Whoa, we're halfway there: Examining the spatial relationship between correctional halfway houses and property crime in Vancouver, BC

Despite extensive research on the efficacy of correctional halfway houses for reducing recidivism and growing interest in how offender re-entry in general affects crime, few studies investigate the relationship between halfway houses and crime specifically. None are conducted in Canada, where the number of offenders released to halfway houses has increased disproportionately to the growth of the correctional population, one-third of which resides in these facilities. In this thesis, spatial lag models are used to study the association between four measures of exposure to halfway houses and six property crime rates in Vancouver, BC. Three offences are positively associated with at least one measure of exposure. Results suggest that crimes which typically require little time, effort, and risk to offenders may increase near halfway houses, but that this is independent of how many offenders reside therein. Implications for crime prevention, community opposition to halfway houses, and future research are discussed.