title: Social disorganization and unfounded sexual assault case clearances.
abstract: Despite much research and policy development, it remains true that less than one half of all reported sexual assaults are cleared by arrest (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2011). Compounding this issue, many sexual assaults are not cleared by an arrest, but rather by being classified as "unfounded" by law enforcement (Soulliere, 1994, 2005; Tellis & Spohn, 2008). Grounded in the social disorganization perspective, this article examines the relationships between case-related and extralegal community-level characteristics and use of the designation of unfounded by the police. Contrary to initial expectations, findings show that communities with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential instability are less likely to have sexual assaults deemed unfounded by law enforcement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1360, USA. libby@ucf.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth Ehrhardt
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Mustaine
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tewksbury
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corzine
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huff-Corzine
mesh_terms: D000850:Anomie; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*