TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Take the car keys away: metropolitan structure and the long road to delinquency
JO  - Journal of criminal justice
A1  - Bichler, Gisela
A1  - Orosco, Carlena A.
A1  - Schwartz, Joseph A.
SP  - 83
EP  - 93
VL  - 40
IS  - 1
N2  - PURPOSE: This research fulfills a void in offender mobility discourse. Metropolitan socioeconomic and spatial structure, defined in crime pattern theory as the urban backcloth, plays a significant role in shaping travel behavior; and yet, current analysis of offender mobility continues to favor individual characteristics to account for travel range. <br><br>METHODS: Using a large sample of juveniles, both delinquent and at-risk youth (N=2,552), this study compared the predictive utility of individual characteristics against indicators of urban backcloth. <br><br>RESULTS: Delinquent youth were found to be more sensitive to the environmental conditions exerted by community-level socioeconomic characteristics than their at-risk counterparts. However, two factors--intercity hierarchical structure and motor vehicle access--accounted for travel variability among all youth. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Offending behavior must be examined within the context of a dynamic environmental context formed by the metropolitan socioeconomic and spatial structure. Delinquents constitute an identifiable subgroup of youth. <br><br>KEYWORDS: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 0047-2352
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.12.002
ID  - ref1
ER  -