Citation

Furr-Holden CD, Milam AJ, Nesoff ED, Johnson RM, Fakunle DO, Jennings JM, Thorpe RJ. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 2016; 77(1): 17-24.

Affiliation

Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

DOI

10.15288/jsad.2016.77.17

PMID

26751351

Abstract

SafetyLit note: Although not indicated in the title or abstract, this research was conducted in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: This research examined whether publicly funded drug treatment centers (DTCs) were associated with violent crime in excess of the violence happening around other commercial businesses.

METHOD: Violent crime data and locations of community entities were geocoded and mapped. DTCs and other retail outlets were matched based on a Neighborhood Disadvantage score at the census tract level. Street network buffers ranging from 100 to 1,400 feet were placed around each location. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the relationship between the count of violent crimes and the distance from each business type.

RESULTS: Compared with the mean count of violent crime around drug treatment centers, the mean count of violent crime (M = 2.87) was significantly higher around liquor stores (M = 3.98; t test; p <.01) and corner stores (M = 3.78; t test; p <.01), and there was no statistically significant difference between the count around convenience stores (M = 2.65; t test; p =.32). In the adjusted negative binomial regression models, there was a negative and significant relationship between the count of violent crime and the distance from drug treatment centers (β = -.069, p <.01), liquor stores (β = -.081, p <.01), corner stores (β = -.116, p <.01), and convenience stores (β = -.154, p <.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Violent crime associated with drug treatment centers is similar to that associated with liquor stores and is less frequent than that associated with convenience stores and corner stores.

Language: en