The Association Between Social Disorganization and Rural Violence Is Sensitive to the Measurement of the Dependent Variable

Abstract

A widely cited study by Osgood and Chambers appeared to extend the generalizability of social disorganization theory to youth violence in rural areas. The results of a very similar study we conducted, however, did not show support for social disorganization, and we concluded that the theory may not be as robust an explanation for rural youth violence as believed. In the current article, we take an important first step in addressing the conflicting findings by examining three likely methodological reasons for the inconsistent results: spatial autocorrelation, sample composition, and measurement of the dependent variable. Multiple tests suggest the first two explanations do not influence the results. Our analyses do indicate, however, that the association between social disorganization and violence in rural areas is sensitive to how the dependent variable is measured. We conclude that scholars should not rely solely on official crime data from rural areas when testing sociological and criminological theories.