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Outdoor Temperature, Climate Control, and Criminal Assault

The Spatial and Temporal Ecology of Violence

Florida International University.

Ellen G. Cohn

Florida International University.

Based on the negative affect escape (NAE) model of heat and aggression, it was hypothesized that relationships between temperature and aggravated assaultswould be moderated by access to air conditioning. This hypothesis was tested by subjecting calls for service received by police in Dallas, Texas, to multivariate analyses of covariance that employed weather variables as predictors and controlled for the temporal variables of holidays, time of day, day of the week, and season of the year. As the NAE model predicts, assaults in probably climate-controlled settings were a linear function of temperature, whereas assaults in settings that probably lacked climate control declined after peaking at moderately high temperatures. The results are consistent with recent attempts to use the concept of social avoidance to integrate routine activity theory and psychological theories of aggression.

Key Words: temperature • aggression • crime • hot spots

Environment and Behavior, Vol. 36, No. 2, 276-306 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916503259515


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