More papers on Alcohol Availability and Crime:

• Cause and Effect Essay # 118068 : "Assault and Robbery"
• Research Paper # 4901 : "Juvenile Drug Abuse and Crime"
• Essay # 68184 : "Youth Gangs"

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