Alcohol outlet density and assault: a spatial analysis
- 13 March 2008
- Vol. 103 (4), 619-628
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02136.x
Abstract
A large number of studies have found links between alcohol outlet densities and assault rates in local areas. This study tests a variety of specifications of this link, focusing in particular on the possibility of a non-linear relationship. Cross-sectional data on police-recorded assaults during high alcohol hours, liquor outlets and socio-demographic characteristics were obtained for 223 postcodes in Melbourne, Australia. These data were used to construct a series of models testing the nature of the relationship between alcohol outlet density and assault, while controlling for socio-demographic factors and spatial auto-correlation. Four types of relationship were examined: a normal linear relationship between outlet density and assault, a non-linear relationship with potential threshold or saturation densities, a relationship mediated by the socio-economic status of the neighbourhood and a relationship which takes into account the effect of outlets in surrounding neighbourhoods. The model positing non-linear relationships between outlet density and assaults was found to fit the data most effectively. An increasing accelerating effect for the density of hotel (pub) licences was found, suggesting a plausible upper limit for these licences in Melbourne postcodes. The study finds positive relationships between outlet density and assault rates and provides evidence that this relationship is non-linear and thus has critical values at which licensing policy-makers can impose density limits.This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Applied communitarian ethics for harm reduction: promoting a dialogue within the fieldDrug and Alcohol Review, 2007
- Alcohol outlets, gonorrhea, and the Los Angeles civil unrest: A longitudinal analysisSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 2006
- Alcohol availability and crime: a robust approachApplied Economics, 2006
- Changes in Outlet Densities Affect Violence RatesAlcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2006
- Drug ‘hot‐spots’, alcohol availability and violenceDrug and Alcohol Review, 2005
- FURTHERING THE INTEGRATION OF ROUTINE ACTIVITY AND SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORIES: SMALL UNITS OF ANALYSIS AND THE STUDY OF STREET ROBBERY AS A DIFFUSION PROCESSCriminology, 2000
- Disadvantage and Neighborhood Violent Crime: Do Local Institutions Matter?Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 2000
- Immigrants and Violence: The Importance of Neighborhood ContextHispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1998
- Incidence of death and hospitalization from assault occurring in and around licensed premises: a comparative analysisAddiction, 1996
- A new look at the statistical model identificationIEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 1974