The ecology of overdose mortality in Philadelphia

Johnson, Lallen T.; Shreve, Tayler

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102430

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…To illustrate, the neighboring state of Pennsylvania has 15 times more census tracts (N = 3,218) than Delaware (N = 214). Delaware likewise lacks a major city, which may show greater variation in community characteristics, including underlying problems of opioid misuse (see Johnson & Shreve, 2020, on overdoses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Our results may not generalize to other periods as policing strategies change (Pearlman, 2016), nonmedical opioid use accelerates (see MacArthur, 2020, on rising overdose rates in Delaware amid the COVID-19 pandemic), and drug treatment centers open or close (Moyer & Ridgeway, 2020) In all, this study reveals some new as well as consistent dimensions to drug law enforcement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opioids, Race, Context, and Journeys to Crime: Analyzing Black–White Differences in Travel Associated With Opioid Possession Offenses

Donnelly

Wagner

Hughes³

et al. 2021

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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Journeys to crime, or distances traveled from residences to places of alleged crimes, describe how people enter into the criminal justice system. Race, as an ascribed characteristic of individuals and a determinant of community conditions, introduces disparities in journeys to crime. Use of opioids among nonurban, White populations and changing law enforcement responses prompt inquiry into how race affects journeys to crime associated with opioid possession. This study evaluates Black–White differences in travel among persons arrested for opioid possession in Delaware. It applies race and rationality theory to assess the effects of race and racialized context on travel patterns. Multilevel models reveal travel to possess opioids is greater for White relative to Black Delawareans. Community conditions such as marijuana possession arrest rates and concentrated disadvantage have varying impacts on travel from various geographic areas. Racial–spatial differences in travel show persistent disparities in drug law enforcement amid efforts to curb opioid misuse.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opioids, Race, Context, and Journeys to Crime: Analyzing Black–White Differences in Travel Associated With Opioid Possession Offenses

Donnelly

Wagner

Hughes³

et al. 2021

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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“…We combined data from several sources including the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), which provided data on all crime incidents, the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which provided data on the rate of evictions in Philadelphia, and the American Community Survey (ACS). As in prior studies (e.g., Johnson & Shreve, 2020), we used multiple 5-year ACS estimates to link average socio-economic and demographic estimates with crime outcomes. These included the 2005 to 2009, 2006 to 2010, 2007 to 2011, 2008 to 2012, 2009 to 2013, 2010 to 2014, 2011 to 2015, and 2012 to 2016 ACS datasets, encompassing the 11-year observation period.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To control for spatial clustering of crime in Philadelphia neighborhoods (Moran’s I = 0.31), we include a spatial lag of the total crime rate in neighboring census tracts calculated in GeoDa using a first-order queen contiguity criterion consistent with other studies of neighborhood crime (Semenza et al, 2020; Stansfield & Semenza, 2019; Steidley et al, 2017). We also include a separate control for the rate of narcotics-related incidents given the high impact of the opioid crisis on Philadelphians (Eichel & Pharis, 2018; Johnson & Shreve, 2020) and a documented relationship between the opioid epidemic and crime (Rosenfeld et al, 2021). This is especially true in Philadelphia, which has one of the highest overdose mortality rates in the country among large counties (Eichel & Pharis, 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eviction and Crime: A Neighborhood Analysis in Philadelphia

Semenza¹,

Stansfield²,

Grosholz

et al. 2021

Crime & Delinquency

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In this study, we use generalized estimating equation (GEE) models to analyze how rates of eviction correspond to homicide, robbery, and burglary rates across all residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia from 2006 through 2016. We assess the moderating role of neighborhood poverty accounting for residential mobility, economic disadvantage, and community composition. We find that eviction is associated with all three types of crime in fully controlled models. Additionally, neighborhood poverty significantly moderates this relationship for robbery and burglary, but not homicide. We discuss the implications of these results with attention to policy opportunities to reduce eviction and suggestions for future research.

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“…Recent research in Philadelphia by Johnson and Shreve (2020) examined the geographic distribution of drug overdose mortality at the ZIP code level, and found that fatal drug overdose counts significantly varied across ZIP codes. Testing constructs related to social disorganization, police surveillance, and physical environmental features, they found that overdose mortality was consistently related to neighborhood disadvantage and racial composition (percent White), and the overdose mortality of surrounding neighborhoods.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Overdose Deathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Testing constructs related to social disorganization, police surveillance, and physical environmental features, they found that overdose mortality was consistently related to neighborhood disadvantage and racial composition (percent White), and the overdose mortality of surrounding neighborhoods. In addition, overdose mortality was also positively associated with police activity for low-level crimes and with negative aspects of the built environment (unsafe and vacant housing, demolitions, and older housing stock) (Johnson and Shreve 2020). Other research has focused on units of analyses smaller than the neighborhood or ZIP code level, hypothesizing that place-based studies at the Census block group level or smaller are better able to capture important variation in places.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Overdose Deathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Influence of Drug Trafficking Gangs on Overdose Deaths in the Largest Narcotics Market in the Eastern United States

et al. 2020

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Research has found that drug markets tend to cluster in space, potentially because of the profit that can be made when customers are drawn to areas with multiple suppliers. But few studies have examined how these clusters of drug markets—which have been termed “agglomeration economies”—may be related to accidental overdose deaths, and in particular, the spatial distribution of mortality from overdose. Focusing on a large neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for its open-air drug markets, this study examines whether deaths from accidental drug overdose are clustered around street corners controlled by drug trafficking gangs. This study incorporates theoretically-informed social and physical environmental characteristics of street corner units into the models predicting overdose deaths. Given a number of environmental changes relevant to drug use locations was taking place in the focal neighborhood during the analysis period, the authors first employ a novel concentration metric—the Rare Event Concentration Coefficient—to assess clustering of overdose deaths annually between 2015 and 2019. The results of these models reveal that overdose deaths became less clustered over time and that the density was considerably lower after 2017. Hence, the predictive models in this study are focused on the two-year period between 2018 and 2019. Results from spatial econometric regression models find strong support for the association between corner drug markets and accidental overdose deaths. In addition, a number of sociostructural factors, such as concentrated disadvantage, and physical environmental factors, particularly blighted housing, are associated with a higher rate of overdose deaths. Implications from this study highlight the need for efforts that strategically coordinate law enforcement, social service provision and reductions in housing blight targeted to particular geographies.

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The ecology of overdose mortality in Philadelphia

Cited by 26 publications

References 60 publications

Opioids, Race, Context, and Journeys to Crime: Analyzing Black–White Differences in Travel Associated With Opioid Possession Offenses

Opioids, Race, Context, and Journeys to Crime: Analyzing Black–White Differences in Travel Associated With Opioid Possession Offenses

Eviction and Crime: A Neighborhood Analysis in Philadelphia

Exploring the Influence of Drug Trafficking Gangs on Overdose Deaths in the Largest Narcotics Market in the Eastern United States

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