Spatial assessment of crime

The misuse of alcohol is associated with considerable harm to individuals and the community. Alcohol-related harm is an economic concern in Australia and has social and health implications (Chikritzhs et al., 2000). A reduction in the consumption of unsafe alcohol amounts is estimated to reduce associated harms, and to consequently reduce resources required to treat such harm. It is also predicted that the costs of investments in the prevention of alcohol-related harm would be outweighed by the costs of treating such harm, which would permit a more efficient reallocation of community resources. The more common acute type of alcohol related injury is linked with criminal activity. Criminal activity can entail personal crime which is the illegal acquiring of resources, and/or personal crime which is the asserting of control over others through violence. Research has shown a range of factors that are associated with criminal activity (Loeber and Farrington, 1998). Individual risk factors include substance abuse, among others. Many factors that predict criminal behaviour also predict substance abuse (Loeber and Farrington, 1998). Individual factors that have been linked with alcohol-related crime include age and gender (Fingerhut et al., 1992). Community factors have also been linked to alcohol-related harm. Ireland and Thommeny (1993) found that 60% of alcohol-related assaults occurred on, or near licensed premises. While entertainment areas such as restaurants and clubs are often viewed as positive economic investments, a growing body of research supports a relationship between alcohol outlet density, alcohol consumption levels and associated harm. Studies based in the US linked density of outlets to particular measures of alcohol-related harm such as drink-driving. A suggestion from this research is that drinking norms may be affected, to some degree, by environment. The purpose of the present study is to assess the relationship between various factors and crime based on certain communities in South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to explore methodology to enable the spatial assessment given the geographical auto-correlational nature of these data