Title

Social Disorganization and Unfounded Sexual Assault Case Clearances

Authors

Authors

E. E. Mustaine; R. Tewksbury; J. Corzine;L. Huff-Corzine

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

Violence Vict.

Keywords

police; criminal investigations; collective efficacy; sexual assault; social disorganization; CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS; FALSE ALLEGATIONS; CRIME CLEARANCE; RAPE; MULTILEVEL; DISADVANTAGE; VIOLENCE; VICTIMS; Criminology & Penology

Abstract

Despite much research and policy development, it remains true that less than one half of all reported sexual assaults are cleared by arrest (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2011). Compounding this issue, many sexual assaults are not cleared by an arrest, but rather by being classified as "unfounded" by law enforcement (Soulliere, 1994, 2005; Tellis & Spohn, 2008). Grounded in the social disorganization perspective, this article examines the relationships between case-related and extralegal community-level characteristics and use of the designation of unfounded by the police. Contrary to initial expectations, findings show that communities with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential instability are less likely to have sexual assaults deemed unfounded by law enforcement.

Journal Title

Violence and Victims

Volume

28

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

90

Last Page

102

WOS Identifier

WOS:000314421200006

ISSN

0886-6708

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