Geographic information system analysis of developmentally disabled adult offenders
| Published date | 14 March 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-09-2015-0028 |
| Date | 14 March 2016 |
| Pages | 4-13 |
| Author | George Steve Tsagaris,Mamadou Mansor Seck,Janet Keeler,Robert Rowe |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour |
Geographic information system analysis
of developmentally disabled adult
offenders
George Steve Tsagaris, Mamadou Mansor Seck, Janet Keeler and Robert Rowe
George Steve Tsagaris and
Mamadou Mansor Seck, both
are based at School of Social
Work, Cleveland State
University, Cleveland, Ohio,
USA.
Janet Keeler and Robert Rowe,
both are based at Forensic
Unit, Cuyahoga County Board
of Developmental Disabilities,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –Adult offenders diagnosed with developmental disabilities have been referred for services to a
Northeast Ohio county agency. The purpose of this paper is to examine their repartition in the three areas of
the county as determined by zip codes, their involvement with the criminal justice system, types of offenses
they committed, their indictment, and the court outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach –This study used a geographic information system (GIS) mapping based
on secondary data collected from the 2008 to 2012 American Community Survey and a random sample of
160 participants selected from an agency database including 850 clients.
Findings –The authors found that the concentrations of offenders in the core city, inner, and outer suburbs
of the county were, respectively 71.7, 19.6, and 8.7 percent. The largest racial groups included African
Americans (112; 70 percent) and Whites (33; 20.6 percent). Male offenders (155; 96.9 percent) outnumbered
female offenders. Of the offenses committed, 42.9 percent were crimes against persons including
kidnapping, abduction, assault, followed by crimes against property (22.2 percent), and crimes against
society (26.4 percent). As they appeared before Mental Health Court or Non Mental Health Court judges, the
court outcome evolved from community control for six months to prison sentence of 120 months.
Research limitations/implications –These findings will enable agency professionals to look for protective
as well as risk factors that are prevalent in each area of this NEO county and make plans for more effective,
preventative, and clinical service provision.
Originality/value –The use of GIS for data analysis represents an innovation in the research field involving
adult offenders with developmental disability as it allows professionals to look for protective as well as risk
factors that are prevalent in their clients’immediate environment.
Keywords Crimes against persons, Crimes against property, Crimes against society,
Developmental disabilities, Geographic information system, Mapping analysis
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Individuals with developmental disabilities are people who are diagnosed with a condition that
produces functional impairment as a result of disease, genetic disorder, or impaired growth
patterns manifested before adulthood, likely to continue indefinitely, and requiring specific and
lifelong or extended care. This is a very large population as it includes people diagnosed with
intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
spectrum disorder, or other disabilities. In order to assert the significant limitations in this population’s
intellectual, adaptive, and behavioral functioning, professionals involved in the fields of mental health,
social work, medicine, and policy have substituted the concept of intellectual disabilities for
that of mental retardation. Further, their use of the concept of “developmental disability”
Received 9 September 2015
Revised 4 January 2016
Accepted 5 January 2016
PAGE 4
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
VOL. 7 NO. 1 2016, pp.4-13, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824 DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-09-2015-0028
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