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Neighborhood structural characteristics, such as concentrated disadvantage, and social characteristics, such as collective efficacy, social ties, and culture, are known to affect rates of traditional street crimes. Whether such neighborhood characteristics also influence intimate partner violence (IPV), however, is not clear. One school of thought suggests that neighborhood characteristics will not be related to IPV, since this type of violence is less amenable to public surveillance and sanctioning. Yet, a number of recent studies have found evidence that community structural characteristics do appear to be associated with intimate partner violence. Unfortunately, because of data limitations, these studies have not used the most appropriate statistical tools, and they have not examined the social mechanisms that might link neighborhood structural characteristics to IPV. The present study begins to address these shortcomings by using HLM to examine the effect of neighborhood structural and social characteristics on IPV. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of neighborhood context on street crime are now widely recognized. Structural characteristics of neighborhoods are theorized to affect street crime via intervening social mechanisms such as collective efficacy. Structural disadvantages and collective efficacy are thought to be less likely to influence crimes between intimate partners, because these behaviors are less amenable to public surveillance and sanctioning. Yet, recent studies have found evidence that community level measures of economic and social disadvantage are associated with intimate partner violence. Unfortunately, because of data limiations, these studies have not used HLM, the most appropriate statistical tool, and they have not examined the intervening social mechanisms. The present study begins to address these shortcomings. We use HLM to analyze measures of social and physical disorder that are drawn from systematic social observation. These measures more closely reflect the intervening social mechanisms that are theorized to affect crime than the structural characteristics that have been used to date in contextual research on intimate partner violence. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]