Sociologist sees huge potential for spatial mapping in criminal justice
BY SARAH FISCHER SPARK PROGRAM
Violent crimes dropped last year, but a recent flurry of crime activity raises questions about whether that was a trend or a blip. Murder and assault are still a big concern, however, and one U of G researcher is trying to help the situation improve through what might seem like an unlikely technology: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
Prof. Myrna Dawson, Sociology and Anthropology, will use GIS technology to examine the relationship between the availability of victim support services in Ontario regions and homicide rates in the province. By viewing and analyzing data from a geographic standpoint, she wants to find out whether areas closer to victim support services have lower homicide rates. Research in the United States has shown that the availability and accessibility of some domestic violence resources, for example, may help reduce exposure to further violence.
Dawson says the first step in examining this hypothesis in the Canadian context is to document available victim resources in areas that have both high and low homicide rates. To do this, she'll use about 30 years' worth of data on homicides across Ontario, then collect data on victim support services throughout the province. She'll enter both sets of data into a computer and, using GIS technology, produce a map.
The results generated from GIS software can produce an image with a strong visual impact, says Dawson. She hopes these visual images will encourage change among policy-makers and persuade them to take an even more active interest in victim support services and criminal justice-related initiatives.
She says there's a huge potential for spatial mapping in criminal justice. It's a newer technology in this field, so its full impact, including both advantages and limitations, are not yet fully known.
Graduate student Elizabeth Wells and U of G graduate Eleanor Elstub worked on this project with Dawson. It has received support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
