Immediate and Neighborhood Contextual Effects on Intentional, Accidental, and Fatal Drug Overdoses in a Non-Urban Jurisdiction

ABSTRACT

Drug overdoses in the United States have been dramatically increasing since the late 1990 s. Research has been successful in identifying individual-level correlates of overdoses, but often fails to examine contextual effects. Using data from one police department, the U.S. Census, and ReferenceUSA, we test the effects of block group (N = 34) and parcel (N = 21,489) variables reflective of social disorganization and availability-proneness theories on drug overdoses taking place in one non-urban jurisdiction over four years (N = 396). Furthermore, we test the ability of mental health and social-community service providers to mitigate the harmful effect of poverty. Because effects may vary across intent or outcome, accidental, intentional, and fatal overdoses were modeled independently. Based on multilevel analysis (HLM7), several variables were positively associated with overdoses; however, service providers in high poverty areas, as well as bars in general, elicited negative associations. Lastly, contextual effects varied based by type of overdose.

Notes

¹ This “jurisdiction” is made up of the City of, along with the Town of, the sampled place.

² Sex offenses included: sexual assault, attempted rape, fondling, drug induced rape, forcible rape, sodomy, and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degree sexual offenses.

³ Drug arrests were the result of the paraphernalia, the sale, or possession of illicit/controlled drugs or substances.

⁴ Race categories are based on the American Communities Survey, and include: White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and other.

⁵ Model fit for GeoDaSpace model: R2=0.161; Multicollinearity condition=2.040; S.E=0.175; Log likelihood=6926.374; Akaike information criterion −13842.748; Schwartz criterion −13802.872; Koenker-Bassett=3002.539.

⁶ Based on the literature, zero inflated Poisson and negative binomial models were deemed to be unfit for these data, as it was possible (rather than impossible) for each parcel to experience at least one overdose incident (Allison 2012: 283-284).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Headley Konkel

Rebecca Headley Konkel is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and completed her dissertation, The Effects of Local Institutions on Parolee Outcomes, through Georgia State University. Her research focuses on the effects of neighborhood context on parolees, crime, and a variety of social outcomes. Additionally, she conducts research at the neighborhood-level on neighborhood institutions that are theoretically relevant to offending and deviance.

Chrystina Y. Hoffman

Chrystina Y. Hoffman received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She went on to earn her doctorate in Criminal Justice and Criminology from Georgia State University and joined the faculty at the University of West Florida in Fall 2019. Her research has examined questions such as whether international students face the same victimization risk as domestic students, whether experiencing violent victimization impacts future expectations, and what factors motivate or hinder college students’ decisions to intervene. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed publications such as Youth Violence & Juvenile Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Victims & Offenders.