Citation

McCarthy BR. J. Crim. Justice 1991; 19(1): 19-29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(91)90080-F

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship of structural factors to the exercise of social control. The research extended prior analyses by focusing on intrastate rates of arrest and arrest certainty at the county level, with separate analyses of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Findings indicate that structural variables were correlated with the use of arrest and arrest certainty. Structural variables also had a direct effect on arrest patterns in multivariate analyses when crime rates were controlled. However, unemployment alone had a significant direct effect on the use of arrest and arrest certainty when urbanization was also controlled. This effect was observed only in metropolitan counties; crime rates alone influenced the use of arrest in nonmetropolitan areas.