Multilevel Analysis for Examining the Effects of Community Disorder on Informal SOCIAL Control

The main goal in this study was to assess the impacts of social and physical disorders on individual level of informal social control. The data used in this study were collected from 700 male and female respondents living in Daegu Metropolitan City, the third largest city in South Korea. The results from HLM(Hierarchical Linear Regression Model) analysis, unlike previous findings, have shown that community disorder has no effects on informal social control. Both social disorder and physical disorder show no significant effects on informal social control. Meanwhile, residential stability has a significantly positive impact on informal social control. In addition, among demographic variables, gender and age are significant predictors. The male respondents are more likely to respond the higher level of informal social control than the females. Age is also positively related to the level of informal social control. This study in this field of research is almost the first attempt to apply for HLM statistical technique in South Korea. It is needed more researches to use the nested data for studying community and social problems in South Korean Community of Criminal Justice and Criminology.