The impact of community residents’ occupational structure on the spatial distribution of different types of crimes

Abstract

Spatial characteristics of community resident's occupational structure is a classic topic in social geography studies. However, it is still an under-explored topic to examine the impact of community residents' occupational structure on the spatial pattern of different types of crimes. Taking a large city in South China as an example, this paper analyzes the influence of different types of occupational residents on the crimes of burglary, pickpocketing and assault by establishing spatial lag negative binomial regression models. Our study shows that different occupational groups have different social characteristics and socioeconomic status, and so do their different impacts on various criminal activities. The specific conclusions are as follows: 1) the person in charge of the unit has no significant influence on these three types of crimes; 2) professional skill workers have a significant positive impact on pickpocketing and assault; 3) clerks, business and service people and primary industry personnel have significant positive impacts on burglary; and 4) the distribution of personnel in the primary industry nearby will inhibit burglary, pickpocketing and assault. This study further explained the results in combination with the ‘costs, benefits and risks’ of rational choice theory. The conclusions may be of great reference value for community police strategies.