Author: Morris, Patrice K.
Title: An Analysis of Homicide in Urban Jamaica
Summary: This dissertation investigates the social structural factors associated with differential levels of homicide across neighborhoods in urban Jamaica, a Caribbean country with exceptionally high levels of homicide offending and victimization. It fills a void as most of the literature in homicide studies, and most research has been conducted in advanced industrialized countries, and very little in developing countries. Using homicide, census, and electoral data, this dissertation identifies the structural correlates of homicide in the Kingston Metropolitan Area. This dissertation further explores the applicability of two leading neighborhood-level theoretical models--social disorganization and defended neighborhood perspectives--in the Jamaican social context. Results suggest that political civic engagement and poverty are most salient in explaining homicides in urban Jamaica. Homicides are more likely in politically organized neighborhoods with high levels of informal social control and social cohesion. Unlike studies in the United States, this study finds that homicide in urban Jamaica is not related to neighborhood social disorganization. The dissertation concludes with the theoretical implications of the findings, policy suggestions, and directions for future research.
Details: Newark, NJ: Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice, 2010. 154p.
Source: Resource: Dissertation: Available from the Don M. Gottfredson Library, Rutgers University
Year: 2010
Country: Jamaica
URL:
Shelf Number: 117377
Keywords:
Homicide (Jamaica)Urban CrimeViolent Crime |
