Spatial autocorrelation and the analysis of patterns resulting from crime occurrence

Abstract

From Introduction: In geography during the 1950's there was a definite move away from the study of unique phenomena to the study of generalized phenomena or pattern (Mather and Openshaw, 1974). At the same time interrelationships between phenomena distributed in space and time became the topic of much interest among geographers, as well as members of other disciplines. The changing emphasis initiated acceptance of certain scientific principles (Cole, 1973), and mathematical techniques became the recognized and respected means through which objective analysis of pattern, structure, and interrelationships between a really distributed phenomena could be achieved (Ackerman, 1972; Burton, 1972; Gould, 1973). Geographers, as do members of other disciplines, frequently borrow mathematical techniques developed for problems encountered in the pure sciences and apply these techniques to what are felt to be analogous situations in geography.