Keri Burchfield

• Professor (Associate) at Northern Illinois University

There is very little research that provides a truly sociological assessment of the structural correlates of animal crime. There is also no comparative, community-level research on animal crimes in countries other than the U.S. In this exploratory study, we examine correlates of animal crime across Finland. Taking advantage of Finnish data on report...

In this study, I borrow from Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model to examine motivations to report animal crime. I argue that such motivations are related to individual traits, early socialization, and attitudes toward animals, as well as the neighborhood context of social control. Using survey data from 494 respondents, I analyze the effects of demog...

Through a series of in-depth interviews asking individuals about their decisions to adopt special-needs companion animals, we discovered that a combination of anthropomorphism and empathy are at play when individuals decide to adopt them. This tendency is explained using David Blouin’s typology of guardians: humanistic and protectionistic guardians...

This study sought to contribute to our sociological understanding of animal crime. Using Chicago Police Department data that include primary and secondary charges of all animal crimes between 2009 and 2012, findings indicate that most animal crime offenders were male, African American or Hispanic, and under 35 years. When other crimes were committe...

This study seeks to sociologically examine the patterns of animal crime in one large American city. Using Chicago Police Department animal crimes data, this research analyzes the types of crimes perpetrated, characteristics related to animal crime, and patterns of arrest. Findings indicate that a majority of animal crime was classified as abuse/neg...

In this paper we seek to assess the effects of the neighborhood context on sex offenders’ perceptions of their neighbor’s willingness to support them upon release. We also examine the effect of the neighborhood context on sex offenders’ feelings of stress and the need for secrecy, potential risk factors for recidivism. Using survey data obtained fr...

We use data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study (LAFANS) to examine the degree to which social ties and collective efficacy influence neighborhood levels of crime, net of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results indicate that residential instability and collective efficacy were each associated with lower log odds of robbery v...

Building on a social capital and social control framework that emphasizes the importance of the local neighborhood context for residential action, this research utilizes data from surveys of community residents to examine their perceptions of their neighborhhood, their familiarity with sex offender policies, and their awareness of and attitudes tow...

This research examines social–psychological consequences associated with being stigmatized as a sex offender. Surveys administered to 150 sex offenders were analyzed using modified labeling theory to examine the effect of a sex offender’s perception of devaluation and/or discrimination on his ability to successfully rejoin society following convict...

Social disorganization theory explains the effects of neighborhood structure and culture on crime and delinquency. Within this perspective, the role of neighborhood informal social control is argued to be an important protective factor against many social problems. While a growing body of research supports the importance of informal social control,...

 Public housing, usually located in predominantly poor, minority neighborhoods, has long been associated with concentrated poverty and spatially constraining opportunities for upward mobility. The federal government created HOPE VI in 1992 to transform the physical and social shape of public housing, demolishing existing projects and replacing them...

Studies had suggested that informal social control is key to understanding neighborhood crime rates. Yet little is known about sources of informal social control in urban neighborhoods, and less is known about the role of neighborhood attachment in fostering informal social control. To fill this gap, this study addressed three questions: (1) Does n...

Guided by an environmental justice perspective of public policy, this study combines child sex offender registry information with US Census and geospatial data to examine the extent to which differences in the physical structure of Chicago neighborhoods (N = 872) affect the efficacy and fairness of the city's sex offender residence restrictions. Fi...

The authors examine the relationship between intoxication, chronic alcohol use, and violent behavior using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The authors introduce a method for disentangling spuriousness from the causal effects of situational variables. Their results suggest that drinkers are much more likely to commit...

Community registration laws requiring sex offenders to register with local law enforcement have become increasingly popular and increasingly restrictive in recent years. Although these laws were passed under the auspices of protecting communities from dangerous and violent sexual predators, little research has addressed their efficacy or their cons...

The research examined whether alcohol intoxication is a greater risk factor for some types of violence than others, using data from the National Violence Against Women and Men Survey (NVAW). Analyses indicated that offenders were much more likely to be intoxicated when they physically assaulted a stranger than when they assaulted someone they knew...

We examine the effect of alcohol consumption on an individual's risk of victimization for physical and sexual assault. Analyses of the National Violence Against Women Survey suggest that the frequency and amount of alcohol people consume has strong effects on their risk of victimization when drinking, but is not associated with their victimization...