Examining the relationship between neighborhood environment and residential locations of juvenile and adult migrant burglars in China

Abstract

Residential location of offenders has been an important topic in the crime literature. However, prior research on offender residence pays little attention to the factor of age. Coupled with the rapid urbanization in China, many Chinese have moved from rural areas to urban areas and many burglaries are committed by these migrants, especially adult migrants. They need to choose their residences once they move to a new place. This study aims to examine the characteristics of neighborhood environment of migrant burglars' residential locations and how they differ by age in a large city in China. The conceptual framework is based on social disorganization theory. In general, the spatial pattern of juvenile migrant burglars varies largely from those of adult migrant burglars. Juvenile migrant burglars mainly concentrate in urban areas including urban villages, while a large number of adult migrant burglars reside in urban villages and suburban villages. The results of a series of zero-inflated negative binomial regression models reveal that a neighborhood with high residential instability is likely to attract more juvenile migrant burglars, while a socially disorganized neighborhood tends to include more adult migrant burglars. The residential characteristics of adult migrant burglars mostly agree with social disorganization theory. These findings can have important implications for burglary prevention and neighborhood safety.