성범죄의 생태학적 요인에 대한 연구 - 전국 읍면동의 구조적 특성을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study aimed to test the effect of ecological factors on sex crime, through which contributes to the development of effective prevention policy. To this end, a negative binomial model was constructed using official crime and census data of all Eup-Myon-Dong districts of Korea. Analysis results showed that population mobility, racial heterogeneity, divorce rate, and food and lodging business had a positively significant on sex crime, while non-apartment residence having a negatively significant effect. In past research as well as this study, divorce rate has consistently shown to be a crime-generating factor regardless of the unit of analysis and types of crime, which suggested that the traditional norms and values of family remains as one of the most important factors related to crime problem in Korea. Other ecological factors remained to be seen whether they are truly influential or not on sex crime for their effects appeared to be different depending on the characteristics of neighborhood (e.g., urban vs. rural). This study had several limitations such as cross-sectional analysis and the exclusion of economic disadvantage from the model. Nevertheless, it could find its own meaning in that it was the first empirical attempt in Korea to discover the causal relationship between sex crime and ecological factors using nationwide Eup-Myon-Dong districts. Also, it stimulated a paradigm shift from government (police) centered policy to governance paradigm including civil sectors. By overcoming these limitations, future studies are expected to contribute to the development of more effective and efficient prevention policy not only of sex crime but other types of crimes.