Disaggregating the Relationship Between Schools and Crime: A Spatial Analysis

Although an extensive literature exists on crime in schools, surprisingly few studies have examined crime within the vicinity of schools. Schools, like other urban facilities, can generate crime by providing youth opportunities to congregate with little supervision, particularly before and after school hours. Some noteworthy studies have demonstrated that crime is more likely around schools, but the distinctive patterns based on school, time, and spatial contexts have not been fully addressed. The current study examines the differential crime generating potential of schools by type (public/private) and by level (elementary, middle, and high school), taking into account both spatial and temporal indicators. The authors employ a unique methodology for spatial modeling using the matrix exponential spatial expansion. Results indicate that there are distinct patterns of crime associated with schools, which suggests that disaggregating schools is important for understanding spatial patterns of crime.