Liquor store density linked to youth homicides

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/uoc--lsd090711.php

Public release date: 7-Sep-2011
Contact: Bettye Miller
University of California - Riverside
Liquor store density linked to youth homicides
UC Riverside researchers also find connection between sales of single-serve containers of alcoholic beverages and violent crime

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Violent crime could be reduced significantly if policymakers at the local level limit the number of neighborhood liquor stores and ban the sale of single-serve containers of alcoholic beverages, according to separate studies led by University of California, Riverside researchers.

In the first of two groundbreaking studies published in the September issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Review – "Alcohol availability and youth homicide in 91 of the largest U.S. cities, 1984-2006" – researchers found a correlation between the density of alcohol outlets and violent crime rates among teens and young adults ages 13 to 24. Study authors were sociology professors Robert N. Parker and Kirk R. Williams, co-directors of the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies at UCR; Kevin J. McCaffree, UCR research assistant; sociology professor Emily K. Acensio of the University of Akron, who earned her Ph.D. at UCR; Angela Browne of the Vera Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C.; and Kevin J. Strom and Kelle Barrick of RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The second study, "The impact of retail practices on violence: The case of single serve alcohol beverage containers," examined crime rates and cooler space allocated to containers sold individually in San Bernardino, Calif. Researchers generally found higher rates of violent crime in neighborhoods around alcohol outlets that allot more than 10 percent of cooler space for single-serve containers. Study authors were Parker, McCaffree and Daniel Skiles of the Institute for Public Strategies in San Bernardino.

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