Take the car keys away: Metropolitan structure and the long road to delinquency

Abstract Purpose This research fulfills a void in offender mobility discourse. Metropolitan socioeconomic and spatial structure, defined in crime pattern theory as the urban backcloth, plays a significant role in shaping travel behavior; and yet, current analysis of offender mobility continues to favor individual characteristics to account for travel range. Methods Using a large sample of juveniles, both delinquent and at-risk youth (N = 2,552), this study compared the predictive utility of individual characteristics against indicators of urban backcloth. Results Delinquent youth were found to be more sensitive to the environmental conditions exerted by community-level socioeconomic characteristics than their at-risk counterparts. However, two factors—intercity hierarchical structure and motor vehicle access—accounted for travel variability among all youth. Conclusions Offending behavior must be examined within the context of a dynamic environmental context formed by the metropolitan socioeconomic and spatial structure. Delinquents constitute an identifiable subgroup of youth.

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