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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for socioeconomic conditions and crime
142 results foundAuthor: Bjerk, David Title: Thieves, Thugs, and Neighborhood Poverty Summary: This paper develops a model of crime analyzing how such behavior is associated with individual and neighborhood poverty. The model shows that even under relatively minimal assumptions, a connection between individual poverty and both property and violent crimes will arise, and moreover, "neighborhood" effects can develop, but will differ substantially in nature across crime types. A key implication is that greater economic segregation in a city should have no effect or a negative effect on property crime, but a positive effect on violent crime. Details: Bonn, Germany: IZA (Study of Labor), 2009. 44p. Source: Discussion Paper No. 4470; Claremont McKenna College" https://d-nb.info/997468106/34 Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: https://d-nb.info/997468106/34 Shelf Number: 116675 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimePovertyPublic HousingSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Bandyopadhyay, Siddhartha Title: An Analysis of the Factors Determining Crime in England and Wales: A Quantile Regression Approach Summary: We examine how socio-economic and police enforcement variables affect property and violent crimes at different points of the crime distribution in England and Wales over the period 1992-2007. By using data from 43 police force areas, we examine how the effect of real earnings, unemployment, crime detection rate, income inequality and proportion of young people varies across high and low crime areas. Six crime categories are examined - burglary, theft and handling, fraud and forgery, violence against the person, robbery, and sexual assault. Using a quantile regression model, we find that there are statistically significant differences in the impact of explanatory variables on various crime rates for low and high crime areas. For example, not only does unemployment increase crime but it does so more in high crime areas. Higher detection rates reduce crime rates and the effect is stronger in low crime areas. There are also differences in distributional impact on crime rates for real earnings, income inequality and proportion of young people. Thus, our work points to the need to look beyond the usual mean effects of policing and socio-economic factors on crime and consider their impact on the entire distribution of crime rates. This will enable us to tailor policies that are particularly effective at different points in the crime distribution. Further, given the differential impact of earnings and unemployment across high and low crime areas this provides insight into why paradoxically recessions may have no impact on crime or even lower it. Details: Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham, Department of Economics, 2011. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Department of Economics Discussion Paper 11-12: Accessed July 18, 2011 at: ftp://ftp.bham.ac.uk/pub/RePEc/pdf/11-12.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: Shelf Number: 122083 Keywords: Crime RatesCrime StatisticsEconomicsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: Bringing the State to the Slum: Confronting Organized Crime and Urban Violence in Latin America Lessons for Law Enforcement and Policymakers Summary: Public safety is increasingly determined by crime and security in urban spaces. How the public safety problem in urban spaces is dealt with in the 21st century as urbanization intensifies will determine citizens’ perceptions of the accountability and effectiveness of the state in upholding the social contract between the citizens and the state. Major cities of the world, and the provision of security and order within them, will increasingly play a major role in the 21st century distribution of global power. In many of the world’s major cities, law enforcement and social development have not caught up with the pace of urbanization, and there is a deep and growing bifurcation between developed and reasonably safe sectors of economic growth and social advancement and slums stuck in a trap of poverty, marginalization, and violence. Addressing the violence and lifting the slums from this trap will be among the major challenges for many governments. Aerial view of Venezuela's bigest slum of Petare in Caracas September 1, 2010. There are many forms of urban violence. This article presents some of the key law enforcement and socioeconomic policy lessons from one type of response to urban slums controlled by non-state actors: namely, when the government resorts to physically retaking urban spaces that had been ruled by criminal or insurgent groups and where the state’s presence had been inadequate or sometimes altogether nonexistent. Its focus is on Latin America—specifically Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Jamaica; but its findings apply more broadly and are informed by similar dynamics between non-state actors and state policies in places like Karachi, Pakistan, and Johannesburg, South Africa. In response to a crime epidemic afflicting Latin America since the early 1990s, several countries in the region have resorted to using heavily-armed police or military units to physically retake territories controlled de facto by criminal or insurgent groups. After a period of resumed state control, the heavily-armed units hand law enforcement functions in the retaken territories to regular police forces, with the hope that the territories and their populations will remain under the control of the state. To a varying degree, intensity, and consistency, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Jamaica have adopted such policies since 2000. During such operations, governments need to pursue two interrelated objectives: to better establish the state’s physical presence and to realign the allegiance of the population in those areas toward the state and away from the non-state criminal entities. From the perspective of law enforcement, such operations entail several critical decisions: whether or not to announce the force insertion in advance; how to generate local intelligence; and when to hand over law enforcement to regular or community police forces. With respect to announcing the force insertion in advance, the element of surprise and the ability to capture key leaders of the criminal organizations has to be traded off against the ability to minimize civilian casualties and force levels. The latter, however, may allow criminals to hide and escape capture. Governments thus must decide whether they merely seek to displace criminal groups to other areas or maximize their decapitation capacity. Intelligence flows rarely come from the population. Often, rival criminal groups are the best source of intelligence. However, cooperation between the state and such groups that goes beyond using vetted intelligence provided by the groups, such as the government’s tolerance for militias, compromises the rule-of-law integrity of the state and ultimately can eviscerate even public safety gains. Sustaining security after initial clearing operations is, at times, even more challenging than conducting the initial clearing operations. Although unlike the heavily-armed forces, traditional police forces, especially if designed as community police, have the capacity to develop trust by the community and ultimately to focus on crime prevention, developing such trust often takes a long time. To develop the community’s trust, regular police forces need to conduct frequent on-foot patrols with intensive nonthreatening interactions with the population and minimize the use of force. Moreover, sufficiently robust patrol units need to be placed in designated beats for substantial amounts of time, often at least over a year. Ideally, police develop not only local police forces, but community-based and problem-oriented policing as well. Establishing oversight mechanisms, including joint police-citizen boards, further facilitates building community trust in the police. After the disruption of the established criminal order, street crime often significantly rises and both the heavily-armed and community-police units often struggle to contain it. The increase in street crime alienates the population of the retaken territory from the state. Thus, developing a capacity to address street crime is critical. Addressing street crime, especially when through problem-oriented policing approaches, also often tends to be relatively simple and inexpensive. Moreover, preventing at least some street crime through such measures allows police forces to concentrate on more complex street and organized crime. Moreover, community police units tend to be vulnerable (especially initially) to efforts by displaced criminals to reoccupy the cleared territories. Ceding a cleared territory back to criminal groups is extremely costly in terms of losing any established trust of the local population and being able to resurrect it later. Rather than operating on a predetermined handover schedule, a careful assessment of the relative strength of regular police and the criminal groups following clearing operations is likely to be a better guide for timing the handover from heavy forces to regular police units. Cleared territories often experience not only a peace dividend, but also a peace deficit—in the rise new serious crime (in addition to street crime). Newly-valuable land and other previously- inaccessible resources can lead to land speculation and forced displacement; various other forms of new crime can also significantly rise. Community police forces often struggle to cope with such crime, especially as it is frequently linked to legal businesses outside of their area of operation. Such new crime often receives little to no attention in the design of the operations to retake territories from criminal groups. But without developing an effective response to such new crime, the public-safety gains from the clearing operations can be completely lost. Instead of countering the causes of illegal economies and violent organized crime through strengthening effective and accountable state presence, government intervention may only alter the form of criminality and displace existing problems to other areas. Expanding the justice system to cover areas where no courts were previously present usually takes considerable time. As a result, a dispute-resolution vacuum often emerges immediately following the clearing operations. This near-term absence of dispute resolution processes and enforcement is one impetus for the rise of crime and disorder in the post-clearing phase. One of the acute dilemmas encountered by law enforcement forces in the retaken territory and managers of the operation is whether or not, how quickly, and in what form to suppress illegal economies that exist in the retaken territory. There may be several reasons why the state would want to suppress the illegal economy. These include the leakage of illicit flows to other locales, a belief that the profitability of illicit profits will dissuade slum residents from switching to legal economies, and a fear that the persistence of illegal economies will pull in new violence and perpetuate anti-social and anti-state values among the slum residents.However, suppressing local illegal economies in urban spaces comes with significant costs, such as massive drops in household income of slum residents, new alienation of the population from the state, expansion of criminal activity and the rise of extortion, and the dissipation of law enforcement focus. Generating legal alternative livelihoods in urban spaces requires that the economic development strategy addresses all the structural drivers of illegal economic production. Beyond providing for security and the rule of law, such a comprehensive approach requires that stable property rights be established, access to microcredit developed, access to education and health care expanded, and crucial infrastructure deficiencies redressed. Often the most challenging problem for economic development in such situations is to generate sustainable legal jobs. Limited, isolated, discreet interventions, even when responsive to the wishes of the local community, are particularly ineffective in changing socioeconomic dynamics in a marginalized community. They do not have the capacity to alter basic social patterns or generate jobs in the community, and therefore, do not reduce crime. If they amount largely to patronage handouts, they can generate complex negative equilibria between criminal and official political patrons or a crime-pays type of mentality. Saturating an area with money in order to buy the political allegiance of the population produces neither sustainable economic development nor desirable social and political practices. Such massive cash infusions distort the local economy, undermine local administration, and can fuel corruption, new crime (such as extortion and resource theft), and moral hazard. Economic development of marginalized urban spaces is rarely politically neutral. While it does strengthen marginalized communities, it has the potential to undermine established powerbrokers (especially those who straddle the crime world and the official political world) by depriving them of their agent-patron role. Such powerbrokers, therefore, have an interest in hampering and limiting the extent to which the state is extended to the marginalized areas. Coordination across different line-ministries and agencies, and across different levels of government is often difficult to achieve, but failure to achieve good coordination can undermine the entire effort. Details: Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, Latin America Initiative, 2011. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 18, 2012 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/1205_latin_america_slums_felbabbrown/1205_latin_america_slums_felbabbrown.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central America URL: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/1205_latin_america_slums_felbabbrown/1205_latin_america_slums_felbabbrown.pdf Shelf Number: 123652 Keywords: Orbanized Crime (Latin America)SlumsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban AreasViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Jovchelovitch, Sandra Title: Underground Sociabilities: Identity, Culture and Resistance in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas. Final Report Summary: Underground Sociabilities investigated pathways of exclusion and social development in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. It examined the lived world of favela communities and the work of two local organisations AfroReggae and CUFA, to systematise and disseminate effective experiences of social development. The project comprised three studies: an investigation of the lifeworld of favela communities, a systematic study of favela organisations AfroReggae and CUFA and an investigation of elite external observers in the wider city. Our approach was psychosocial, ethnographic and multimethod: questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 204 favela residents analysis of documents pertaining to 130 projects of social development narrative interviews with 10 AfroReggae and CUFA leaders interviews with 16 external observers and partners, with special emphasis on the police Fieldwork was conducted between October 2009 and February 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. Four communities were studied: Cantagalo, City of God, Madureira and Vigário Geral. They were selected considering location in the city and link with AfroReggae and CUFA. Cantagalo and Vigário Geral fit the accepted definition of favelas, whereas City of God was built as a planned area for relocating favela-dwellers displaced from the city centre during the 1960s. Madureira is a formal neighbourhood surrounded by favelas. Theoretical inspiration was drawn from the concepts of sociability, social representations, imagination and psychosocial cartographies. Findings enabled the development of the concept of psychosocial scaffoldings. THE CONTEXT AND RESEARCH PROBLEM Rio is an unequal city; more than 20% of its population live in favelas. Residence in a favela impacts negatively on income, education, teenage pregnancy, literacy and mortality at young age. The rooting of drug trading in the favelas during the 1970s and 80s created parallel norms and regulations in favela communities and triggered a territorial war between drug trade factions and the police. Favela-dwellers were caught in-between. Violence, lack of services and socioeconomic deprivation in the favelas created social exclusion and separation between the favelas and the asphalted areas of Rio, known in the city as the division morro/asfalto (hill/asphalt). Favelas were pushed underground and became invisible, their diverse community life shut off by geographical, economic, symbolic, behavioural and cultural barriers. Since the 1990s new actors – young, mainly black, favela dwellers – entered the public sphere to organise responses to poverty, violence and segregation challenging the traditional model of the NGO and repositioning favela populations in the Brazilian public sphere. Details: London: London School of Economics and Political Science, Institute of Social Psychology, 2012. 158p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2013 at: http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/undergroundsociabilities/pdf/Underground_Sociabilities_Final_Report.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/undergroundsociabilities/pdf/Underground_Sociabilities_Final_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 128141 Keywords: Cultural ActivitiesDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug TraffickingFavelas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Communities |
Author: Sookram, Sandra Title: A Time-Series Analysis of Crime in Trinidad and Tobago Summary: What should be done about crime is a matter of heated debate: popular, political, and academic. Alternatively, one might treat crime control as an ordinary policy issue, like transportation or the control of pollution, in which policies are to be judged by their outcomes, including their costs. In Trinidad and Tobago the policy agenda and the public are demanding stronger measures to deal with rising crime. This paper evaluates empirically the effect of the criminal justice system and socio-economic conditions on serious crime (which includes both property and violent crime) in Trinidad and Tobago over the period 1970-2007. Our study finds that the crime detection rate, unemployment rate, the percentage of females in the labour force and the percentage of the labour force with tertiary education are very important in determining criminal behaviour. Details: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago: The University of the West Indies, 2009. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: SALISES Publications • Working Papers Paper 2009:20; Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://sta.uwi.edu/salises/pubs/workingpapers/20.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Trinidad and Tobago URL: http://sta.uwi.edu/salises/pubs/workingpapers/20.pdf Shelf Number: 129218 Keywords: Crime (Trinidad and Tobago)Crime StatisticsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTime-Series Analysis |
Author: Montoute, Annita Title: A Situational Analysis of Gun Related Crime in the Caribbean: The Case of Trinidad & Tobago; Antigua & Barbuda; St Vincent & the Grenadines and St. Lucia Summary: Crime rates vary across the Caribbean, they vary over time and across nations (Bennett and Lynch 2007: 49). A United Nations Report provides a list of causes of crime in the Caribbean region, including, poverty, unemployment, social marginalization and inequality, the illegal drug trade, corruption, the trafficking of firearms, the deportation of criminals, and the ineffectiveness of the existing criminal justice systems and consequent waiving of sanctions (Harriot 2002:8). Small Island economies in the Commonwealth Caribbean find themselves between a rock and a hard place in their quest for developed country status as crime rates continue to increase. The attention being paid to the relationship between the two factors is not new considering that for the past two decades; scholars in the region have been intrigued by the relationship between societal development and crime (Deosaran 2007). onsistent findings in traditional analyses of police recorded crime rates support the correlation between high crime rates and large urbanized areas. Similarly, studies in Europe confirm the modernist oriented urban-rural divide in crime analysis (Deosaran, 2007)6. According to Mahabir (1985), the modernization perspective at least explains earlier patterns of crime in the region; arguably because crime is partly the result of disintegrated traditional social control mechanism. Intrinsic in this relationship is the concentration of crime and gun related violence in the major cities (hot areas) in all four cases under study. In Trinidad and Tobago, the majority of gun related violence occurred in the Port of Spain district and Western district. Other urbanized cities such as San Fernando and Arima, have witnessed high rates of gun related violence. In Antigua and Barbuda, the concentration of gun related violence is in its capital city St. Johns; in St Vincent and the Grenadines, in the sub urban areas of Kingstown and in St. Lucia, predominantly in the Castries area. Another area of importance in understanding crime is the demographics of crime offenders. It is believed that the majority of offenders as well as victims in all countries are males aged between 15 and 30 years (Adler, Mueller, & Laufer, 1998), to the extent that theft, burglaries and assaults are considered youth-related phenomena. Also, since young people tend to enjoy “nights out” in town more than adults, that makes them more vulnerable to crime than adults. LaFree and Tseloni (2006) cited in Jan Van Dijk (2008) confirm the hypothesis that there is a correlation between relatively high proportions of young males and the incidence of crime. Contemporary research in the region also supports the theory associating young men of low-incomes, low literacy rates and the incidence of violence (Samms-Vaughan 2000). The Caribbean is especially vulnerable to crime for several reasons. It is situated between the world’s supplier of cocaine - the Andean region of South America and its primary consumer markets - the United States and Europe (UNODC and the World Bank 2007). There is general consensus that drugs and arms trafficking are inextricably linked (Harriot 2002; Griffith 2003). It is reported that illegal arms are used to protect the transhipment of illegal drugs as they move from major drug producing countries in South America to the consumer countries in the North. In a large number of cases, a positive correlation is seen between the illegal narcotics trade and the illegal trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Details: Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence, 2009. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: www.cdrav.org/upload/Gun_crime_paper_annita09.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Central America URL: Shelf Number: 129219 Keywords: Crime RatesGun TraffickingGun-Related Violence (Caribbean)HomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crimes |
Author: Cardia, Nancy Title: Urban Violence in São Paulo Summary: Today homicide is the highest cause of death of young people in Brazil. Nancy Cardia, senior researcher at the University of São Paulo’s Center for the Study of Violence, examines urban violence in São Paulo arguing that violence has become a major public health problem. As in other countries, violence in Brazil is not homogeneously distributed throughout society. Violence is concentrated in certain cities and in specific areas of the cities. It victimizes young males living in the poorest areas of cities (the deprived areas at the peripheries of the cities which were opened up and made habitable by the people themselves) where the public services that now exist arrived precariously after people had settled the area. Cardia argues that the growth of violence is also being indirectly encouraged by federal, state and municipal government budget cuts resulting in less resources to invest in law enforcement and in a modicum of social safety networks: health, education, public services, and violence prevention programs. Cardia focuses on violence that is concentrated in the periphery of the Municipality of São Paulo, spilling over the borders to neighboring municipalities of the Metro area. Through an examination of the literature on the impact of violence on individuals and communities and a series of surveys taken in 1999, Cardia investigates why such deprived areas are the loci of this violence and how under stressful circumstances, these conditions can facilitate violence. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2000. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://www.nevusp.org/downloads/down073.pdf Year: 2000 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.nevusp.org/downloads/down073.pdf Shelf Number: 129220 Keywords: HomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban AreasViolence (Sao Paulo, Brazil)Violent Crimes |
Author: Ugarte, Rachel Meyn Title: Perception of Violence and Development in Guatemala Summary: More than 87% of Guatemala’s population fears becoming a victim of a violent act, found through Latinobarometro’s public opinion surveys in 2008. When such an overwhelming number of individuals fear their well-being, what implications does this have on their levels of confidence in the Guatemala governmental system to develop? This paper investigates whether there is a correlation between perceptions of violence and levels of confidence in the government, controlling for demographic variables such as: socioeconomic status, gender, age and education. It is found through bivariate analysis and probit regression models that socioeconomic status and age do play a part in how individuals perceive violence. Further research needs to be conducted regarding the correlation between perceptions of violence and levels of confidence in the government to develop the country, since in this study, there was no statistical significance between the two. This study does provide a first step for policy makers to target both lower socioeconomic groups and younger populations, who are most vulnerable to violence, based on these research findings. Details: Washington, DC: American University, 2012. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed July 1, 2013 at: eagle1.american.edu/~rm1021a/rp.docx Year: 2012 Country: Guatemala URL: Shelf Number: 129223 Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeSocioeconomic StatusViolence (Guatemala)Violent Crimes |
Author: Zinecker, Heidrun Title: Violence in a Homeostatic System – the Case of Honduras Summary: In Central America there are currently three countries with high levels of violence and two with low levels. Honduras, along with El Salvador and Guatemala, belongs to the countries with high levels of violence, while Nicaragua and Costa Rica have relatively low levels of violence in the context of Central America. After El Salvador, Honduras is the country with the highest incidence of violence not only in Central America, but in Latin America as a whole. Honduras has a homicide rate which is five times higher than the world average. This high rate refers to a violence which is virtually exclusively violent crime, and which has nothing whatsoever to do with civil wars, revolutions or other armed political conflicts. The report begins by discussing empirical findings on violence, before going on to look for the causes of the present violence. It takes as its hypothesis, the fact that a particularly significant cause of the high levels of violence is a state security sector which is failing to function as it should, but which nonetheless does not reflect any fundamental failure of the state as a whole. A homeostatic system which was traditionally characteristic of Honduras operated in the past in such as way as essentially to exclude violence. Nowadays, however, the system integrates violence as one of its sub-systems. The report adopts the aetiological approach as used in criminology, and differentiates between enabling and (absent) preventive structures within the societal structures which cause violence. In its analysis of the enabling structures in Honduras the report initially follows the exclusion principle, by stripping frequently mentioned, anticipated in the long term, but ultimately only putative, enabling structures of any linear-causal sense pertaining to present violence. This involves theories which imply that the present high level of violent crime is a continuation of earlier wartime violence, or that turbulent transitions into democracy simply provide a window of opportunity for high intensity violence in the post-transition phase, or that it is historically handed down economic backwardness, poverty and general inequality of income distribution which cause high levels of violence, or that traditional capacity for reform and political stability are a guarantee of low levels of violence. The fact that Honduras calls these theories into question, and in so doing occupies a key position in a comparison of violence within Central America, is due to the country’s specific historical structural characteristics. These are at the basis of a homeostatic system which for a long time excluded violence over a wide area, because it made reforms, inclusion and conflict mediation possible. These country-specific characteristics are: 1) the absence of an oligarchy as a “national class” and any corresponding mechanisms for rule, 2) relatively widespread democratic traditions and a stable political system, based on two traditional parties, 3) political autonomy for the Army and a “soft”, partially reformist military dictatorship, 4) “well distributed” poverty, 5) a weak left wing, and 6) a democratic transition “from above” with the (armed) support of the USA. Since these long-term anticipations do allow an answer to the question of what is specific to Honduras in the form of a homeostatic system, but not to that of the causes of present violence, the report focuses on new configurations in its quest for enabling structures. These new structures arose from the processes of economic and political transformation at the end of the 1970s and in the 1980s, such as 1) from low to high poverty rates and from a relatively fair to a less fair distribution of income, 2) from old (agrarian) rents to new rents (maquila or sweatshop industry, remittances and financial rent), 3) from agrarian rents to financial rents and from a traditionally non-oligarchic elite to a new (financial) oligarchy, and 4) from an inclusive military dictatorship to a more democratic although still politically exclusive regime, as well as from a politicized, politically active to a de-politicized, politically inactive population. In analyzing the (absent) preventive structures the report concentrates on the state security sector. First of all the point is made that in Honduras there has never been a coherent security policy, let alone any security strategy, to contain the new violence. The Honduran security policy followed the Central American cycle customary in intensely violent countries in the region, namely „creation of a new security sector/making the existing one more democratic – ignorance of the security problem – repressive measures – partial withdrawal of repressive measures”. Instead of bad reality being aligned with good laws, the relatively good laws following transition were aligned with the bad reality. This is illustrated especially by the reform of Article 332 of the Honduran penal code, under which the regulations covering illegal gatherings were extended to include the maras. The report goes on to illustrate the poor performance of the police force (poor investigative action, repressive exercise of violence, loss of independence through involvement of the army in domestic security), judiciary (politicization of the judiciary, exemption from punishment, corruption) and penal system (over-crowding, loss of control, massacres). It will be shown that the police, public prosecutor’s office and judges are linked in their lack of performance capacity not in an anarchic way, but in a clear regulatory logic, with the result that non-regulability arises in the security sector system as a whole. Nonetheless the failure of the security sector in Honduras does not equate to state failure, because the failing security sector is compensated by other, particularly well functioning state (party system, presidency and parliament) and informal structures (clientelism, nepotism, personalism or corruption). Not only the weak security sector, but also nonstate violence itself is closely integrated into the system. Political stability exists not in spite of but because of high rates of violence, at least under the precondition that the violence remains criminal and not political in nature. In this way the homeostatic system, from now on with the inclusion of violence, has a new configuration. As a result, violence simultaneously takes the place of capacity for reform, conflict mediation and inclusion, that is, those earlier props of the system, which collapsed in the late 1970s and 1980s. At the same time this ensured the continuation of regime hybridity. Instead of putting the (democratic) performance capacity of the security sector at risk, it is in the rational interests of the Honduran oligarchy to incorporate the present violence as a new stabilizing sub-system into the homeostatic system which has been knocked offbalance by processes of economic and political transformation. Oligarchies as a minority rule by definition desire no (inclusive) democracy, because they are not interested in abolishing themselves. For this reason, they can also have no interest in making the security sector completely democratic and subject to the rule of law or making it capable of performing better, because this would in the end rebound on them like a boomerang, against their own involvement in corruption, clientelism and organized crime. In the conclusions drawn by the report, the case is put forward for an integrated strategy for containing violence, aimed not only at all the components of the security sector, but also conceived in both the long and medium term, and at both the economic and political level. At the level of economic enabling structures the report recommends strengthening the middle class and the production of capital goods, so that labour is encouraged instead of criminality, and in the medium term a new kind of conditionality which incites the oligarchy to redirect its rents from the speculative finance sector to that of the production of capital goods. At the level of political enabling structures, inclusion by means of elections should be called for. At the level of preventive structures, focus should be directed at developing an integral security concept and supporting the criminal investigation department and the public prosecutor’s office. At the same time, support must be given to those calling for and those practising the rule of law. The report ends with the hypothesis, explosive in terms of development and peace policy, that it is a mistake to believe that poverty must first of all be tackled so as automatically to bring about the containment of violence as a by-product. Not only war and terrorism, but also violent crime generate extremely high levels of violence and can become a security risk well beyond continental boundaries. Details: Frankfurt, Germany: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, 2008 46p. Source: Internet Resource: PRIF Reports No. 83: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://www.hsfk.de/downloads/prif83.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.hsfk.de/downloads/prif83.pdf Shelf Number: 129231 Keywords: HomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence (Honduras)Violent Crime |
Author: Barranco, Raymond E. Title: Latinos, Immigration Policy, and Geographic Diversification: Examining the Effects of Concentrated Poverty, Segregation, and Low-skill Employment on Homicide Summary: This study consists of three separate, yet interrelated analyses - all three examine the effects of Latino immigration. Since the mid-1980s, the pattern of settlement by Latino migrants has changed dramatically. These migrants are now settling in parts of the United States that have never before had significant Latino populations. This has led many to fear an increase in crime. Unfortunately, early explanations of immigration and crime focused on the experience of Eastern European immigrants. Therefore, it has not been clear whether the experience of Latino immigrants could be explained in the same way – especially with some researchers finding that immigrants now lower crime rates. However, most recent research on immigration has failed to analyze any of the new areas of settlement. The first study examines immigration‟s effect on Latino homicide victimization by grouping migrants according to their period of entry into the United States. Results show that immigration has no effect in traditional areas, while only recent immigrant arrivals have an effect in new destinations. Preliminary results from an additional analysis suggest this could be due to changing emigration patterns in Mexico. Since 1990, more Mexican migrants have been coming from states with high levels of violence. The second study attempts to explain the effects of immigration on Latino homicide with various measures of segregation. Given the beneficial nature of ethnic enclaves, it is assumed that contact between Latinos will lower homicide victimization. Results support this hypothesis, showing that Latino-Latino contact has a greater effect on homicide than Latino-White contact. However, the effect of recent immigrants in new destinations cannot be explained away by any of the segregation measures. As noted in the first analysis, a possible explanation is the changing emigration patterns of Mexico. The third and final analysis examines how Latino immigration affects black homicide rates through competition for low-skill employment. Results show that when Latinos gain ground in low-skill employment relative to blacks, black homicide victimization increases. However, the findings apply only to metropolitan and new destination areas. Further analysis reveals that among the low-skill industries, the strongest effects are for Manufacturing/Construction and Services. Details: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 2011. 132p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-03112011-110131/unrestricted/RBarranco_Dissertation.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-03112011-110131/unrestricted/RBarranco_Dissertation.pdf Shelf Number: 129430 Keywords: Employment and CrimeHomicidesImmigrationLatino MigrantsLatinos and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Gray, Sherrian Title: Trends in Urban Crime and Violence in Kingston, Jamaica Summary: This case focuses on examining criminal activity in Jamaica, specifically on the country’s capital city, Kingston. Over the past thirty years, there has been a general increase in rates of serious violent crime in Jamaica, particularly within but not exclusively the Kingston Metropolitan Area (which includes Kingston, St. Andrew and urban St. Catherine), as well as, the country’s second city Montego Bay has experienced increases in crime. This case however will examine specific conditions in the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) relative to types of crime and the possible explanatory factors such as unemployment, socio-economic conditions and migration that may contribute to crime. It will also highlight examples of the Jamaican Government’s efforts to tackle crime and violence in the country. Details: Case study prepared for Enhancing Urban Safety and Security: Global Report on Human Settlements, 2007. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/GRHS.2007.CaseStudy.Crime.Kingston.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Jamaica URL: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/GRHS.2007.CaseStudy.Crime.Kingston.pdf Shelf Number: 129432 Keywords: HomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence (Jamaica)Violent Crime |
Author: Hällsten, Mark Title: Crime as a Price of Inequality? The Delinquency Gap between Children of Immigrants and Children of Native Swedes Summary: We examine the gap in registered crime between the children of immigrants and the children of native Swedes. Our study is the first in Sweden to address the role of family and environmental background in creating the gap in recorded crimes. Lack of resources within the family and/or in the broader social environment, particularly in neighborhoods and schools, generates higher risks for criminal activity in children, and if the children of immigrants to a larger extent are underprivileged in those resources, a gap in crime may occur. In the empirical analyses we follow all individuals who completed compulsory schooling during the period 1990 to 1993 in the Stockholm Metropolitan area (N=66,330), and we analyze how background factors related to the family of origin and neighborhood segregation during adolescence influence the gap in recorded crimes, which are measured in 2005. For males, we are generally able to explain between half and three-quarters of this gap in crime by parental socioeconomic resources and neighborhood segregation. For females, we can explain even more, sometimes the entire gap. Resources in the family of origin appear to be the strongest mediator. In addition, the residual differences are virtually unrelated to immigrants’ country of origin, indicating that ‘culture’ or other shared context-of-exit factors matter very little in generating the gap. Details: Stockholm: The Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University; Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies (SULCIS), Stockholm University, 2011. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2013 at: http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.55504.1321514493!/SULCISWP_2011_1.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sweden URL: http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.55504.1321514493!/SULCISWP_2011_1.pdf Shelf Number: 129655 Keywords: Immigrants and Crime (Sweden)ImmigrationJuvenile DelinquencyJuvenile OffendersNeighborhoods and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Tranchant, Jean-Pierre Title: Making the Urban Poor Safer: Lessons from Nairobi and Maharashtra Summary: Mumbai and Nairobi have acutely unequal urban development, with respectively 40 per cent and 60 per cent of their urban population living in slums. The most impoverished neighbourhoods are characterised by severe lack of service provision and poor access to employment opportunities. Urban violence is deeply rooted in the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by slum-dwellers, such as lack of steady income, lack of access to amenities and lack of connection to state resources. Yet security provision fails to address violence in this broader social and economic context, while efforts at tackling urban vulnerability often do not address its links with violence and physical insecurity. Issues of under-policing, unemployment or lack of services that shape urban violence are ultimately intertwined with the difficulty faced by slum-dwellers to interact with state authorities. Formal and informal policies need to take these local realities into account while building on local experience of what works best to reduce vulnerability and minimise violence. Details: Brighton, UK; Institute of Development Studies, 2013. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Briefing, Issue 47: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3273/PB47%20Final%20Online.pdf;jsessionid=01A352FF603589CC46DBFBAB47B1F49B?sequence=1 Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3273/PB47%20Final%20Online.pdf;jsessionid=01A352FF603589CC46DBFBAB47B1F49B?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 131814 Keywords: Fear of Crime Poverty Slums Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas Urban Crime |
Author: Corbacho, Ana Title: Crime and Erosion of Trust: Evidence for Latin America Summary: Crime has tangible economic costs. It also has less understood and likely sizable intangible costs. In particular, widespread crime has the potential to weaken trust between citizens and institutions, undermine government reform efforts, and become an obstacle to development. Yet, the impact of crime on trust remains relatively unexplored in the literature. This paper analyzes the potential interrelationship between individual victimization and several measures of trust, including trust in formal public institutions and trust in informal private networks. It is based on a representative sample of individuals in 19 countries in Latin America. The empirical strategy is intended to mitigate overt biases and assess sensitivity to hidden biases. The results show that victimization has a substantial negative effect on trust in the local police but no robust effect on informal institutions. Governments may henceforth need to redouble efforts to reduce victimization and the resulting erosion of trust in public institutions. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2012. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: IDB working paper series; 344)Accessed March 12, 2014 at: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=37071808 Year: 2012 Country: Latin America URL: http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=37071808 Shelf Number: 131866 Keywords: Police LegitimacySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTrustVictimizationVictims of Crime |
Author: California Sex Offender Management Board Title: The Impact of Victimization on Residential Mobility: Explaining Racial and Ethnic Patterns Using the National Crime Victimization Survey Summary: Criminal victimization is known to influence decisions to move, but theories suggest that the processes leading to a moving decision may vary across racial and ethnic groups depending on household socioeconomic characteristics as well as housing market conditions. This study used a longitudinal sample of 34,134 housing units compiled from the National Crime Victimization Survey for the forty largest metropolitan areas in the United States (1995-2003) to study racial/ethnic differences in household moving behavior after victimization. Specifically, the hypotheses of the study were: (1) Black and Hispanic victims would be less likely than Whites to move, and this would remain true even after being controlled for other measured household characteristics because it is unlikely that the data would be able to capture all socioeconomic and structural obstacles that minorities face in their housing search process; (2) racial/ethnic residential segregation may reduce the impact of victimization on moving for Black and Hispanic households, and the moderating effect of residential segregation may be particularly strong for Blacks since they experience the most severe segregation, and (3) in addition to the number of victimizations, victim injury and property loss may further increase the risk of moving for crime victims, and because the levels of victim injury and property loss vary across racial and ethnic groups, it is important to consider how these factors may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in moving after victimization. Multilevel discrete-time hazard models were used for the analyses. The results provided partial support for the hypotheses, but they also showed that the link between victimization and mobility is more complex than expected. Specifically, I find that victimization is less strongly associated with moving among Blacks and Hispanics than it is with moving among Whites. In special circumstances, however, victimization can significantly increase the chances of moving for minority residents, and this is especially the case for Black households after a property loss. Their moving behavior also is related to market conditions, as residential segregation will reduce opportunities for minority residents, Blacks in particular, to move after victimization. For Hispanics, the analysis of the victimization-mobility relationship yielded estimates with relatively large standard errors, and this suggests the need for larger samples and the need for consideration of the sub-group diversity among Hispanics. The findings have important implications for research and policy development, and they extend how we think about racial/ethnic disparities in the link between crime and mobility. Details: Final report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2013. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244867.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244867.pdf Shelf Number: 131952 Keywords: HousingNeighborhoods and CrimeRacial/Ethnic DisparitiesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVictimization Survey |
Author: Corcoran, Jonathan Title: Community variations in hoax calls and suspicious fires : geographic, temporal and socio-economic dimensions and trajectories Summary: The present project seeks to better understand the spatial dynamics of suspicious fires and malicious hoax calls across Queensland. Currently an extensive body of empirical research considers the psychological motivations and disorders related to fire setting behaviour. Not surprisingly policy and prevention initiatives also focus on individual behaviours or predispositions. While some studies are beginning to consider the spatial and environmental characteristics where fires occur, the current project is the first to examine fire incidents over such a large geographic area (State of Queensland) and time period (13 years). In so doing it makes central the spaces in which malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires occur and how these incidents in these spaces change over time. Research objectives This research aims to examine and capture the spatial and temporal patterning of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires across Queensland. It takes a longitudinal approach examining the geographical trajectories of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires over time. This project aims to identify changing patterns of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires over time by categorising changes into persistent, transient or emergent spatial concentrations. Further it identifies the most salient socio-economic characteristics of spatial areas that predict the occurrence and spatial patterning of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires. Details: Canberra : Criminology Research Advisory Council, 2012. 91p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://www.criminologyresearchcouncil.gov.au/reports/1314/48-1011-FinalReport.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.criminologyresearchcouncil.gov.au/reports/1314/48-1011-FinalReport.pdf Shelf Number: 132516 Keywords: Arson Calls for Service Hoax Calls (Australia) Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeSuspicious Fires |
Author: Leiber, Michael J. Title: Race/Ethnicity, Juvenile Court Processing and Case Outcomes: Fluctuation or Stability? Summary: Sampson and Laub's (1993) perspective contends that community characteristics, especially underclass poverty and racial inequality, influence the social control of youth in juvenile justice proceedings. Structural factors are believed to enhance class and race stereotypes of the poor and Blacks as either criminals or drug offenders, but can also be characterized as sexual, aggressive, etc. In turn, these actual and/or perceived threats to middle class values result in the poor and Blacks being subjected to greater social control in communities evidencing impoverishment and racial inequality. An interpretation of the perspective is that the social control of youth, and especially minority youth, will fluctuate over time due to associations with and changes in the economic and racial/ethnic inequality of communities. The main objective of the present study was to use Sampson and Laub's structural theory of inequality to examine whether characteristics of communities explain the social control of youth in general but also focuses on potential racial/ethnic and drug offending disparities across White, Black, and Hispanic youth within juvenile justice proceedings. In anticipation of these possible relationships, an assessment was done to see to what extent these relationships vary or remain relatively stable over time, and if they are race and/or ethnic specific with drug offending. Data was provided by the National Juvenile Court Archive (NJCA) and represented county-level aggregated information for sixteen states involving 172 counties for over thirty years (1985, 1995, 2005, and 2009). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to predict the proportion of referrals petitioned, detained, received out-of-home placement, and change models to understand how changes in the independent variables over time influenced changes in the dependent variables over time. A second data set, also provided by NJCA, was used that represented individual-level data of all delinquent referrals in 67 counties in a Northeast state from January 2000 through December 2010. Legal variables (e.g. crime severity, prior record), extralegal considerations (e.g. gender, age), and decision-making at intake, adjudication, and judicial disposition were captured. Hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) was used to analyze the data for the purpose of simultaneously estimating the amount of variation of both the individual (level-1) and county (level-2) measures at three processing junctures. In addition to the estimation of main and interaction effects, cross-level interactions were also estimated to examine how youth from different racial/ethnic backgrounds are treated in the juvenile court depending on county of residence. In short, minimal to modest support was found for Sampson and Laub's (1993) perspective. Macro-level variables were at times found to be determinants of social control at each of the four time frames and to a somewhat greater extent in explaining case outcomes in the 67counties in a Northeast state. However, the effects were sporadic and not always in the predicted direction. In fact, underclass poverty and racial/ethnic inequality most often were not statistically significant determinants of social control. Limited evidence was also found for anticipated relationships between community characteristics and disadvantaged treatment of minorities and drug offenders. When community characteristics significantly impacted the treatment of Blacks, Hispanics, and/or drug offenders and decision-making, the effects at times resulted in leniency rather than greater social control. An examination of the results across thirty years showed, with a few exceptions, stability in the relationships rather than fluctuation or change. At the individual-level, Black drug offenders were subjected to greater social control at intake than other offenders. Hispanics and Hispanic drug offenders were also found to have a greater odds of being adjudicated compared to similarly situated Whites. At judicial disposition, Blacks and Hispanics had a greater likelihood of receiving the more severe outcome of out-home-placement compared to Whites. These effects were enhanced if a minority youth was charged with a drug offense. In addition, drug offenders and in particular, Black drug offenders and Hispanic drug offenders, were responded to differently throughout court proceedings than other types of offenders. The findings reported here indicate that underclass poverty and racial/ethnic inequality alone (or if at all) do not seem to account for these occurrences. Details: Final report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2014. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 30, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/246229.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/246229.pdf Shelf Number: 132571 Keywords: Drug OffendersJuvenile Case ProcessingJuvenile CourtsJuvenile OffendersMinority OffendersPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeYouthful Offenders |
Author: Sullivan, Gary Title: Poor, Powerless and in Trouble with the Law: Achieving Just Outcomes through Problem-Solving Principles Summary: Serious criminal activity by professional criminals is a numerically small part of criminal behavior. It is not inconsequential but the criminal justice system is constructed as if it is central to its operation. To put it another way, the justice system is distorted by a focus in its systems and processes on exceptional crime. The system acknowledges the threat of punishment, and utilises due process, via the adversarial system. People charged have rights, but the elimination of serious crime is the aim. This is an understandable focus but ultimately unachievable. Serious organised crime will never be completely eliminated, and the bulk of the criminal justice system's work will be with high prevalence, unremarkable crime committed by the poor and powerless. The State is increasingly transferring minor matters from the traditional criminal courts into the inflexible infringements system. It imposes penalties without taking a person's circumstances into account. Rich and poor are fined the same amount for the same infraction. The infringements system therefore impacts more heavily on the poor. After more than 30 years working in a legal service in a poor community, I have provided legal advice and representation to countless individuals and several gen-erations of families, and participated in reform activities in tenancy law, credit law, the Children's Court of Victoria, the infringements system, consumer protection and police behaviour. I have also played a role in monitoring and improving the legal professional standards in community legal services. Over this period there have been significant changes in the nature of Australian society, welfare support mechanisms and legal systems. Apart from helping relatively few individuals among the poor and powerless, these changes have not had a major positive impact, and in some areas the impact is negative. Disproportionate to their numbers in the population, the poor and powerless continue to be gathered up in the justice system. Conditions of poverty generate a high incidence of low-level crime. This commonplace criminal activity is not adequately addressed. The relationship between poverty and crime is not so much ignored but tolerated in the justice system, reflecting a view that poverty is eternal and unchanging. Addressing this imbalance in the impact of the justice system on the poor and powerless requires a more comprehensive approach to rehabilitation that addresses the root cause of the criminality, while continuing to uphold a civil society. Such an approach, based on problem-solving principles, addresses the quiet desperation, chaotic lifestyles and multiple disadvantages that bring the poor and powerless into conflict with the broader community and the justice system. Details: Melbourne: Victoria Law Foundation, 2011. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/images/stories/files/CLC_Report_2010-11(1).pdf Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/images/stories/files/CLC_Report_2010-11(1).pdf Shelf Number: 132589 Keywords: Assistance to the PoorIndigent DefenseLegal AidPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Muggah, Robert Title: Researching the Urban Dilemma: Urbanization, Poverty and Violence Summary: In 2007, the world became a predominantly urban society. Across the world, an estimated three quarters of economic production takes place in cities. Urbanization brings with it possibilities of improved access to jobs, goods and services for poor people in developing countries and beyond as globalization trends connect cities world-wide. However, urbanization has also brought new challenges in terms of conflict, violence and urban governance - and citizen security in particular. The World Bank's landmark 2011 World Development Report highlighted the significance of violence as a development problem. Its work noted how violence is changing, becoming less structured around notions of civil war and conflict, and more focused around criminal violence, terrorism and civil unrest. The impacts of violence on human development are significant and varied. As Stergios Skaperdas has documented, they include direct costs such as death and injury, destruction to public infrastructure, personal property and assets, as well as indirect costs like psychological trauma, population displacement, the disruption of social services, reduced economic growth, brain drain and increased spending on law enforcement. What is clear is that violence has emerged as one of the central development challenges of our time. Virtually all fragile states have experienced repeated episodes of violence, and the large majority of the world's poorest people live in states affected by violence - over 1.5 billion people. As the 2011 World Development Report has underscored, the close relationship between violence and poverty is reflected in this stark fact: no low-income fragile or conflict-affected state has yet to achieve a single Millennium Development Goal. Today's cities are centres of multi-layered violence. Criminal and organized violence, associated with the drug trade in some countries have become entwined with national politics. Gangs and militias have come to substitute for public authority, offering some protection to communities, but often at great cost. Social violence, including violence within the household, is also a significant problem, particularly for vulnerable youth and women living in these environments. In response to these challenges, Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) have launched Safe and Inclusive Cities. This collaborative research initiative is aimed at generating an evidence base on the connections between urban violence, inequalities and poverty and on identifying the most effective strategies for addressing these challenges. The present study marks the first step in this endeavour, and has served to inform the design and scope of the Safe and Inclusive Cities research initiative. Towards this end, the study set out to achieve four objectives: 1. Document what is known about the connections between violence, inequalities and poverty in urban centres and assess the strength of the knowledge base. Particular focus was given to assessing evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia; 2. Describe the state of theory on violence, urbanization and poverty reduction, and assess the extent to which they interact, and whether emerging evidence actually informs theoretical debates and assumptions guiding work in these fields; 3. Identify key evidence gaps that require further investigation; and 4. Map out key actors (researchers and research organizations) that are producing knowledge on these issues. The outcome is a study that promotes an integrated and comprehensive approach to tackling the challenges posed by rapid urbanization, escalating violence, and increased poverty and inequalities. Details: Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2014 at: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/PublishingImages/Researching-the-Urban-Dilemma-Baseline-study.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/PublishingImages/Researching-the-Urban-Dilemma-Baseline-study.pdf Shelf Number: 129785 Keywords: PovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban AreasViolenceViolent Crimes |
Author: Dodman, David Title: Understanding the Nature and Scale of Urban Risk in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and its Implications for Humanitarian Preparedness, Planning and Response Summary: More than half of the world's population now lives in urban centres. Most of the world's urban population and its largest cities lie outside the most prosperous nations and almost all future growth in the world's urban population is projected to be in low- and middle-income countries. Within these urban centres it is common for up to 50 per cent of the population to live in informal settlements. These are often located on land that is exposed to hazards, with poor-quality provision for water, sanitation, drainage, infrastructure, healthcare and emergency services. The residents of these low-income and informal settlements are therefore highly vulnerable to a range of risks, many of which are specific to urban settings. Yet despite this, many humanitarian agencies have little experience of working in urban areas, or of negotiating the complex political economies that exist in towns and cities. This working paper has two main purposes: (1) to review the quality of the evidence base and to outline knowledge gaps about the nature and scale of urban risk in low- and middle-income countries; and (2) to assess the policy implications for humanitarian preparedness, planning and response. It does so by analysing a wide range of academic and policy literature and drawing on a number of interviews with key informants in the field. It particularly focuses on evidence from Africa and Asia, but also draws on case studies from Latin America, because many examples of good practice come from this region. The paper aims to help ensure that humanitarian and development actors are able to promote urban resilience and disaster risk reduction and to respond effectively to the humanitarian emergencies that are likely to occur in cities. Details: London: Human Settlements Group, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2013. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10624IIED.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10624IIED.pdf Shelf Number: 132644 Keywords: PovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban AreasUrban Crime |
Author: Schultze-Kraft, Markus Title: 'External Stresses' and Violence Mitigation in Fragile Contexts: Setting the Stage for Policy Analysis Summary: Following on from the World Bank's World Development Report 2011 on conflict, security and development, a debate has emerged about the role of so-called 'external stresses' in generating 'new' forms of violence and insecurity in poor and fragile countries. The Bank posits that the combination of internal stresses (e.g. low income levels, high youth unemployment) and external stresses (e.g. cross-border conflict spillovers, illicit drug trafficking) heightens the risk of different forms of violence, which are not confined to inter-state and civil war but range from communal conflicts to criminal violence and terrorism. This perspective is useful in as much as it makes explicit that instability and political disorder are not only related to domestic weaknesses of fragile states, but are also conditioned by outside forces. Yet the binary internal-external/fragility-vulnerability model that underpins the World Bank's analysis of external stresses appears to be too limited to inform strategies to address the challenges that arise from pressures as diverse as illicit transnational trafficking, price and resource shocks, and cross-border conflict spillovers. A more comprehensive and nuanced framework for policy analysis is called for, based on the recognition that external stresses: (a) tend to involve external, internal as well as transnational actors and variables that are often interrelated; (b) create both losers and winners, and can promote the interests of powerful state and non-state groups in and outside of the country or world region under 'stress'; and (c) do not all have the same kind of impact on states and societies in terms of generating violence. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute Of Development Studies, 2013. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Evidence Report No. 36: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/ER36FinalOnline.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/ER36FinalOnline.pdf Shelf Number: 132645 Keywords: Drug TraffickingSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorismViolenceViolence Prevention |
Author: Stef, Nicolae Title: Wage Inequalities, Unemployment and Crime in the Transition and the Post-Transition Period: Case of Romania Summary: This article analyses the impact of the unemployment level and the wage inequalities among economic sectors on the criminality degree in the case of a country that experienced a long period of economic transition. Starting from the traditional perspective established by Becker (1968), we put forward a theoretical model that evaluates the crime behavior. In order to test the conclusions model, we constructed an original panel for all Romanias counties including full data from 1991 to 2008. Our estimates show that increasing the number of unemployed has a positive impact on the number of crimes recorded by police. These results are consistent with those already obtained in the economic literature. Furthermore, a reduced gap between the minimum legal wage and the average wage can favor the decrease of crime behaviors especially in the case of the industrial sector. Thus, if the Romanian state decides to reduce the number of crimes, it would be useful to improve the public policy of unemployment and investment. Details: Strasbourg: LARGE Research Center, University of Strasbourg, 2011. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1971256 Year: 2011 Country: Romania URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1971256 Shelf Number: 132693 Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment and Crime |
Author: Bell, Brian Title: Crime Scars: Recessions and the Making of Career Criminals Summary: Recessions lead to short-term job loss, lower levels of happiness and decreasing income levels. There is growing evidence that workers who first join the labour market during economic downturns suffer from poor job matches that have a sustained detrimental effect on their wages and career progression. This paper uses a range of US and UK data to document a more disturbing long-run effect of recessions: young people who leave school in the midst of recessions are significantly more likely to lead a life of crime than those graduating into a buoyant labour market. These effects are long lasting and substantial. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2014. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 8332: Accessed July 23, 2014 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8332.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8332.pdf Shelf Number: 132736 Keywords: Economics and Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment and Crime |
Author: Clear, Todd R. Title: Predicting Crime through Incarceration: The Impact of Rates of Prison Cycling On Rates of Crime in Communities Summary: The purpose of this project has been to estimate the impact of "prison cycling" -the flow into and out of prison - on crime rates in communities, with special concern about areas that have high rates of prison cycling. In this work, we explicitly hypothesized that: (1) there would be a positive impact of neighborhood reentry rates on neighborhood crime rates, controlling for neighborhood characteristics; (2) there would be a positive effect of neighborhood removal rates (admissions) on neighborhood crime rates, controlling for neighborhood characteristics; (3) the effect of the rate of both removal and reentry on the neighborhood crime rate would depend upon the level of removal and reentry (tipping point); and (4) the effect of the rate of both removal and reentry on crime the neighborhood crime rate would depend upon the level of concentrated disadvantage in the neighborhood (interaction effect). To complete the proposed work, we compiled datasets on prison admissions and releases that would be comparable across places and geocoded and mapped those data onto crime rates across those same places. The data used were panel data. The data were quarterly or annual data, depending on the location, from a mix of urban (Boston, Newark and Trenton) and rural communities in New Jersey covering various years between 2000 and 2012. Census tract characteristics come from the 2000 Census Summary File 3. The crime, release, and admission data were individual level data that were then aggregated from the individual incident level to the census tract level by quarter (in Boston and Newark) or year (in Trenton). The analyses centered on the effects of rates of prison removals and returns on rates of crime in communities (defined as census tracts) in the cities of Boston, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, and Trenton, New Jersey, and across rural municipalities in New Jersey. Our analytic strategy, was one of analytic triangulation. Through the data collection associated with this project, we amassed a uniquely comprehensive crime and incarceration dataset over time - arguably one of the most comprehensive assembled to date. This dataset allowed us to model the relationship between crime and incarceration using a range of techniques (fixed effects panel models, Arrellano-Bond estimations, and vector auto-regression) taking advantage of each and being partially freed of the limitations of any one. We gave considerable attention to the problem of modeling. As might be expected, different models often provide different results. The most parsimonious models provide small standard errors with significant results, but there are sometimes sign changes when new control variables are added, suggesting instability in the modeling strategy. By contrast, the most stable results are provided by fixed effects models that, while intuitively attractive, have the disadvantage of large standard errors. When we use this analytic approach, we achieve results that, we believe, are more reliable. Overall, our work finds strong support for the impact of prison cycling on crime. It seems that such cycling has different effects in different kinds of neighborhoods, consistent with the idea of a "tipping point" but more clearly expressed as an interaction between crime policy and type of neighborhood. The results in Tallahassee, Boston, and Trenton provide consistent support for this idea. In Newark, as a result of the city's limited variability in neighborhood disadvantage, we failed to find the same pattern. Further research will investigate whether this neighborhood interaction holds in other sites. It will also enable us to think about how neighborhood change over time affects the prison cycling-crime relationship. Do neighborhoods that improve start to benefit from incarceration policy? In contrast, does current incarceration policy become a factor that inhibits neighborhood improvement? Details: Final Report submitted to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2014. 141p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2014 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/247318.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/247318.pdf Shelf Number: 132949 Keywords: Crime ModelingCrime PlacesHotspotsNeighborhoods and CrimeRecidivismSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Imafidon, Kenny Title: The Kenny Report. How do politics and eocnomics affect gangs and serious youth violence across the UK? Summary: The word 'gang' means different things to different people: for some it may be a group of three or more people with hoodies; or a group of young people who hang about in their local estate till late in the night; or a group of people who join up to commit criminal offences. Gangs and serious youth violence have affected our country for years, especially in major cities such as London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Gangs have been around for decades and have been constantly evolving over the years, they are far from a new problem generated by our modern society. There has been some criticism that the government has not established a single definition that can explain what a gang is for everyone else to understand. In addition, the word 'gang' is widely and loosely used in our society by members of the public, by the media, and by professionals and politicians etc. The widely accepted definition of a gang, which I agree with to a degree, is set out in the Centre for Social Justice's 2009 Report, Dying to Belong. The Centre for Social Justice 2009 report Dying to Belong defines a gang as: "A relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of young people who: 1. See themselves (and are seen by others) as a discernible group; 2. Engage in criminal activity and violence; 3. Lay claim over territory (this is not necessarily geographical territory but can include an illegal economy as territory); 4. Have some form of identifying structural feature 5. Are in conflict with other, similar gangs." Gangs and serious youth violence obviously create social disorder and have a detrimental effect on our society. The big question everyone is asking is how do we solve this gang problem, because the justice system is clearly not deterring the growth of gangs and serious youth violence in our society? At the same time there have been many inquiries, investigations and academic research to "find out about and understand the objective characteristics of gangs such as their history, territories, size, nature and the risk factors that prompt gang involvement. Thanks to all this extensive study and research we are now at a point where we can objectively understand the many dynamics of a gang. Yet all the research we have on gangs still leaves us stuck asking the same big question year after year, government after government: "How do we solve this gang problem?" Gangs consist of people, just like you and me, and yet there is very little research that sets out to understand the subjective characteristics of the people directly or indirectly involved in gangs. Too much time is spent understanding gangs as a whole and not enough time is spent tackling the root of the problem, which must surely include a deeper understanding of the individuals who make up these gangs, the people actively involved in the violence that take place in our communities every day. Understanding the individuals and not the group will enable us to better understand the socio-economic issues that these communities face. Only when we understand the relationship between socio-economic factors and gang involvement, particularly in our deprived communities, can we make the right changes, and start to get to the heart of the problem. It is not possible to solve a problem you do not understand, nor one you do not want to solve. This report asks the question: "How do politics and economics affect gangs and serious youth violence across the UK?" It is based on a highly detailed case study of an individual called Harro, who society would see as a gang member and a cold hearted villain, but who would be described by his friends and family as a decent person with good manners and a heart of gold, and who would do whatever he could for his family and friends. This central case study provides an insight into the thoughts and feelings of a single real-life individual, and the level of socio-economic deprivation he faced. A young man full of potential, who would still be alive today had the support he needed been in place when he needed it. This case study shows us how ill-informed social policy and the ongoing cuts in the youth sector have affected Harro, his family, and many others like them in their community. This case study is based on one individual but this one individual shares characteristics with many young people involved in gangs, for example feelings of hopelessness, exclusion from society, socio-economic deprivation, growing up without positive male role models and not knowing how to get out of it all and "find help to exit that lifestyle. This report analyses seven significant influences, which affect young men like Harro and which steer them in the direction of gang membership and committing serious youth violence. These areas are: education, employment prospects, positive role models, housing, health, relationships and socialisation awareness, and community support. Details: London: Safer London Foundation, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 12, 2014 at: http://www.saferlondonfoundation.org/resources.php Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.saferlondonfoundation.org/resources.php Shelf Number: 133000 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (U.K.)Juvenile OffendersPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Jemia, Monia Ben Title: Violence against Women in the Context of Political Transformations and Economic Crisis in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: Trends and Recommendations toward Equality and Justice Summary: EMHRN's new report "Violence against Women in the Context of Political Transformations and Economic Crisis in the Euro-Mediterranean Region" comes to shed light on the sharp increase in gender-based violence. Unfortunately, the euphoria of the Arab Spring has given way to the sobering realisation that women have been the main victims of the turmoil rocking the region. In Europe, the economic crisis has led to disproportionate growing poverty and lack of economic independence among women compared to men. These trends are aggravated by societal attitudes and conservative discriminatory policies. Details: Copenhagen: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), 2014. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2014 at: http://www.euromedrights.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/VAW-report_final_en.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: http://www.euromedrights.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/VAW-report_final_en.pdf Shelf Number: 133160 Keywords: Gender-Based Violence (Europe)PovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Against Women |
Author: Blank, Lorraine Title: Rapid Youth Assessment in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Summary: Crime and violence in Port Moresby and the National Capital District (NCD) are widespread and costly. In 2004, 68 percent of households reported that they had been victims of crime at least once in the past year and 51 percent had been victims of multiple crimes. Violence against women is pervasive, with domestic violence and rape, including gang rape, routine. By 2005, there had been small decreases in reported victimization; however, 61 percent of households still reported being victims of at least one crime and 46 percent reported being victims of multiple crimes. At the same time, costs associated with security and theft amounted to an estimated 12-15 percent of business turnover and law and order problems serve as a deterrent to investment. Young people account for the greatest share of crime and violence, so tackling the problem means addressing the underlying causes of youth crime and violence. This report provides a rapid assessment of youth and youth serving institutions in Port Moresby. The report relies on extensive consultations held in Port Moresby from July 7 - 23, 2008. Meetings were held with over 100 young people, their parents, community leaders, government officials, researchers, youth workers, leaders of youth groups and youth serving agencies, and representatives of the international non-governmental and donor agencies. Community meetings were held in three Port Moresby settlements (Savaka, Vadavada and Morata). Youth in a residential program for street boys were also consulted. The objective of this rapid assessment is to inform the design of an Urban Youth Empowerment Project by providing information on youth and youth serving initiatives. Section II examines the extent and root causes of youth unemployment and crime. High risk groups and monitoring indicators are identified. Good practices and lessons learned are presented in Section III. Section IV reports the mapping of community and civil society organizations - their programs and constraints and areas for potential partnership. Section V reviews the National Youth Commission Annual Work Plan (2008/2009) and youth programs implemented in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the last five years and ends with a review of relevant service delivery mechanisms and gap analysis" and rationale / outline of potential entry points for the Bank in certain sectors. Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008. 93p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 4, 2014 at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAPUANEWGUINEA/Resources/PNG_UYEP_PNG_Rapid_Youth_Assessment.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Papua New Guinea URL: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAPUANEWGUINEA/Resources/PNG_UYEP_PNG_Rapid_Youth_Assessment.pdf Shelf Number: 133176 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquencyJuvenile Offenders (Papua New Guinea)Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment and CrimeViolent CrimeYouthful Offenders |
Author: Kar, Dev Title: Brazil: Capital Flight, Illicit Flows, and Macroeconomic Crises, 1960-2012 Summary: This September 2014 study from Global Financial Integrity found that more than US$400 billion flowed illegally out of Brazil between 1960 and 2012-draining domestic resources, driving the underground economy, exacerbating inequality, and facilitating crime and corruption. The Brazilian economy lost at least US$401.6 billion in illicit financial outflows from 1960 to 2012. These outflows represent the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion, and have serious negative consequences for Brazil. Outflows were found to drain resources from the Brazilian economy, to drive the underground economy, and to exacerbate inequality. Furthermore, the report found that illicit outflows are growing. Annual average illicit outflows increased from US$310 million in the 1960s to US$14.7 billion in the first decade of the twenty first century before jumping to US$33.7 billion over the last three years of the study, 2010-2012. On average, Brazil's illicit outflows are equivalent to 1.5% of the country's official GDP. Details: Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity, 2014. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2014 at: http://www.gfintegrity.org/report/country-case-study-brazil/ Year: 2014 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.gfintegrity.org/report/country-case-study-brazil/ Shelf Number: 133183 Keywords: CorruptionFinancial Crimes (Brazil)Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTax EvasionUnderground Economy |
Author: Aleman, Alonso Ayala Title: Urban Upgrading Intervention and Barrio Integration in Caracas, Venezuela Summary: "Spatial segregation is the reflection of social structures onto space". Understood as a negative condition the socio-spatial segregation of urban dwellers as the opposing form to urban integration has become a major hindrance to both functional urban development and the inclusive vision that cities are supposed to foster. This premise forms the underpinning rational to construct this dissertation using the situation of the informal settlements of Caracas, Venezuela, as its subject of analysis. Like in many other Latin American major cities the rapid and unregulated urbanization of Caracas is compounded by social polarization, socio-economic inequalities and urban fragmentation. Inefficient government responses to provide large portions of the urban population with adequate access to housing have resulted in the formation and consolidation of informally-built areas outside the purview of urban regulations. Known in Venezuela as barrios de ranchos, these settlements are the spatial manifestation of urban poverty, social exclusion and precarious urban conditions characterized by poor quality housing, poor access to basic services, insecure property rights, and ambiguous citizenship, all of this contributing to their lack of integration to the surrounding city. The physical and socio-economic integration and inclusion of these urban dwellers represent a tremendous challenge for policymakers, professionals and civil society alike. Particular attention must be devoted to them in order to understand why the situation has evolved into what is today with the purpose of envisioning strategies aimed at integrating them to mainstream urban development. Actions to remedy this situation have fallen under projects and programmes implemented in a piecemeal basis, tackling mostly the physical improvement of these settlements. Such actions, at least in the Venezuelan context, have been many times tainted by political patronage and manipulation. It is argued in this dissertation that an integrated, holistic and multi-disciplinary approach denuded from political patronage is necessary to activate the integration process of these settlements. In this context, urban upgrading interventions have assumed a special significance in the process of spatial and socio-economic integration of barrios. For the purpose of this dissertation a specific upgrading project in one informal settlement in Caracas has been chosen to both explore the meaning of integration and how to actually achieve it by drawing up the lessons derived from the project's planning and implementation process. The project, known as the Caracas Barrio Upgrading Project (CAMEBA), has been undertaken in two major barrio agglomerations of Caracas in an attempt towards devising a humane and integrated barrio renewal policy. The empirical evaluation of CAMEBA is believed to offer valuable insights and positive lessons for future implementation of urban integrationist strategies. The main objective of this dissertation is therefore to explore the meaning of urban integration using the implementation process of project CAMEBA as its subject of research. In order to operationalize the research, the theoretical underpinnings of Polanyi's modes of economic integration were used as the base to construct the analytical model to be tested in the field. The articulation of such model was guided on the other hand by a European research on urban integration known as the URBEX project, which applied Polanyi's model in spatial terms and emphazised the interplay of three functional domains as the key to socio-economic integration, viz. the State's redistributive policies, public reciprocity and the dynamics of market exchange. Even though the theoretical underpinnings of the model were used by the URBEX project in the context of Western cities in Europe, this dissertation attempted to adapt the analytical framework envisaged by this project to the particular situation of the barrios of Caracas. Through this theoretical exercise a number of variables and indicators were developed to measure the degree of socio-economic, political and spatial integration of the barrio intervened by the upgrading project of CAMEBA. The complexity of the issue called for an understanding of the different forces and processes behind the social, economic, political and spatial exclusion of the large portion of the Venezuelan urban dwellers that live in barrios. The exploration thus far points out to the fact that urban upgrading endeavours in informal settlements in the context analysed can only be sustainable and relevant if the community being intervened is able to own the process and become the main stakeholder of the intervention. The study reveals that the process of barrio upgrading must be activated and sustained over a period of time in order to enable barrio inhabitants to realize their much cherished aspirations including the achievement of a sense of socio-economic and political integration and a sustained improvement in the quality of their lives. Quality access to basic and physical infrastructure, socio-political recognition of barrios and fostering of proactive community organizations while enabling their meaningful participation in the barrio upgrading process emerge as the major preconditions for working towards the urban integration of barrios. The analytical model articulated in the study stands out as a useful contribution to the scientific debate regarding urban integration, and it is expected to inform policymakers and urban specialists about possible paths towards the integration of informal settlements Details: Dortmund, Germany: Faculty of Spatial Planning, Dortmund University of Technology, 2008. 243p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 9, 2014 at: https://eldorado.tu-dortmund.de Year: 2008 Country: Venezuela URL: https://eldorado.tu-dortmund.de Shelf Number: 133193 Keywords: Barrios (Venezuela)PovertySlumsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban AreasUrban Development |
Author: de Blasio, Guido Title: Down and Out in Italian Towns: Measuring the Impact of Economic Downturns on Crime Summary: The paper investigates the effect of local economic conditions on crime. The study focuses on Italy's local labor markets and analyzes the short-term response of crime to the severe slump of 2007-2009. It shows that the downturn led to a significant increase in economic-related offenses that do not require particular criminal skills or tools (namely, thefts); on the other hand, for offenses for which specific skills and criminal experience are essential (say, robberies) the impact of the crisis was negative. The results also suggest that: i) labor market institutions (i.e. wage supplementary schemes and pro-worker contractual arrangements) had a role in slowing down the effect of the economy on crime; ii) the link between the downturn and crime was weaker in areas where the presence of organized crime is relatively more intensive. Details: Rome: Bank of Italy, 2013. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Bank of Italy Temi di Discussione (Working Paper) No. 925 : Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2293879 Year: 2013 Country: Italy URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2293879 Shelf Number: 133323 Keywords: Economics and Crime (Italy)Organized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Echazarra, Alfonso Title: Social disorganisation, immigration and perceived crime in Spanish neighbourhoods Summary: This dissertation adopts a quantitative approach to investigate the determinants of residents' perceptions of neighbourhood crime, focusing specifically on a series of structural factors at the community level, in accordance with the social disorganisation model. Using different statistical models, including correlations, linear regression, multilevel models and spatial regression analyses, and several Spanish data sources, in particular the 2001 Population and Housing Census and a nationally representative survey conducted in 2006, the research confirms the relevance of its exogenous sources in explaining perceived neighbourhood crime. These include classical variables, such as neighbourhoods' socioeconomic status, residential stability, ethnic diversity, family disruption and degree of urbanisation, but also other features related to the time, skills and resources deployed by residents in their residential areas such as commuting time to work, the number of working hours and the availability of a second home. For its part, other local conditions traditionally associated specifically with perceived neighbourhood crime, such as social incivilities and physical decay, act as mediators of other contextual effects, in particular of the number of retail shops and offices.The research also demonstrates the urban nature of the social disorganisation theory. That is, that the local conditions typically associated with social disorganisation, urban unease and the various social problems that can affect neighbourhoods, are better predictors of residents' perceptions of crime in town and large cities than in rural areas, operationalized as municipalities of less than 5,000 inhabitants. Small municipalities seem particularly successful in controlling their younger residents for neither the proportion of adolescents and young adults, nor the number of children per family exert an important effect on residents' perceptions of neighbourhood crime. Among these local conditions, special attention has been devoted to measures of diversity and immigration demonstrating that their effect on residents' perceptions of neighbourhood crime, except for the positive impact of Asians, is not necessarily robust to different model specifications and statistical methods. This erratic immigrant effect is surprising given how consistent the belief in a crime-immigration nexus is among Spaniards. Precisely on this point, the dissertation has investigated why the belief in a crime-immigration nexus varies significantly between individuals and across communities. Three variables have been identified as determining factors: contextual parochialism, right-wing ideology and the media. In rural areas with high residential stability, a significant presence of elderly population and a low socioeconomic status, residents are more likely to unconsciously associate immigration and crime, even when individual attributes are adjusted for and, more importantly, even if few migrants live in the surroundings. Not surprisingly, right-wing residents are more likely to associate both phenomena yet, in contrast to many statements by scholars and pundits, the media in Spain seems to exert a moderator effect. Details: Manchester, UK: University of Manchester, School of Social Sciences, 2012. 255p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed October 1, 2014 at: https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:183476&datastreamId=FULL-TEXT.PDF Year: 2012 Country: Spain URL: https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:183476&datastreamId=FULL-TEXT.PDF Shelf Number: 127611 Keywords: Immigrants and CrimeNeighborhoods and Crime (Spain)Social DisorganizationSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Enamorado, Ted Title: Crime and Growth Convergence: Evidence from Mexico Summary: Scholars have often argued that crime deters growth, but the empirical literature assessing such effect is scarce. By exploiting cross-municipality income and crime data for Mexico - a country that experienced a high increase in crime rates over the past decade - this study circumvents two of the most common problems faced by researchers in this area. These are: (i) the lack of a homogenous, consistently comparable measure of crime and (ii) the small sample problem in the estimation. Combining income data from poverty maps, administrative records on crime and violence, and public expenditures data at the municipal level for Mexico (2005-2010), the analysis finds evidence indicating that drug-related crimes indeed deter growth. It also finds no evidence of a negative effect on growth from crimes unrelated to drug trafficking. Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, 2013. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Research Working Paper No. 6730: Accessed October 9, 2014 at: http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/1813-9450-6730 Year: 2013 Country: Mexico URL: http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/1813-9450-6730 Shelf Number: 133906 Keywords: Crime Rates (Mexico)Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceEconomic AnalysisPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Crank, Beverly Title: The Role of Subjective and Social Factors in the Desistance Process: A Within-Individual Examination Summary: Many scholars examining desistance from crime have emphasized the importance of social factors in triggering the desistance process. Most notably, the work of Sampson and Laub (1993) focuses on the role of social bonds (e.g., marriage and employment), which serve as turning points in offenders' lives, while other scholars have emphasized other important social factors, such as antisocial peer influence (Stouthamer-Loeber, Wei, Loeber, Masten, 2004; Warr, 1998, 2002). However, missing from such works is the role of subjective factors (e.g., thinking patterns, expectations, self-identity) in the desistance process, despite evidence that changes in identity and other cognitive transformations promote desistance from criminal offending (Giordano, Cernkovich, & Rudolph, 2002; Maruna, 2001). Examining the combined role of subjective and social factors is important, because it may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the desistance process. Desistance researchers typically focus on one set of factors, while downplaying the other set of factors. Rarely have researchers examined the effects of social and subjective factors simultaneously (for exceptions, see Healy, 2010; Laub & Sampson, 2003; Morizot & Le Blanc, 2007). And even fewer attempts have been made to examine the interplay between social and subjective factors (for exceptions, see LeBel, Burnett, Maruna, & Bushway, 2008; Simons & Barr, 2012). Further, there is a special need to examine the impact of change in subjective and social factors on the desistance process using withinindividual analyses (Farrington, 2007; Horney, Osgood, & Marshall, 1995; Kazemian, 2007). Thus, research on desistance is advanced in the current study in the following three ways. First, the influence of both subjective and social factors on desistance are considered, within the same statistical model. Second, this study is based on within individual analyses. Third, the interplay between subjective and social factors is explored in this study, including mediation and moderation (interaction) effects. Data used in the current study are drawn from the Pathways to Desistance study (see Mulvey, 2004), following serious adolescent offenders for seven years - from mid-adolescence through early adulthood. The theoretical, policy, and research implications of the findings are discussed Details: Atlanta: Georgia State University, 2014. 180p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed October 9, 2014 at: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=cj_diss Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=cj_diss Shelf Number: 133903 Keywords: Criminal CareersDesistance from CrimeSocial BondsSocial ConditionsSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Bignon, Vincent Title: Stealing to Survive? Crime and Income Shocks in 19th Century France Summary: Using local administrative data from 1826 to 1936, we document the evolution of crime rates in 19th century France and we estimate the impact of a negative income shock on crime. Our identification strategy exploits the phylloxera crisis. Between 1863 and 1890, phylloxera destroyed about 40% of French vineyards. We use the geographical variation in the timing of this shock to identify its impact on property and violent crime rates, as well as minor offences. Our estimates suggest that the phylloxera crisis caused a substantial increase in property crime rates and a significant decrease in violent crimes. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2014. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 8531: Accessed October 15, 2014 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8531.pdf Year: 2014 Country: France URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8531.pdf Shelf Number: 133953 Keywords: Crime RatesEconomics and Crime (France)Historical StudyProperty CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Livingston, Stephen Title: Africa's Information Revolution: Implications for Crime, Policing, and Citizen Security Summary: Violent crime represents the most immediate threat to the personal security of most Africans. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 36 percent of all homicides globally occur in Africa. With 17 deaths per 100,000, the homicide rate in Africa is double the global average. Rates of robberies and rape in Africa also exceed global norms. The problem is worse in urban areas, with many of Africa's urban-dwellers often worrying about crime. The risk of violent crime has implications for Africa's development, governance, and stability. Crime ranks as one of the major inhibitors to investment on the continent according to private business owners. Parents choose not to send children to school rather than put them at risk in high-crime areas. Countries with higher rates of violent crime tend to make less progress in reducing poverty and expanding development. Closely linked to the threat of violent crime is the weakness of many of Africa's police forces. They are often underfunded, understaffed, and undertrained. Surveys show that a majority of Africans see police only infrequently, and therefore do not view the police as a source of protection. In addition to being ineffective in combatting crime, inadequate police training contributes to unprofessional behavior. In some cases, police are active participants in criminal activity. In others, corruption permeates the force. In still others, police use extrajudicial violence to intimidate and coerce suspected criminals, potential witnesses, and even victims. This generates high levels of distrust of the police in many African countries. The acuteness of the crime challenge has grown with rapid urbanization and the expansion of slums lacking basic services, including police presence. In many urban centers, this vacuum has been filled by gangs and organized criminal organizations that profit from extortion, kidnappings, and violence against the local population. At times these gangs are protected by corrupt police or politicians. As these criminal groups expand into trafficking of illicit goods - drugs, cigarettes, medicines, and arms - they tend to link up with transnational criminal networks, posing an even more formidable security problem. Consistently high levels of violence have far-reaching implications for how youth learn to resolve conflict-perpetuating tolerance for higher levels of violence in a society. This, in turn, fosters the acceptability of political violence and threatens the viability of democratic governance, which relies on dialogue, free speech, tolerance of opposing perspectives, and protection for minorities. The rapid expansion and accessibility of mobile communications technology in Africa is creating new opportunities for combatting crime and strengthening police accountability. Twitter, SMS, and event-mapping technologies are being used to connect communities with police and security forces as never before. This is precedent setting for many citizens, especially those in rural areas who have grown accustomed to fending for themselves. Now at least they are more able to alert one another to potential threats, mobilize the community in self-defense, and inform security sector authorities in the interest of gaining protection. In urban areas, citizens who would not normally have many interactions with the police now have a number they can call in times of trouble. Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are also connecting societies horizontally in real time. This is forging cross-regional ties and linkages that may not have previously existed and historically have emerged only with the development of a national transportation infrastructure. In the process, both economic and social integration are facilitated. This enhanced cohesiveness can contribute directly to greater stability. ICTs, often tapping into their crowdsourcing capabilities, also offer opportunities to improve police responsiveness and accountability. Crime maps provide the basis for allocating resources to match prevailing threats. They also establish a benchmark from which to assess the effectiveness of police responses. Bribe-reporting websites create a record and pattern of illegal police behavior that raise the profile of what are often treated as isolated events into a broader, measurable phenomenon requiring a policy response. While opening opportunities to enhance security and accountability, ICTs are not a panacea for resolving crime and corruption. Information is solely a tool and not the driver of reform. ICTs can be used for nefarious purposes - both by criminal organizations as well as unaccountable police forces. Rather, ICT-generated change requires an organized body of committed individuals who can use the increased accessibility of information to educate the public, engender popular participation, and press authorities for reform. It is this sustained engagement of on-the-ground actors, typically in the form of civil society organizations, that transforms information accessibility into concrete improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens. By lowering information barriers, ICTs are bringing discussion and analysis of crime in Africa out of the shadows, enhancing the potential for oversight of the security forces, and elevating citizen security. ICTs, therefore, are contributing to improved security through both internal channels via the strengthening of the state's crime data gathering capacity as well as external mechanisms to monitor, critique, and hold the security sector accountable. Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2013. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper No. 5: Accessed October 20, 2014 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ARP5-Africas-Information-Revolution1.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ARP5-Africas-Information-Revolution1.pdf Shelf Number: 131514 Keywords: Crime StatisticsGang ViolenceHomicidesOrganized CrimePolicingSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime (Africa) |
Author: Sommers, Marc Title: Dowry and Division: Youth and State Building in South Sudan Summary: - Most South Sudanese youth are undereducated and underemployed, and their priorities and perspectives are largely unknown. To address this critical knowledge gap, the authors conducted field research between April and May 2011 with youth, adults, and government and nongovernment officials in Juba and two South Sudanese states. - The increasing inability of male youth to meet rising dowry (bride price) demands was the main research finding. Unable to meet these demands, many male youth enlist in militias, join cattle raids, or seek wives from different ethnic groups or countries. - Skyrocketing dowry demands have negatively and alarmingly affected female youth. They are routinely viewed as property that can generate family wealth. - Potent new postwar identities involving youth returning from Khartoum, refugee asylum countries, and those who never left South Sudan, are stimulating hostility and conflict. - Excess demand on government jobs, widespread reports of nepotism in government hiring practices, cultural restrictions against many kinds of work, and a general lack of entrepreneurial vision are fueling an exceptionally challenging youth employment situation. - Gang activities continue to thrive in some urban centers in South Sudan. They are reportedly dominated by youth with connections to government officials and by orphans. - While most undereducated youth highlighted dowry and marriage as their primary concerns, members of the elite youth minority emphasized vocational training and scholarships for higher education. - While South Sudanese youth view their government as the primary source of education, jobs, and hope, the government of South Sudan does not appear poised to provide substantial support to vital youth priorities related to dowry, employment, education, and training. - The government of South Sudan and its international partners need to proactively address non-elite youth priorities. They must find ways to cap dowry demands, protect female youth, and support orphan youth, in addition to expanding quality education, job training, and English language training. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2011. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 295: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_295.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_295.pdf Shelf Number: 133944 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionDowry (Sudan)PovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeYouth GangsYouth Unemployment |
Author: Barreto, Gustavo A. Title: Building community: an environmental approach to crime prevention Summary: Crime cannot be understood as a single-solution problem. Participation of the community is important to complement and make more efficient any program of crime control by police authorities or any other law enforcement agency. This thesis is intended to create consciousness among designers of the urban environment of their social role. Cities must include places to promote community interaction and formation of social bonds. As social bonds among residents increase, and bonds with the place begin building a sense of territoriality in the community, the residents become active defenders of the place against crime. A theory summary presents different and complementary points of view, some focused directly to urban and landscape design such as those stated by Jane Jacobs, Clare Cooper Marcus, Donald Appleyard, and Oscar Newman. Others focused to social and psychological aspects of the relation between humans and environment, for example those presented by Erving Goffman, Edward Hall, Amos Rapaport, Irwin Altman, and Setha Low. A field study is presented to complement the theory review. It was based on two inner city neighborhoods in Orlando, Florida. The data used came from Orlando Police Department, FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice crime and victimization reports. The population characteristics were analyzed based on the 2000 U.S. Census. From the study, a general conclusion is that social characteristics of the population in any given neighborhood such as poverty, high percentage of broken families, unemployment, social heterogeneity, large numbers of young population, and large proportion of rented homes create environments highly susceptible of crime. But social characteristics are not the only aspects determining crime. Physical layout of the neighborhood plays also an important role in preventing or promoting crime. In spite of the fact that both neighborhoods had similar social characteristics, crime was considerably higher in the neighborhood where the physical structure neglected possibilities for neighbors to interact and use public areas. Theories and other information presented is finally synthesized into design guidelines, which are related specifically to the function of landscape architects and other designers as shapers of cities and societies. Details: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 2002. 148p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed November 12, 2014 at: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1218101-192458/unrestricted/Barreto_thesis.pdf Year: 2002 Country: United States URL: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1218101-192458/unrestricted/Barreto_thesis.pdf Shelf Number: 134051 Keywords: Crime Prevention Design Against Crime (U.S.) Landscape Architecture Neighborhoods and Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Design |
Author: Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Group Title: Measuring Violence against Children - Inventory and assessment of quantitative studies Summary: Research and data on violence against children are scarce and inconsistent, especially in low- and middle-income countries. As a result, rigorous evidence on the extent, nature and impact of violence against children and on the underlying social norms and attitudes that perpetuate it is limited. Robust data are needed to develop evidence-based programmes and policies that can prevent and respond to violence, to establish baselines and monitor progress, and for advocacy. Such data are also needed to inform the development of and improve campaigns, laws, regulations and services that contribute to children's protection and well-being. The last two decades have witnessed a proliferation of different measurement activities aimed at filling the existing gaps, primarily through population-based sample surveys. Initiatives have been undertaken by or with the support of international agencies, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government institutions and researchers. The fact that governments and others have expressed interest in advancing in this area and have invested in improving related data-collection efforts is a positive step forward. While many organizations and individuals are active in research on violence against children, no gold standard for measuring this sensitive issue has been agreed upon internationally. As a result, different approaches have been developed to gather data, including the use of diverse indicators, questionnaires and study designs. This combination of factors has often led to the collection of inconsistent and unreliable data. It has also raised important questions about the risks and ethical issues that arise when the data-collection process involves children. The Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group's (CP MERG) Technical Working Group on Data Collection on Violence against Children was established to provide guidance in this area and to produce outputs that can assist countries and partners in their efforts to gather data that are both reliable and useful and obtained in an ethically sensitive manner. The goal is to support, facilitate and coordinate the development of guidelines, standards and tools for the collection of data on violence against children at global, regional and national levels. With these objectives in mind, the Working Group decided to undertake a review of quantitative studies on violence against children to provide an overview of some recent data-collection activities that will feed into the development of guidelines. This review focused mainly on studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries; however, three studies from Western Europe (Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and one study from the United States were also included. The review was based upon interviews with key informants, the identification of large-scale studies on violence against children, and an in-depth assessment of surveys from six countries and one subregion: Chile, the Eastern Caribbean, Georgia, India, the Republic of Moldova, the United Kingdom and the United Republic of Tanzania. Surveys conducted as part of larger international survey programmes, such as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys, were not included in the review. Details: New York: Division of Data, Research and Policy, UNICEF,2014. 109p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 18, 2014 at: http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/CP-MERG-REPORT_205.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/CP-MERG-REPORT_205.pdf Shelf Number: 134137 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild MaltreatmentChild ProtectionSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Against Children |
Author: Harrell, Erika Title: Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008-2012 Summary: This report presents findings from 2008 to 2012 on the relationship between households that were above or below the federal poverty level and nonfatal violent victimization, including rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. This report examines the violent victimization experiences of persons living in households at various levels of poverty, focusing on type of violence, victim's race or Hispanic origin, and location of residence. It also examines the percentage of violent victimizations reported to the police by poverty level. Data are from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. During 2012, about 92,390 households and 162,940 persons were interviewed for the NCVS. Highlights: For the period 2008-12 - Persons in poor households at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (39.8 per 1,000) had more than double the rate of violent victimization as persons in high-income households (16.9 per 1,000). Persons in poor households had a higher rate of violence involving a firearm (3.5 per 1,000) compared to persons above the FPL (0.8-2.5 per 1,000). The overall pattern of poor persons having the highest rates of violent victimization was consistent for both whites and blacks. However, the rate of violent victimization for Hispanics did not vary across poverty levels. Poor Hispanics (25.3 per 1,000) had lower rates of violence compared to poor whites (46.4 per 1,000) and poor blacks (43.4 per 1,000). Poor persons living in urban areas (43.9 per 1,000) had violent victimization rates similar to poor persons living in rural areas (38.8 per 1,000). Poor urban blacks (51.3 per 1,000) had rates of violence similar to poor urban whites (56.4 per 1,000). Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 20, 2014 at: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5137 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5137 Shelf Number: 134167 Keywords: Crime StatisticsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVictimization Surveys (U.S.)Violent Crime |
Author: Barnsley, Ken Title: Report to Salford SRB 5 Executive. Integrating and Sustaining Communities Salford's SRB 5 Final Programme Evaluation Summary: This document presents Quaternion's evaluation of the Salford SRB Round 5 Programme, Integrating and Sustaining Communities. The overall purpose of the evaluation was to look at the initial conditions of the area, covering the issues the programme set out to tackle; the schemes, objectives and strategy; an analysis of the outputs and outcomes of the programme; the process of regeneration and neighbourhood renewal; the overall achievements of the scheme and the main lessons learned that can be taken forward for future regeneration in Salford. The programme aimed to target Seedley and Langworthy and to address economic and social needs across Salford. At the time of the bid Seedley and Langworthy was a small residential area with a concentration of 3000 or so terraced houses, with significant problems of decline in the housing market, high levels of unemployment, high crime and anti-social behaviour. Other parts of inner city Salford experience similar issues in terms of high levels of unemployment, poor educational attainment and high levels of social exclusion and poverty; these areas being targets for the Social Inclusion programme. In addition to these issues there was a need to provide support to local businesses and ensure that people from deprived communities were able to benefit from job opportunities in Salford and the surrounding labour market; issues that were tackled through the Economic Development Programme. The programme had five strategic objectives and achieved most of the significant outcomes it aimed for in 1999: - Reducing unemployment and increasing business growth, improving educational attainment as the contribution to SO1: Enhancing Employment Education and Skills - There was a reduction in poverty across the City and positive impacts on communities experiencing exclusion as the contribution to SO2 Tackling Social Exclusion - The programme set about and achieved the start of sustainable regeneration in Seedley and Langworthy, introduced new methods of managing the housing stock and innovative approaches to improving the environment for SO3: Sustainable physical regeneration - It assisted in the stabilisation of the housing market in Seedley and Langworthy and helped businesses to grow and invest as part of SO4: Economic Growth - It increased the confidence to report crime and reduced both crime and the fear of crime as its contribution to SO5: Improving Community Safety In addition to making progress towards the outcomes, the programme more than achieved in terms of target outputs: with more than twice as many jobs created as set out in the bid; many more community and voluntary organisations supported; almost 250 new businesses established and thriving and many more people than anticipated benefiting from community safety initiatives. Some of the most dynamic impacts and achievements have been realised in Seedley and Langworthy and key stakeholders cited improvements to the physical fabric of the area in terms of the housing and environment and equally important, improvements in community spirit and the involvement of local people in their area. Details: Manchester, UK: QUARTERNION, 2007. 155p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 10, 2014 at: http://www.salford.gov.uk/d/srb5-evaluation1.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.salford.gov.uk/d/srb5-evaluation1.pdf Shelf Number: 134310 Keywords: Community SafetyCrime PreventionNeighborhoods and Crime (U.K.)Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Neighborhoods |
Author: Roeder, Oliver Title: What Caused the Crime Decline? Summary: What Caused the Crime Decline? examines one of the nation's least understood recent phenomena - the dramatic decline in crime nationwide over the past two decades - and analyzes various theories for why it occurred, by reviewing more than 40 years of data from all 50 states and the 50 largest cities. It concludes that over-harsh criminal justice policies, particularly increased incarceration, which rose even more dramatically over the same period, were not the main drivers of the crime decline. In fact, the report finds that increased incarceration has been declining in its effectiveness as a crime control tactic for more than 30 years. Its effect on crime rates since 1990 has been limited, and has been non-existent since 2000. More important were various social, economic, and environmental factors, such as growth in income and an aging population. The introduction of CompStat, a data-driven policing technique, also played a significant role in reducing crime in cities that introduced it. The report concludes that considering the immense social, fiscal, and economic costs of mass incarceration, programs that improve economic opportunities, modernize policing practices, and expand treatment and rehabilitation programs, all could be a better public safety investment. Details: New York: Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law, 2015. 139p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 12, 2015 at: https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Crime_rate_report_web.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Crime_rate_report_web.pdf Shelf Number: 134615 Keywords: Crime Decline (U.S.)Crime StatisticsPolice EffectivenessSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: International Crisis Group Title: Back from the Brink: Saving Ciudad Juarez Summary: Just four years ago, Ciudad Juarez was under siege from criminal gang members and being sabotaged by crooked cops. Killings and kidnappings spiralled out of control despite the deployment of thousands of soldiers and federal police. Today Juarez is on the path to recovery: public investments in social programs and institutional reform plus a unique model of citizen engagement have helped bring what was once dubbed the world's "murder capital" back from the brink. Daunting problems persist. Juarez remains an unruly frontier city of great inequalities, where traffickers and other criminals can too easily find recruits among a largely young population, many of whom still lack good jobs or education. To sustain progress, citizens and local policymakers need to assess achievements and obstacles, relaunching their partnership and upgrading efforts to strengthen local institutions and address social inequities. Though Juarez remains fragile, there are reasons for guarded optimism: civil society leaders - including business and professional groups, non-profit organisations and academics - hold the government accountable for any increase in crime, meeting regularly with municipal, state and federal officials in a unique Mesa de Seguridad y Justicia (Security and Justice Working Group), an independent body including citizens and authorities. All three levels of government remain committed in principle to addressing the causes of violence through social programs aimed at the poor communities that have borne the brunt of the killings. President Felipe Calderon's administration invested more than $380 million in 2010-2011 under its Todos Somos Juarez (TSJ, We are all Juarez) initiative to finance social programs designed to make communities, especially their young people, more resistant to violent crime. Much of the money went to expanding existing programs for the urban poor and building or renovating community centres, schools and hospitals. But the impact of these efforts was never evaluated, largely wasting the opportunity to create innovative, sustainable programs, subject to outside review and evaluation. When he took office in December 2012, President Enrique Pena Nieto promised to make crime and violence prevention central to his security strategy, adopting and adapting some of the strategies initiated by his predecessor. Among his first acts was to order nine ministries to join forces on a national program. Its objectives are sweepingly ambitious: promote citizen participation and a culture of peace and respect for the law; address the risk factors that render children, adolescents, women and other groups vulnerable to violence; create and reclaim public spaces to foster peaceful coexistence; and strengthen institutional capacity at the federal, state and municipal level. The National Program for the Social Prevention of Violence and Delinquency channels funding into high-risk zones chosen to serve as laboratories for social change, including three within Ciudad Juarez. This "socio-urban acupuncture" approach holds promise. Officials say crime rates have already fallen within many of the target zones and promise that detailed surveys will measure impact going forward. But the effort in Juarez itself has been plagued by delays and controversy. The lack of transparency in project selection and monitoring has given rise to accusations of mismanagement and political favouritism. Local authorities are justifiably proud of progress in reducing homicide and other high-impact crimes, such as kidnapping, but more is needed to keep Jurez from again falling victim to a surge of violence. The model of citizen participation embodied in the Mesa de Seguridad y Justicia should be extended to the neighbourhood level, so that working class and poor communities are empowered to monitor violence- prevention projects and work with law enforcement to combat crime. Local police must play a more important role. Authorities on the municipal, state and federal levels should open their efforts to greater scrutiny, crafting long-term strategies that can be continued past the next electoral cycle. The achievements of Juarez and the surrounding state of Chihuahua offer hope for other Mexican cities and regions still suffering epidemic rates of violent crimes, including murder, often at the hands of criminals in league with local authorities. The focus of federal action has shifted to the north east, where the state of Tamaulipas now leads the country in kidnappings, and the south west, where the state of Guerrero and the city of Acapulco have the highest rates of homicides per capita. National authorities have poured soldiers and police into these regions while promising funding for social programs, much as they did a few years ago in Chihuahua. But they have not been able to stem the crisis of confidence in government at all levels: municipal, state and federal. The kidnapping and apparent killing of 43 students from the rural teaching college of Ayotzinapa by a criminal gang allegedly backed by corrupt police has sparked violent protests in Guerrero and mass marches in Mexico City. Perhaps the most important lesson of Juarez is that crime must be tackled through the combined effort of authorities and citizens. Opaque, top-down solutions that fail to address the concerns of local communities - eliciting their ideas and soliciting their support - are unlikely to produce sustainable progress against the scourge of violent crime. Details: Brussels, Belgium: International Crisis Group, 2015. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Latin America Report No. 54: Accessed February 26, 2015 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/mexico/054-back-from-the-brink-saving-ciudad-juarez.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/mexico/054-back-from-the-brink-saving-ciudad-juarez.pdf Shelf Number: 134679 Keywords: Gang-Related ViolenceGangs (Mexico)HomicidesKidnappingsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Sandler, Danielle H. Title: Female Crime in the Long and Short Run Summary: Although there is a growing body of economics literature on crime, little research focuses specifically on female offenders. This paper examines patterns of offending over time and the types of crimes committed separately by gender. While male crime has decreased over time, we find that female crime displays a steady upward trend. To explain this pattern and how it relates to the concurrent increases in female wages and labor force participation, we propose a theoretical model emphasizing changes in the marginal value of leisure over time. Interestingly, we also observe, that the detrended time series variation in female crime shows a similar pattern to detrended male crime rates. This implies that the elements determining the short-term fluctuations in crime rates for men and women may be similar. To investigate this hypothesis, we estimate the relationship between local economic conditions and crime rates separately for men and women. Details: Unpublished paper, 2012. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2015 at: http://www.dhsandler.com/uploads/3/0/2/8/3028537/female_crime_50712.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.dhsandler.com/uploads/3/0/2/8/3028537/female_crime_50712.pdf Shelf Number: 135396 Keywords: Economics and Crime Female Crime Female Offenders (U.S.) Gender Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Yuille, Lua K. Title: Blood In, Buyout: A Property & Economic Approach to Street Gangs Summary: This article offers a fresh analysis of and solution to problems modern, American street gangs present: Local governments should pay gang members to refrain from gang related activity. Common wisdom dictates that, since they commit crimes, gangs should be understood and combated criminologically, through criminal sanctions. Popular interventions, like gang injunctions, expand that punitive orientation into civil strategies. But, gang criminality is merely a manifestation of a broader property-based disease. Therefore, those strategies will be ineffective and inefficient, as evidenced by the continuing rise in gang membership across the United States. The consensus in gang research is that gangs are not crime syndicates; they are capitalist social institutions creating and operating in alternative markets. Violence and criminality are secondary or tertiary facets of gangs, resulting from the inaccessibility of mainstream markets. Integrating these findings into a unique synthesis of disparate threads of property theory - from Charles Reich's The New Property and Margaret Radin's Property and Personhood to Cheryl Harris's Whiteness as Property - it is clear that gangs' primary purpose is to pursue the forms of property central to human identity. That insight frees anti-gang strategies from the strictures imposed by criminal law, but reveals social justice considerations not normally associated with gangs. On that basis, the article presents a novel idea: Gangs are recreating a traditional market-based property system, so the approach to the problems associated with them should be market-inspired. In the market, actors are paid to induce desired behavior. Therefore, local governments should compensate gang members for non-participation in legal (but undesirable) gang activity. The article tests this proposal using Calabresi and Melamed's framework for allocating and protecting entitlements advanced in Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability Rules: One View of the Cathedral. That analysis shows that the so-called "paid injunction" is a more effective and efficient approach to curbing the non-criminal activities of gangs that simultaneously advances the social justice concerns revealed by the property law analysis. Details: Working paper, 2015. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 6, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2585476 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2585476 Shelf Number: 135534 Keywords: GangsInequalitySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeSocioeconomic Status |
Author: Haugaard, Lisa Title: Honduras: A Government Failing to Protect its People Summary: With a population of just over 8 million people, Honduras is home to some of the highest poverty rates in Latin America and most violent cities on earth. The deep roots of organized crime, government corruption and abuses by state forces, and impunity for criminals reverberate throughout the small Central American nation, where 97% of murders go unsolved. These factors have forced many Hondurans to flee towards the United States in hopes of finding an income, security and hope for the future. In response, the Obama Administration has proposed a $1 billion aid package to Central America, which Vice President Biden emphasized in his Central America visit last week. Last December, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) and Center for International Policy (CIP) traveled to Honduras for a first-hand look. What we found was a security situation in shambles and a country in dire need of reform. We have compiled our findings into this report which paints a picture of the most alarming issues facing Honduras today, including mass migration, the disturbing and highly visible militarization of law enforcement, grave threats against human rights defenders, and a lack of an effective and independent justice system. The report also examines the role U.S. assistance has played, and can play, in the plight of the Honduran people. In addition to describing the depth of the problem, the report points to the elements of a solution, including the development of a more effective, independent judiciary, and a thoroughly reformed civilian police force. The ultimate solution must include tackling the underlying issues of poverty and lack of education that help create an environment in which crime and violence flourish. But this requires what we did not see in Honduras - a government deeply committed to respect for human rights, with a vision of more broadly shared prosperity and a will to protect all Honduran citizens. The report concludes that carefully crafted international aid programs can help address these problems, but that, "political will from the Honduran government to protect and respect its citizenry must come first." Details: Washington, DC: Center for International Policy, 2015. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2015 at: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Honduras-failing-to-protect-its-people.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/Honduras-failing-to-protect-its-people.pdf Shelf Number: 135627 Keywords: Crime (Honduras)Law EnforcementMilitarizationSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Ruddell, Rick Title: Austerity Policing: Responsing to Crime During Economic Downturns Summary: Governments at all levels are grappling with the challenges of increasing demands on police services at the same time that their budgets are threatened with cuts. Although Canada's economy has weathered the financial crisis that started in 2008 with fewer disruptions than in the United Kingdom or the United States, there are signs that global economic conditions, especially in the European Union, continue to be uncertain and those challenges could have a substantial impact upon economic conditions in Canada. Economic uncertainty can have an impact on all government services, including policing. Not only are police budgets under increasing scrutiny but economic disruption, such as high rates of unemployment or inflation, may contribute to an increased demand for police services. Public Safety Canada (2012) identified the following challenges associated with Canadian policing costs: Increasing demands on police combined with decreasing crime rates; Escalating policing costs that are increasingly unsustainable in the current fiscal environment; Limited clarity on how police funding is spent and its efficiency and effectiveness, and the; A need for coordination, focus and leadership. The importance of containing policing costs while ensuring that core policing services (e.g., those related to emergency response, criminal investigations and enforcing laws) are not jeopardized was a key issue examined at the Economics of Policing Summit in January 2013. In many respects, funding for Canadian policing is more stable than in other English speaking common-law nations. Police services throughout the United States have been experiencing funding cutbacks and some jurisdictions have disbanded their police services in favour of contract policing (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). In the United Kingdom, policing budgets are projected to be cut by as much as one-third. Given these funding shortfalls, police services in those nations are being forced to rethink the manner in which services are delivered, who will deliver them, and how to best manage cuts to police budgets without threatening core policing services. Canadian police services have the luxury of time to scan the environment for threats as well as opportunities for change, and learn what the police in other nations are doing in response to budget cutbacks. It is possible that the lessons learned from our counterparts will enable Canadian police services to better leverage their resources. Former Public Safety Minister Toews, speaking at the Economics of Policing Summit in January 2013, observed that: Police services face two options - they can do nothing and eventually be forced to cut drastically, as we have seen in some countries; or they can be proactive, get ahead of the curve, and have greater flexibility in designing and implementing both incremental and meaningful structural reforms. It is critical that all levels of government and the entire policing community be engaged in innovation and reform efforts, so that we can turn a fiscal challenge into an opportunity to sustain our police services and better serve Canadians. As part of a proactive strategy that examines the economics of policing in the Canadian context a key goal of this study is to review the economics, management, and policing literatures to identify current trends in respect to the relationships between economics and policing, including how police services in other nations have managed austerity. The main findings from this review are that: - There were 11 recessions between 1948 and 2011 and each one has a different set of causes, economic consequences, as well as recovery times and these three factors influence crime rates in an inconsistent manner. - The global economic recovery has been slow and another downturn could have a significant impact upon the Canadian economy, and in turn, police funding. - Police services in the United Kingdom and the United States have responded to the latest recession by cutting costs and attempting to reduce demand. - While police services in other nations have been successful in preserving core functions there is some question as to whether these strategies are sustainable over the long-term. - Long-term austerity policing may negatively influence citizen perceptions of the police and contribute to lower morale of police service staff. - Cost-benefit analyses consistently reveal that investing in policing is a cost-effective public policy. - The RAND cost of crime calculator shows that adding police officers in jurisdictions with high crime rates is a good investment in public safety. - Crime reduction strategies must be developed at the local level, as an approach that is effective in one jurisdiction may be unsuccessful when exported to another community. - The current recession has led to many scholars calling for a "reengineering" or "remaking" of police operations although there is little consensus on what those changes should entail or who should decide what changes should occur. - The newly developed full-circle community safety model may be a useful framework for evaluating police performance. - Most policing studies focus upon big city policing and there is almost no published research on best practices, cost effectiveness or measuring the performance of rural police services. Details: Regina, SASK: University of Regina, Collaborative Centre for, Justice & Safety, 2013. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2015 at: http://www.justiceandsafety.ca/rsu_docs/ccjs_austerity-policing-1028.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://www.justiceandsafety.ca/rsu_docs/ccjs_austerity-policing-1028.pdf Shelf Number: 135695 Keywords: Cost-Benefit AnalysisEconomics of CrimeEconomics of PolicingEconomyPolice AdministrationPolicingSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Wilson, Stuart Title: The Changing Economy and Demography of Saskatchewan and its Impact on Crime and Policing: Phase 1 Report: Overview of Demographic, Economic, Crime and Policing Trends in Saskatchewan Summary: This report is the first preliminary report of a larger research project. This larger research project aims to examine the socio-economic determinants of crime, identify how economic and demographic changes in Saskatchewan and its cities have influenced changes in crime rates, and to speculate how crime rates might evolve with continued resource development and the expansion of the Saskatchewan economy. This project will also attempt to identify reactive and proactive responses of police forces in the province to the changing economic, demographic, and crime patterns they face. This first preliminary report provides an overview of the economic and demographic changes that have occurred over the last two decades in Saskatchewan and its ten major cities, and the coinciding changes in policing and crime rates. The Saskatchewan economy shifted into a higher gear around 2006, after two decades of slow population and economic growth, and rising crime rates. The Saskatchewan economy has recently benefitted from: - Rising commodity prices - An export boom - Increased resource exploration and development - An investment and construction boom - Increased international immigration flows - Substantial net interprovincial in-migration Saskatchewan residents are more prosperous and poverty rates have declined. Median family income in Saskatchewan has grown at an average annual rate of 3.7% from 2006 to 2011, in real terms after accounting for inflation, much higher than the 1.1% annual growth in the preceding five years. The prevalence of poverty, as measured by the proportion of individuals living in low-income households, declined from 17.8% in 2005, to 11.3% in 2011, falling below the rates for Manitoba and the country as a whole. Saskatchewan has experienced substantial reductions in rates of violent crime and of property crime while economic conditions in the province improved: The rate of violent crime in Saskatchewan fell by 30% from 2003 to 2012; The rate of property crime fell by 32% from 2003 to 2012 This report is the first preliminary report of a larger research project. This larger research project aims to examine the socio-economic determinants of crime, identify how economic and demographic changes in Saskatchewan and its cities have influenced changes in crime rates, and to speculate how crime rates might evolve with continued resource development and the expansion of the Saskatchewan economy. This project will also attempt to identify reactive and proactive responses of police forces in the province to the changing economic, demographic, and crime patterns they face. This first preliminary report provides an overview of the economic and demographic changes that have occurred over the last two decades in Saskatchewan and its ten major cities, and the coinciding changes in policing and crime rates. The Saskatchewan economy shifted into a higher gear around 2006, after two decades of slow population and economic growth, and rising crime rates. The Saskatchewan economy has recently benefitted from: - Rising commodity prices - An export boom - Increased resource exploration and development - An investment and construction boom - Increased international immigration flows - Substantial net interprovincial in-migration Saskatchewan residents are more prosperous and poverty rates have declined. Median family income in Saskatchewan has grown at an average annual rate of 3.7% from 2006 to 2011, in real terms after accounting for inflation, much higher than the 1.1% annual growth in the preceding five years. The prevalence of poverty, as measured by the proportion of individuals living in low-income households, declined from 17.8% in 2005, to 11.3% in 2011, falling below the rates for Manitoba and the country as a whole. Saskatchewan has experienced substantial reductions in rates of violent crime and of property crime while economic conditions in the province improved: - The rate of violent crime in Saskatchewan fell by 30% from 2003 to 2012 - The rate of property crime fell by 32% from 2003 to 2012 Details: Regina, SASK: University of Regina, Collaborative Centre for Justice and Safety, 2014. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2015 at: http://www.justiceandsafety.ca/rsu_docs/phase-i-revised-with-cover.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: http://www.justiceandsafety.ca/rsu_docs/phase-i-revised-with-cover.pdf Shelf Number: 135696 Keywords: Crime RatesEconomics of CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Levy, Horace Title: Youth Violence and Organized Crime in Jamaica: Causes and Counter-Measures. An Examination of the Linkages and Disconnections Summary: This Project emanated from the need to establish research-based grounds of solid value for an alternative to the mano dura approach, elements of which the authorities planned to continue using, or even extending, to address Jamaica's high homicide rates. The objective, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between youth violence and organized crime, with special attention given to the role of women and best practices and with the aim of influencing policy. Enabled by the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) qualitative methodology, the Institute of Criminal Justice and Security (ICJS) research team was able, through focus groups and interviews with key informants, to engage directly with gangs and crews in communities in Kingston, and to a lesser extent, those in Spanish Town. The team encountered "defence crews" that were aligned to communities. These crews did not exhibit behaviour similar to that of illegal, wealth-seeking criminal gangs and, indicated no movement in that direction. Instead, they were strongly supported by women and responded positively to the mediatory and developmental "best practices" of state and non-state agencies. A significant number of criminal gang members also showed interest in pursuing an alternative and legal lifestyle. Women, for their part, were not associated with personal weapon usage. They tried to discourage conflicts and played an important part in community bonding. However, by having sexual relationships with "the enemy", they were often the ones blamed for provoking conflicts. For inner-city people, the community is of prime importance and defence crews and sometimes gangs are embedded in it. The various crews provide a constant source of enjoyment for inner-city people who live in depressed conditions. The research team recommends a national security policy that, rather than focusing simply on attacking the gangs, proposes the combination of community policing with community development and firmly asserting the central authority of the state. In the series of public forums held with security officials, the researchers received support for this approach from high-ranking officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). A number of specific recommendations include the provision of additional resources to "best practices", and women's empowerment, as well as ceasing to grant contracts to criminal gangs. Details: Ottawa: International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 2012. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 22, 2015 at: https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/51348/1/IDL-51348.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Jamaica URL: https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/51348/1/IDL-51348.pdf Shelf Number: 135756 Keywords: GangsHomicidesJuvenile OffendersOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent CrimeYouth Gangs |
Author: Norwegian Church Aid Title: Exploiting Inequalities: Conflict and Power Relations in Bel Air Summary: Once a buzzing middle-class neighborhood of artists and intellectuals, Bel Air is today an impoverished neighborhood with a reputation for chronic instability, controlled to a large extent by gang leaders and criminals. Less known and researched than its infamous neighbor Cite Soleil in the Haitian capital city of Port-au-Prince, Bel Air represents an interesting case study of the complex structural and proximate factors that - individually and collectively - explain the state of fragility in this urban hotbed. Taken together, these factors offer a new understanding of the destabilizing consequences that the urban violence in Bel Air could lead to at the local, national and even international levels. Through the process of rapid urban migration, the densely populated and increasingly impoverished neighborhood Bel Air came to be strongly associated with former President Aristide's Lavalas movement. Aristide drew heavily upon the existing neighborhood associations or baz to safeguard his power, following in the footsteps of a long history of Haitian presidents who employed local armed groups to solidify their power. Embattled by the economic elite who felt their interests threatened by his pro-poor rhetoric, Aristide was blamed for arming the base structures and creating the paramilitary phenomenon responsible for the acute increases in violence. Violence had begun to decline following political reconciliation efforts and violence reduction strategies, combined with the actions of the UN Stabilization Mission and NGOs to implement law enforcement operations, beginning in late 2006. However, since the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the area known as Greater Bel Air has experienced an upsurge in violence, peaking in 2012. This conflict analysis for Greater Bel Air examines the driving factors of conflict, key actors, "connectors and dividers" and gender dimensions of conflict. The overall purpose is to improve the effectiveness of future peacebuilding programs in Greater Bel Air, by ensuring that they are addressing key driving factors of conflict. A specific objective for Norwegian Church Aid is to systematize and make explicit the information and insights gathered from a wide range of informants and organizations working on conflict resolution and violence reduction in Greater Bel Air, and to create a baseline upon which further programming can be developed. The conflict analysis is primarily based upon a desk study of existing analyses, academic research and other studies, combined with updated information gathered through interviews with key informants and focus groups. Key informants were identified among stakeholders from civil society, the private sector, local/national government including the police, the United Nations, national and international NGOs, religious leaders and peace practitioners. 46 interviews and six focus groups, made up of 8 - 13 participants from different sectors of society and from different sub-areas of Great Bel Air, were carried out over a two week period in July- August and one week in November 2013. Greater Bel Air and Haiti provides a unique context for understanding violence as it is a country that has not undergone war, and yet it is a situation where cyclical violent conflict has become entrenched in the sociopolitical life of Haitian society. A country born out of the world's first successful slave revolt, the roots of violence and resistance to injustice run deep, dating back to the system of slavery and the legacy of structural injustice perpetuated by this economic model. The disparities of power and wealth between the impoverished urban masses and the elite have often been marked with violence. Pervasive political, economic and social tensions are played out through local level violence between individuals and small groups, largely centered in Haiti's popular neighborhoods, but are often linked level turmoil, political and economic crises. Details: Ption Ville, Haiti: Norwegian Church Aid Haiti, 2014. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2015 at: https://www.kirkensnodhjelp.no/her-jobber-vi/haiti/exploiting-inequalities/ Year: 2014 Country: Haiti URL: https://www.kirkensnodhjelp.no/her-jobber-vi/haiti/exploiting-inequalities/ Shelf Number: 135902 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Khanna, Gaurav Title: Guns and Butter? Fighting Violence with the Promise of Development Summary: There is growing awareness that development-oriented government policies may be an important counterinsurgency strategy, but existing papers are usually unable to disentangle various mechanisms. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we analyze the impact of one of the world's largest anti-poverty programs, India's NREGS, on the intensity of Maoist conflict. We find short-run increases of insurgency-related violence, police-initiated attacks, and insurgent attacks on civilians. We discuss how these results relate to established theories in the literature. The main mechanism consistent with the empirical patterns is that NREGS induces civilians to share more information with the state, improving police effectiveness. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor, 2015. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper no. 9160: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9160.pdf Year: 2015 Country: India URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9160.pdf Shelf Number: 136053 Keywords: Counter-TerrorismEconomic DevelopmentPolice EffectivenessPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorism |
Author: Ingram, Matthew C. Title: Homicide in El Salvador's Municipalities: Spatial Clusters and the Causal Role of Neighborhood Effects, Population Pressures, Poverty, and Education Summary: Violence directly affects individual and community well-being, and is also increasingly understood to undercut democracy and development. For public health scholars, violence presents a direct harm to health and well-being. In the worst cases, violence is lethal. Violence also generates serious costs to democracy. Fear and insecurity erode public trust and interpersonal confidence, hindering civic engagement and participation in public life. Further, low public trust undermines the legitimacy of democratic institutions, and persistent insecurity can generate support for heavy-handed or authoritarian policies. Indeed, in some new democracies in the region, including El Salvador, frustration with criminal violence has led majorities to support a return to authoritarian government. Across the region, polls identify crime and citizen security as top policy priorities. Thus, the prevention and reduction of violence is crucial to democratic stability. Lastly, violence generates heavy economic costs, dampening development. In the U.S., Miller and Cohen (1997) estimated the annual financial costs of gun shots alone at $126 billion. Similarly, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) found that the health care costs of violence constituted 1.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product in Brazil, 5.0 percent in Colombia, 4.3 percent in El Salvador, 1.3 percent in Mexico, 1. percent in Peru and 0.3 percent in Venezuela5. Along with law enforcement costs, costs to the court system, economic losses due to violence, and the cost of private security, violent crime has been estimated to cost Brazil 10.5 percent of GDP, Venezuela 11.3 percent, Mexico 12.3 percent, and El Salvador and Colombia more than 24 percent of GDP. Restating, violence costs several countries, including El Salvador, 10-20 percent of GDP. Given that GDP growth rates of three to four percent would be considered healthy, a substantial reduction of violence in these countries would have dramatic benefits for development. In sum, concerns about public health, democracy, and development motivate the need for a better understanding of the patterns and causes of violence, and of the need to translate this understanding into improved violence-reduction policies. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Latin American Program, 2014. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed August 4, 2015 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Homicides_El_Salvador.pdf Year: 2014 Country: El Salvador URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Homicides_El_Salvador.pdf Shelf Number: 136308 Keywords: HomicidesMurdersSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Negroponte, Diana Villiers Title: Pillar IV of Beyond Merida: Addressing the Socio-Economic Causes of Drug Related Crime and Violence in Mexico Summary: The 'Merida Initiative' and its successor 'Beyond Merida' form an integral part of the Mexican National Crime Strategy that seeks to contain, if not defeat narcotics trafficking, organized crime and the consequential violence. Elaborated in October 2009, both governments announced the second phase in early 2010. Broader than the 'Merida Initiative,' 'Beyond Merida' proposes four categories, known as 'Pillars,' some of which directly involve the U.S. government agencies and others which imply collaboration. - Pillar I. Disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations . - Pillar II. Strengthen state institutions, i.e. law enforcement, the judiciary and correctional institutions to reduce public insecurity and provide better serve Mexican citizens. - Pillar III. Develop a "smart border" with the U.S. so as to facilitate trade and overcome the bottlenecks currently choking the U.S./Mexico border. - Pillar IV. Address the social and economic factors contributing to the violence and seek to build strong and resilient communities that can withstand the pressures of crime and violence. This article examines U.S. and Mexican government efforts to develop Pillar IV. It also recognizes programs that Mexico commenced in 2010 to focus seriously on the socio-economic causes of violence in the northern cities, Ciudad Juarez and Monterrey. This article addresses the effectiveness of current bilateral programs and asks what changes might be made to increase the impact in the short and long term. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Mexico Institute, 2011. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series on U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation: Accessed August 4, 2015 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Merida%20-%20Pillar%20IV%20Working%20Paper%20Format1_1.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Merida%20-%20Pillar%20IV%20Working%20Paper%20Format1_1.pdf Shelf Number: 136310 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceDrugs and CrimeMerida InitiativeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Fields, Hannah Title: Elephant Poaching, Poverty, and Tourism in Africa Summary: African elephant populations have been plummeting over the past few decades due to increased poaching and demand for ivory. This thesis investigates the influence that poverty and tourism have on the level of African elephant poaching, as well as the influence that poverty and elephant poaching have on the level of tourism in Africa. Through the use of an ordinary least squares regression, poaching, tourism and socioeconomic data between the years 2002 and 2012 for 27 African countries are used to examine these relationships. Results have shown that poverty and elephant poaching have a positive relationship; poverty and tourism have a negative relationship; and elephant poaching and tourism have a negative relationship. Details: Colorado Springs, CO: Colorado College, 2014. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed August 5, 2015 at: https://www.zotero.org/groups/ael/items/2IEEPIVS Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/ael/items/2IEEPIVS Shelf Number: 136336 Keywords: Animal Poaching Elephants Poverty Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeWildlife Crime |
Author: Schunemann, Julia Title: Reform Without Ownership? Dilemmas in Supporting Security and Justice Sector Reform in Honduras Summary: Honduras simultaneously faces the recovery from a severe political crisis due to a coup d'etat in June 2009 as well as a sustained crisis of security and legitimacy. Since then, society has been ever more marked by polarisation and the political equilibrium is very fragile. Levels of violence are at an all-time high and organized crime, especially drug trafficking, is threatening the bases of state institutions and people's physical security. The country's socio-economic situation is dire and the global economic crisis has fuelled increasing levels of poverty and unemployment. Honduras' security and justice sector suffers from severe deficiencies. It remains largely inefficient and unable to safeguard security and the rule of law for its citizens. Criminal investigative units are plagued with serious problems of incompetence, corruption and progressive penetration by organised crime. The judiciary lacks independence and is subject to systematic political interference. Inter-institutional coordination is poor and flawed by a climate of mutual mistrust and rivalry over competencies. This report describes and analyses the EU's contribution to strengthening security and the rule of law in Honduras through a major security sector reform (SSR) programme earmarked with a budget of L44 million. The report underlines the crucial need for increased local ownership as a sine qua non condition if the EU's endeavours are to trigger sustainable institutional change and thus further human security in Honduras. The report also examines prospects for the creation of an international commission against impunity, following the example of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The EU's Support Programme to the Security Sector (PASS) in Honduras meets local needs, is comprehensive in its approach and targeted at the relevant institutions. However, the current political climate of polarization and a government that is weak and lacking in legitimacy seriously compromises the programme's prospects for successful implementation. A solid political, legal and budgetary framework for reform is missing, as is local ownership. The EU and other donors eager to support security and justice sector reform in Honduras should use their joint weight to ensure basic conditions are met with regards to the political, legal and budgetary framework, thus preparing the ground for reasonable prospects for successful implementation and the sustainability of their activities. Details: Madrid: Initiative for Peacebuilding, 2010. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: IFP Security Cluster: Country Case Study: Honduras: Accessed August 8, 2015 at: http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu/pdf/020711honduras.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Honduras URL: http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu/pdf/020711honduras.pdf Shelf Number: 136367 Keywords: Criminal Justice ReformDrug TraffickingOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Scheider, Matthew C. Title: The Relationship between Economic Conditions, Policing, and Crime Trends Summary: Many agencies have recently experienced budget constrictions resulting in significant reductions in staffing levels. In every corner of the United States agencies are being forced to lay off sworn and civilian staff members. Many believe that at some point it is likely that these troubling trends will begin to impact public safety - if they haven't already. While a logical presumption, it is difficult to reliably demonstrate a causal relationship between the economy and crime, the number of police and crime, or the effects of police budgets on crime. This report intends to provide insight into the complexities that exist. By understanding how and why many common measures are inadequate, officials will be better prepared when faced with difficult questions regarding resource allocation, crime prevention strategies, and the development of sustainable plans to facilitate the highest levels of public safety. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2012. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 5, 2015 at: http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p248-pub.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p248-pub.pdf Shelf Number: 136682 Keywords: Crime TrendsPolice OfficersPublic SafetySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Healy, D. Title: Crime, Punishment and Inequality in Ireland Summary: The linkages between crime, punishment, policing and inequality are multifaceted. There is good empirical evidence that certain types of offending, especially homicide, are positively correlated with inequality. In addition a theoretical argument can be made to the effect that inequality creates opportunities for the kinds of corporate and white collar misconduct which, even if not criminal in a narrow legal sense, have far-reaching and damaging social repercussions. For example, the enormous scale of reckless lending, balance sheet manipulation and cynical underestimation by Irish banks will place a greater financial burden on this country's taxpayers than the harms wrought by generations of robbers, burglars and thieves. Other countries caught up in the financial crises that defined the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century will have similar experiences. An exaggerated emphasis on financial success, to the virtual exclusion of other markers of achievement, becomes problematic in a context where there are few restraints on the means chosen to increase wealth. Traditional modes of crime prevention and control have proved insufficiently flexible to deal with a new category of harms perpetrated by a new class of offender; investigating financial malpractice requires new tools and new models of criminal justice. Details: Amsterdam: Amsterdams Instituut voor Arbeids Studies (AIAS), Universiteit van Amsterdam , 2013. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: GINI Discussion Paper 93: Accessed September 11, 2015 at: http://www.uva-aias.net/uploaded_files/publications/93-4-5-4.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Ireland URL: http://www.uva-aias.net/uploaded_files/publications/93-4-5-4.pdf Shelf Number: 136714 Keywords: Financial CrimesInequalityPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeWhite Collar Crime |
Author: Paris, Jeffrey Jonathan Title: Crime, Contraband, and Property Rights: Explaining Variations in Violent Crime Rates Summary: Violent crime affects quality of life on an individual level and development on a national level (Kleiman, 2009), and could be the most important factor in determining whether many low and middle-income countries develop stable governments and implement effective economic policies. I propose a political and natural resource based explanation of the variation in crime rates in order to overcome the lack of connections between macro-level statistical data and causal mechanisms identified up to this point. My explanation involves the dynamics between state strength, property rights formation and enforcement, and the specific nature of criminal markets. When the state is weak crime rates usually increase due to the state's inability to enforce property rights, including the inability to control contraband markets (or adequately taxing legal markets), and the inability to effectively punish defectors. Property rights are established through a political bargaining process between actors that generally depends on the capacity for violence of interested parties (DeSoto, 2000; Umbeck, 1981). Well-defined and enforced property rights reduce transaction costs, and therefore reduce levels of violence (Anderson and Hill, 2003). The specific properties of markets, including the resources they are based on, can shape the market environment, including legality, and affect the resulting "institutions of extraction" (Snyder, 2006, 952). Lootable resources make property rights harder to enforce and interact with the state's ability to provide the rule of law, especially in the case of prohibitions. Illicit markets engender violence because normal business disputes are often settled with violence (Kleiman, 1993, 104-107, 115). My hypotheses examine the relationship between the production of lootable products, while controlling for other factors commonly attributed to crime. My analysis suggests that, all else being equal, the production of lootable resources increases crime rates, while the enforcement of property rights, whether by a state, non-state actor, or community, reduces violent crime rates. To test my hypotheses I use a mix of statistical analysis, case studies based on archival research, and structured interviews. Cross-national data was collected through archival research and existing databases, spanning over seventy countries and fifty years. Local level data comes from fieldwork in Colombia, and includes quantitative data for every municipality in Colombia over a span of nine years, and qualitative data for several regions critical to testing my hypotheses. Details: Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, 2012. 179p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/08t0s726 Year: 2012 Country: Colombia URL: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/08t0s726 Shelf Number: 136779 Keywords: ContrabandCrime RatesIllicit MarketsLootingProperty RightsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Ferguson Commission Title: Forward through Ferguson: A path toward racial equity Summary: The Ferguson Commission is an independent group appointed by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on November 18, 2014, to conduct a "thorough, wide-ranging and unflinching study of the social and economic conditions that impede progress, equality and safety in the St. Louis region." The need to address these conditions was underscored by the unrest in the wake of the death of Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson on August 9, 2014. The Commission's Charge The Commission, composed of 16 diverse volunteer leaders, was charged with the following: To examine the underlying causes of these conditions, including poverty, education, governance, and law enforcement; To engage with local citizens, area organizations, national thought leaders, institutions, and experts to develop a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the concerns related to these conditions; and To issue an unflinching report containing specific, practical policy recommendations for making the region a stronger, fairer place for everyone to live. This is that report. Details: Ferguson, MO: The Commission, 2015. 198p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2015 at: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2413166/fergusoncommissionreport-091415.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2413166/fergusoncommissionreport-091415.pdf Shelf Number: 136831 Keywords: Deadly ForcePolice MisconductPolice Use of ForcePublic SafetyRacial EqualitySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Higgins, Andy Title: Safe as Houses? Crime an Changing Tenure Patterns Summary: The Police Foundation's Police Effectiveness in a Changing World project seeks to identify how the police, working with other agencies and the public, can effectively tackle crime at a time when both the context in which it occurs, and the resources available to address it, are changing rapidly. Working in Luton and Slough - two English towns that have felt the local impacts of global change acutely - the project aims to develop locally-tailored, evidence-based solutions to persistent crime problems, which are responsive to the local effects of socio-economic, technological and geo-political change. In doing so, it seeks to better understand the impacts these changes are having on public services tasked with tackling crime and associated social problems. The project has taken a problem-oriented approach. A preliminary scanning phase focused attention on two challenging neighbourhoods in each town and on the most relevant crime problems - violence in Slough and burglary in Luton - before a multi-method research and analysis phase sought out new insights and perspectives on these local issues, to inform new ways of responding to them. In both towns, analysis suggested that housing factors, particularly the prevalence of lower quality, privately rented accommodation, were relevant to understanding the contemporary drivers of the crime problems being faced. In Luton, higher rates of private renting were found to be associated with local area burglary rates. Although the predictive value is modest, over the longer term, the amount of private renting accounted for more of the variance in neighbourhood burglary rates than deprivation, employment, social renting or any of the other socio-demographic Census variables available for analysis. As well as deprivation and overcrowding, neighbourhood burglary rates were also found to correlate with population growth, the proportion of residents born outside of the UK and (negatively) with the proportion of households comprising families. These findings led us to consider whether there were deficits of home security at the lower-cost end of the local private rented sector and whether these transient areas with 'churning' tenant populations might lack the community resources to resist criminal predation. In Slough, analysis drew attention to the sizable proportion of violent crime that, although not domestic violence, occurred within residential dwellings. In one neighbourhood this was found to be associated, in part, with the proliferation of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), leading to the hypothesis that the particular stresses and insecurities of living in low-quality, crowded accommodation, with shared facilities and little or no choice of co-habitees, may increase the risk that incidents of violent crime occur. These considerations prompted a number of questions as the project turned to designing new crime reduction initiatives; how could Luton's private landlords be encouraged to invest in proper home security for their properties? Could anything be done to persuade landlords to value longer-term tenancies so that tenants stay in an area for longer and communities might establish firmer roots and become more resilient? How could 'tinder-box' conditions inside Slough's HMOs be defused and landlords encouraged to take more interest in - and responsibility for - what goes on within their properties and the local neighbourhood? The lack of encouraging answers, and the paucity of options available to local community safety partners faced with the task of mitigating the harmful by-products of some elements of the private rented sector (PRS), provide the 'jumping off point' for this paper. Details: London: The Police Foundation, 2015. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Police Effectiveness in a Changing World Project: Accessed September 30, 2015 at: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/uploads/holding/projects/housing_and_crime_final.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/uploads/holding/projects/housing_and_crime_final.pdf Shelf Number: 136896 Keywords: Crime PreventionEvidence-Based PracticesHousing and CrimeNeighborhoods and CrimePolice EffectivenessProblem-Oriented PolicingSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: National Crime Research Centre (Kenya) Title: Human trafficking in Kenya Summary: Background This study sought to examine human trafficking in Kenya. Human trafficking is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. The general objective of study was to examine human trafficking in Kenya with a view to informing prevention, control and mitigation measures by agencies in the criminal justice system. The study examined the prevalence of human trafficking in Kenya, main types/forms, factors contributing to human trafficking; victims and their socio-economic profiles, survival mechanisms of victims and survivors; the recruiters and their socio-economic profiles; facilitators and networks, sources, transit routes, modes of transportation and destinations of trafficked human beings. The payment cost involved, socio-economic effects of human trafficking, intervention strategies and their effectiveness; and finally best practices in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings; challenges faced in preventing and combating and possible solutions. This research was initiated to provide detailed understanding of human trafficking in Kenya. Study Methods The study employed a survey design. This design of the methodology implied spending a lot of time in the communities where victims of human trafficking could be found. The techniques applied were the following: analysis of secondary reference materials, observation, unstructured and semi-structured interviews with key informant. Data was collected using questionnaire for Key Informants and Interview schedules for sample respondents. Data was analyzed using statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Findings are then presented in distribution frequency and percentage tables and figures. The use of descriptions and quotations was instrumental in the analysis and presentation of qualitative data. All the data was presented in themes guided by the research questions. Review of literature identified gaps in policy and related studies is also covered. The field work was carried out in the across the Country in 20 counties that were sampled, with 735 sample respondents with 25 key informants drawn from institutions addressing human trafficking in Kenya and elsewhere. Key Findings Results of the study indicate that: i. Trafficking of people from Kenya to other nations was the most prevalent (external trafficking) in Kenya at 60.2%. 84% of the respondents indicated awareness of human trafficking and out of these, 55% indicated that prevalence of human trafficking was quite high, 36% indicated that it was medium and 9% said that it was low. On the most prevalent type/ form of trafficking, trafficking for labour scored highest followed by child trafficking and trafficking for prostitution at 58.7%, 24.1% and 17.1% respectively. ii. Forms of trafficking prevalent in Kenya were labour and sex related at 44% and 53% respectively. Trafficking involves children, men and women at 33%, 26% and 41% respectively. iii. Poverty and unemployment are the main factors contributing to human trafficking. In domestic poverty was highest at 47.1% and external at 37.6%. Unemployment scored second highest at 34.1% in external and 23.7% in domestic. iv. Victims of human trafficking are children, men and women and their socio-economic profiles are low income, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, desire for well paying jobs, domestic violence and social exclusion. v. Most survivors of human trafficking engage in self employment as a survival strategy at 28.5% and doing odd jobs at 20.8%. Other activities that they are involved in includes; support from relatives and well wishers; Enganging in prostitution; Involved in crime,; Get counselling services; Get government/ NGO'S assistance; Live in isolation and Joining religious groups. For the victims they comply with traffickers as their only survival strategy vi. Recruiters of human trafficking victims are relatives at 40.%, businessmen at 23%,, friends at 20.9% , government officers, wealth people in the village, middle and high level professional, teachers, social workers and religious leaders. Socio-economic profiles of recruiters are middle and high income earners, individuals who command a following and respect from people. They are generally influential persons in society. vii. High levels of Poverty and unemployment in the country are the main facilitators in external trafficking at 25.7% and 26% respectively. Ready markets for casual labour and corruption also scored high at 12% and 11.6%. Others were ; Ideology of better life styles, Illiteracy, its a lucrative business, porous border points and lack of awareness (civic education). viii. 70.5% of the respondents indicated that most of the victims in domestic trafficking are sourced from rural areas and 21.6% from urban areas. In external, 42.2% are sourced from urban areas and 29.7 from other African countries. Other sources include institutions like schools, churches, children homes and refugee camps. Road transport is the commonly used in domestic trafficking at 81.7% while air is mostly used in external human trafficking The results indicate that victims of human trafficking in external are mostly destined in Middle East countries at 44.5% and 32.9% are trafficked in other African countries. In domestic human trafficking, most of the victims are destined in urban areas at 67.2%. ix. Agent commission's cost emerged as the major payment cost with 46.7% . However, 28.6% of the respondents indicated unawareness of these costs. Others which were listed includes; Transport costs, registration fee, reward for brokers and agents, Medical cost, document processing costs and money for food and accommodation. x. Awareness of socio-economic effects was at 80.1% with Brain drain/labour drain emerging as the highest socio economic effect of human trafficking with 21.6% followed by psychological trauma at 19.9% and social breakdown at 10.6% and increased insecurity at 10.5% .Others were; death; improves family income; loss of revenue; Violation of human rights and freedom; increased school dropouts and poverty respectively. xi. Of those who indicated awareness of intervention strategies, the following were listed as the strategies used to address human trafficking in Kenya: Strategic checkpoints for verification of documents, civic education by government and media, Arrest and prosecution of culprits, ban on night travelling and to certain destinations, enforcement of existing Acts, embracing the Nyumba Kumi Initiative, and youth empowerment through Uwezo fund. xii. Three interventions were used to rate the effectiveness of intervention strategies used to address human trafficking. Based on three, the study showed that these intervention strategies are not working. This is after scoring the following percentages on non-effectiveness: prosecution 58.5%, prevention 58.7% and capacity building 47.8%. On effectiveness, they scored 26.7%, 31.9% and 36.3% respectively. Comparing the three capacity building was the most effective at 36.3%. xiii. Poverty, unemployment and corruption are the major reasons as to why the business of human trafficking continues to persist in the country despite various interventions in place. Other reasons which emerged from the results of the survey are; Ignorance among the Kenyan people, Corruption in government officials, Advanced technology which helps in recruitment, existing laws being lenient on perpetrators, Kenyans being greedy for money, poor implementation of existing laws, trafficking being a lucrative business, porous border points, high demand for labour in developed countries and high Illiteracy level among Kenyans. xiv. Improving renumeration for the officials handling the issue of human emerged the best at 24% followed by civic education at 22% and Increasing surveillance and beefing up security at 13.4%. Others were; job creation , Effective legislations, Taming corruption, improving the economy, collaboration among stake holders and community policing. xv. Corruption emerged as the major challenges faced in preventing and combating human trafficking in Kenya at 41.2% followed by unemployment at 13.5%. Other challenges identified were ; Lack of effective laws to address the issue, lack of collaboration between the stake holders, lack of political will/ hostile border relations, Ignorance, collusion between locals and perpetrators, poverty, and lack of resources xvi. Taming corruption and creating jobs/ offering loans to the youths emerged as the best solutions to the challenges faced in preventing and combating human trafficking in the country at 23.7% and 19.2% respectively. Other solutions listed were; providing civic education, Reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, Increasing surveillance, Enforcement of existing laws, providing resources, vetting of officers handling the issue of human trafficking, Initiating community policing ,Enacting new punitive legislations, collaboration among stake holders and Creating a special police unit to handle the issue. Recommendations i. Strengthen detection and investigation as corruption is rampant and could hinder the same through Networking and Collaboration among stakeholders ii. Stakeholders in fight against human trafficking should embrace new technology in tracking and detecting the culprit, establish inter-link between local and international investigating agencies and training of investigators to be enhanced iii. There is need to apply the anti-trafficking law to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders, including government officials suspected of complicity in human trafficking; iv. Enhance the use the anti-trafficking law or Section 14 of the Sexual Offenses Act to prosecute and punish child sex tourists; provide additional training to all levels of the government, particularly law enforcement officials, on identifying and responding to trafficking crimes; establish an official process for law enforcement officials to refer trafficking victims for assistance; v. The government should continue to increase oversight of and accountability for overseas recruitment agencies; increase protective services available to adult trafficking victims, particularly those identified in and returned from the Middle East; vi. Establish and convene the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Advisory Committee to coordinate the government's anti-trafficking efforts and oversee full implementation of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2010; vii. Establish the board of trustees to oversee the National Assistance Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking and allocate money to endow this fund; and launch and implement the national plan of action. viii. Prosecutors to widely use the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act. As guidelines for implementing the victim protection provisions of the anti-trafficking statute have yet to be developed, the government continued to lack a formal mechanism for identifying victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations. ix. There is need efforts to identify and protect all victims; male, female and child trafficking victims. Protection for adults was unavailable, including for the increasing number of victims in the overseas migrant worker population. Neither the Ministry of Gender nor any other ministry received a specific budget allocation for anti-trafficking activities. x. Efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment should be quickened to curb human trafficking especially of children and women. xi. Efforts should be geared towards protection, prevention and capacity development for the public particularly those in low income areas, with illiteracy and unemployed. xii. Recommendations strategies used to address human trafficking in Kenya: Strategic checkpoints for verification of documents, civic education by government and media, Arrest and prosecution of culprits, ban on night travelling and to certain destinations, enforcement of existing Acts, embracing the Nyumba Kumi Initiative, and youth empowerment through Uwezo Fund. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: National Crime Research Centre, 2014. 132p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 1, 2015 at: http://crimeresearch.go.ke/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=4:preliminary-reports&Itemid=496 Year: 2014 Country: Kenya URL: Shelf Number: 136936 Keywords: Child TraffickingForced LaborHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingModern SlaveryProstitutionSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment |
Author: Paredes, Dusan Title: Is crime in Mexico a disamenity? Evidence from hedonic valuation approach Summary: Since Roback (1982)'s seminal work, the literature has evaluated the role of the amenities to equilibrate the regional differentials of nominal wages and prices. While these studies generally find evidence for traditional amenities and disamenities in developed countries, it still exists a scarce exploration on how those characteristics assessed, like violence, affect the equilibrium in less developed countries. In this paper, we explore violence as amenity or disamenity for the case of Mexico as a particular and unique natural experiment. We use the hedonic wage and rent theory proposed by Roback using data from the Mexican Household Income and Expenditure Survey, along with other information at municipal and state level. For our particular hypothesis, we find evidence to support that inhabitants in traditional drug trafficking states could consider drug-related crime as an amenity. Details: Antofagasta, Chile: Departamento de Economia, Universidad Catolica del Norte, 2015. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: No 67, Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional : Accessed October 30, 2015 at: https://ideas.repec.org/p/cat/dtecon/dt201512.html Year: 2015 Country: Mexico URL: https://ideas.repec.org/p/cat/dtecon/dt201512.html Shelf Number: 137178 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceEconomics and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office Pakistan Title: The Socio-Economic Impact of Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in Pakistan Summary: Pakistan's population as of July 2011 is estimated at 187.3 million, with an annual estimated growth rate of 1.5 per cent, comprising 52 per cent male and 48 per cent female with more than 50 per cent being youth between 15 and 29 years of age. Pakistan is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast, with sea borders to the south. It is a federation of four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), a capital territory (Islamabad), and two semi-autonomous regions (FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan), and the Pakistan administered portion of Kashmir. Pakistan has faced numerous economic, social and security challenges since 2007, commencement point of this research. These combined factors are matter of an acute concern for the law enforcement agencies provide the ideal environment for transnational organised crime networks to flourish and exploit weaknesses in the system. The impact is not limited solely to the human costs relating to the extreme suffering and dehumanization of the individuals who are trafficked but also poses serious governance risk within the wider region. This has a direct detrimental effect on the state structures arrayed against corruption and organized crime. It also poses a threat to the economic development of the country. Pakistan is a source, transit and a destination country for human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The problem manifests itself within the country and across borders. In Pakistan, Sindh and Punjab remain a source of concern with high instances of bonded labour in agriculture, brick making and other industries. In response to migrant smuggling and human trafficking issues, the Government of Pakistan has taken important steps in developing strategies to combat these crimes and protect the rights of victims. In 2002, the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (PACHTO) was enacted. This was followed by the development of a National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking, as well as establishment of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and Circles under the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Details: Islamabad: UNODC - Pakistan, 2014. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 17, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan/The_Socio-economic_impact_of_human_trafficking_and_migrant_smuggling_in_Pakistan_19_Feb_2015.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Pakistan URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan/The_Socio-economic_impact_of_human_trafficking_and_migrant_smuggling_in_Pakistan_19_Feb_2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137312 Keywords: Border SecurityHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal MigrantsMigrantsSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Webster, Colin Title: Poverty and Crime Review Summary: This review of the literature about how and why poverty and crime influence one another, and the benefits to crime reduction of reducing poverty, looks at the implications for practical policies and strategies. Methods The review gathered and reviewed 173 of the most cited and/or important articles and monographs published mostly between 1980 and 2013 that directly or indirectly tested the poverty and crime (P‐C) link in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. The start date 1980 reflects a growing interest in the impact of poverty on crime, coinciding with steep rises of poverty and unemployment at a time that began to see steep rises in the crime rate too. In marshalling studies about crime and poverty, various methodological and substantive blind‐spots in the criminological literature needed to be taken into account and overcome. Large national studies of poverty and crime in Britain, like studies of crime and class, are absent, despite a widespread impression that crime is prevalent among the poor and lower social classes. In Britain, neither criminal nor prison statistics control for poverty or socioeconomic status, made all the more remarkable when proxies for poverty such as employment status at arrest and conviction are taken into account, which show the majority of those arrested and imprisoned having experienced poverty. Further, changes in British Crime Survey (BCS) sampling and changes in the availability of data have made analysis of the impact of poverty on crime impossible. The overall method was to triangulate different approaches, methods and data so that the weaknesses of one might be compensated by the strengths of another. To discover what the cumulative effects of growing up poor might be on engaging in criminal activity we gathered studies that looked at processes of persistent or recurring childhood and family poverty, linked to crime, using longitudinal cohort studies. Associations, correlations and causes in poverty‐crime relationships were sort using cohort and time series data as well as cross sectional studies. As Valdez et al (2007:595) tell us, any poverty and crime link'...involves a complex interrelationship among mediating individual and community‐level variables'. Another aspect of our methods was to capture the different levels and scales of data and analysis - individual, household and neighbourhood - in poverty and crime relationships. We looked at smaller, local studies as well as national studies using aggregate data. Finally we examined quantitative and qualitative approaches to the impact of poverty on crime. Details: York, UK: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2014. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Anti-Poverty Strategies for the UK: Accessed November 28, 2015 at: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/71188/1/JRF_Final_Poverty_and_Crime_Review_May_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/71188/1/JRF_Final_Poverty_and_Crime_Review_May_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 137357 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeSocioeconomic Status |
Author: Hsu, Teresa T. Title: Parent, Peer, and Neighborhood Risk Factors Accounting for Spatial Clustering of Adolescent Aggressive Behavior Summary: The existing aggression literature highlights the importance of risk factors from multiple domains, including the parent, peer, and more recently, the neighborhood domains. However, this literature generally has not extended the study of neighborhood effects on adolescent aggression to include geographic location. Of the existing research examining neighborhood effects on youth aggression, neighborhood is typically measured using aggregate data of bounded areas, although aggressive behavior may vary according to geographic locations within pre-defined boundaries. Reliance only on aggregate data may lead to errors such as the ecological fallacy (i.e., the assumption that individuals have the same average characteristics of the larger group) or the overestimation or underestimation of model parameters (Diez-Roux, 2007). Thus, using analyses that link geographic information to individual data, or spatial analyses, may be particularly valuable given these problems. The present study used both spatial and non-spatial analyses to examine whether observations of high adolescent aggression and its risk factors geographically cluster, or occur in geographic proximity to other observations, as well as whether geographic clusters of adolescent aggression overlap or coincide with clusters of risk factors. Nearest Neighbor Analyses and multi-level analyses were conducted with a community, epidemiologically-defined sample of adolescents in 8th grade residing in Baltimore City. Results of spatial analyses revealed that aggression and its risk factors of low parental monitoring, high deviant peer affiliation, high community violence exposure, and high perceived neighborhood violence geographically clustered, and that these clusters overlapped to some extent. However, results of non-spatial analyses did not indicate clustering at the census tract level. Clinical implications of study results and future directions for using both types of analyses are discussed. Details: Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2011. 128p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 18, 2016 at: http://media.proquest.com/media/pq/classic/doc/2428767151/fmt/ai/rep/NPDF?_s=LYc8Zl4C0gl274WIfnYcZGgBHSs%3D Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://media.proquest.com/media/pq/classic/doc/2428767151/fmt/ai/rep/NPDF?_s=LYc8Zl4C0gl274WIfnYcZGgBHSs%3D Shelf Number: 137879 Keywords: Adolescents Aggression Juvenile Offenders Neighborhoods and Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Billings, Stephen B. Title: Partners in Crime: Schools, Neighborhoods and the Formation of Criminal Networks Summary: Why do crime rates differ greatly across neighborhoods and schools? Comparing youth who were assigned to opposite sides of newly drawn school boundaries, we show that concentrating disadvantaged youth together in the same schools and neighborhoods increases total crime. We then show that these youth are more likely to be arrested for committing crimes together - to be "partners in crime". Our results suggest that direct peer interaction is a key mechanism for social multipliers in criminal behavior. As a result, policies that increase residential and school segregation will - all else equal - increase crime through the formation of denser criminal networks. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series: Working Paper 21962: Accessed February 24, 2016 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21962.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21962.pdf Shelf Number: 137957 Keywords: Criminal NetworksNeighborhoods and CrimeSchoolsSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: International Crisis Group Title: Crutch to Catalyst? The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala Summary: Guatemala - one of Latin America's most violent, unequal and impoverished countries - is enjoying a rare moment of opportunity. A new president, Jimmy Morales, bolstered by a landslide victory, has taken office promising to end corruption. The old political elite is in disarray. Emboldened citizens are pressing for reforms to make justice more effective and government more transparent. Behind these changes is a unique multilateral experiment, the UN-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), whose investigators work with national prosecutors to dismantle criminal networks within the state. CICIG is not a permanent fix, however. Guatemala will lose its opportunity unless national leaders assume the fight against impunity as their own, approve stalled justice and security sector reforms and muster the financial resources to strengthen domestic institutions. CICIG began operations in 2007 to investigate clandestine security groups that continued to operate within the state following the 1996 accords that ended 36 years of intermittent armed conflict. Such groups still undermine the state, though their main goal now is economic power, not elimination of political opponents. International support and financing guarantee the commission's independence, though it operates under Guatemalan laws. Unlike traditional capacity-building efforts, it not only trains, but also works side by side with national prosecutors and police, providing them with the necessary technical expertise and political autonomy to hold powerful suspects accountable before the law. CICIG has promoted and helped implement legislation to create a witness protection program, tighten gun controls, establish rules for court-ordered wiretaps and asset forfeiture and institute high-risk courts for the trial of particularly dangerous defendants. At the same time, it has carried out complex, high-profile probes that resulted in charges against a former president for embezzlement, an ex-minister and other top security officials for extrajudicial executions and dozens of additional officials and suspected drug traffickers for fraud, illicit association and homicide. The commission has faced significant setbacks and limitations, however. Some high-profile cases have ended in acquittal. Key reforms, such as a judicial career law, have stalled in Congress. While it has helped strengthen certain specialised prosecutorial units, the public prosecutor's office remains overstretched, even absent, in much of the country. Other institutions essential for combatting impunity - notably the civilian police and judiciary - are still weak, vulnerable to corruption and largely unaccountable. The most dramatic blows it has delivered against impunity came in 2015 with the arrest of almost 200 officials for corruption, including a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud customs. Working with national prosecutors, CICIG collected and analysed massive amounts of evidence. The evidentiary trail, according to prosecutors, led to President Otto Perez Molina, who resigned (though denying any criminal activity) and now awaits trial in a military prison. Much of CICIG's recent success is due to the determination and persistence of its current commissioner, Ivan Velasquez, a jurist known for uncovering the links between politicians and paramilitary structures in his native Colombia. CICIG cannot function, however, without the close collaboration and support of Guatemalan prosecutors. Very different attorneys general - Claudia Paz y Paz, a former human rights activist, and Thelma Aldana, a veteran jurist - have shown the independence and courage to pursue complex, controversial cases against powerful suspects. A crucial ingredient is popular support. Both the commission and public prosecutors enjoy wide approval among citizens exhausted by violent crime and corruption. The investigations spawned a broad civic movement for justice reform and government transparency. In a country long polarised by ideological, economic and ethnic differences, the anti-corruption crusade has at least temporarily united groups ranging from business associations to labour unions, urban professionals to indigenous leaders. Anger over government fraud holds this movement together, rather than any clear agenda for change. Elected leaders should channel discontent into positive action by initiating a national debate on the reforms needed to strengthen justice and encourage accountability. Morales, a former television comedian, campaigned as the anti-politician. He has yet to put forward a clear reform program, including new legislation to guarantee the independence of judges and prosecutors, toughen campaign-financing laws and create honest, professional civilian police. Moreover, a weak, underfunded state needs to enact fiscal and tax reforms so that its justice institutions have the resources needed to pay good salaries, provide decent working conditions and extend their coverage across the country. CICIG's mandate ends in September 2017, though the president wisely has proposed extending it. International assistance cannot last indefinitely, however. The commission is Guatemala's best opportunity for genuine justice reform, and it should not be wasted, but the government must start planning for its departure by fortifying its own capacity to fight crime and corruption. Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2016. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Latin America Report No. 56: Accessed March 2, 2016 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/Guatemala/056-crutch-to-catalyst-the-international-commission-against-impunity-in-guatemala Year: 2016 Country: Guatemala URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/Guatemala/056-crutch-to-catalyst-the-international-commission-against-impunity-in-guatemala Shelf Number: 138031 Keywords: CorruptionPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Fink, Carsten Title: The Economic Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy: A Review and Implications for Developing Countries Summary: Policy makers around the world recognize the potentially harmful consequences of trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy. Indeed, many countries have recently initiated policy reforms to strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). Further, minimum standards of enforcement have been incorporated in many international treaties, especially trade agreements. This emphasis on enforcement raises basic questions about the actual impacts of IP rights infringement, which differ across the types of IPR and economic sectors. The authors review the academic literature and other studies in the public domain to evaluate what has been learned about these socioeconomic effects, with an emphasis on developing countries where possible. They also identify important gaps in our understanding of the consequences of counterfeiting and piracy and develop recommendations on how governments might collect data and conduct studies to better inform IPR enforcement policy. Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7586 : Accessed March 4, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2740120 Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2740120 Shelf Number: 138046 Keywords: Counterfeit GoodsIntellectual PiracySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: National Crime Prevention Centre (Canada) Title: The Achievers: Politive Alternatives to Youth Gangs (PAYG) Summary: Toronto's Jane-Finch community suffers from one of the highest violent crime rates in the province of Ontario and is widely acknowledged as one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Canada. It is believed that the Jane-Finch community has the highest concentration of youth gangs in Canada, with well-known gangs such as the Bloods and Crips. Researchers from the University of Toronto and officials from the City of Toronto have developed the Youth Crime Risk Index, a tool to identify neighbourhoods with a high risk of youth gang activity. The index demonstrates that Jane-Finch has the highest risk score in Toronto. This indicates that the community suffers from high crime rates, socio-economic disadvantage, and residents have limited access to community programs for youth. Given all of these risk factors, youth who grow up in this community are especially vulnerable to gang membership. In 1999, there were a few local programs that dealt with gang members and gang-related issues, but no programs were available for middle-school youth. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Evaluation Summaries ES-2014-40: Accessed march 14, 2016 at: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 138221 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGangsHigh Crime AreasNeighborhoods and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Bueno, Cruz Caridad Title: A Knife Hidden in Roses: Development and Gender Violence in the Dominican Republic Summary: On September 30, 2012, Jonathan Torres stabbed his wife, Miguelina Martinez, fifty-two times in a beauty salon in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Ms. Martinez, 33 years-old, went to the district attorney's office eighteen times in the two weeks prior to her murder to report that because of her husband's violent threats she left her home. He killed her because she no longer wanted to be with him; the knife he used was hidden in a bouquet of roses. This dissertation interrogates the state of development and gender violence in the Dominican Republic. The first chapter examines the implications of racial, gender, and class stratification on the economic and social opportunities of low-income women, predominantly of African descent, working in the export processing zones and as domestic workers. The second chapter explores the correlation between women's economic, political, and social characteristics and the incidence domestic violence using data from the Demographic and Health Survey. Further, I test which model - the household bargaining model (HBM) or the male backlash model (MBM) - best explains gender violence. I find that the HBM better predicts physical violence, while the MBM better predicts sexual violence. However, when I disaggregate asset-poor women and asset-rich women, I find that the HBM is more adept at explaining gender violence for asset-rich women and the MBM for asset-poor women The third chapter explores the role of women's and men's endogenous preferences on the justifications of gender violence. In both the female and male specifications, there is a positive correlation between men making more decisions and the justification of gender violence. Women that support gender equity are less likely to justify gender violence; while husbands that are less gender progressive are more likely to justify gender violence. Based on my findings, I conclude that the Dominican government's economic policies of the last thirty years are the knife hidden in the government' roses or rhetoric of human development and women's rights. To promote human development and foster women's rights, the Dominican government must embark on a new trajectory focused on human capital formation and a more equitable distribution of income, wealth, and power. Details: Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 2013. 191p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 30, 2016 at: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1842&context=open_access_dissertations Year: 2013 Country: Dominican Republic URL: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1842&context=open_access_dissertations Shelf Number: 138485 Keywords: Domestic ViolenceGender-Based ViolenceSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Against Women |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Does the Link between Unemployment and Crime Depend on the Crime Level? A Quantile Regression Approach Summary: Two alternative hypotheses - referred to as opportunity - and stigma-based behavior suggest that the relationship between unemployment and crime also depends on preexisting local crime levels. In order to analyze conjectured nonlinearities between both variables, we are using quantile regressions applied to German county panel data. While both conventional OLS and quantile regressions confirm the positive link between unemployment and crime for property crimes, results for assault differ with respect to the method of estimation. Whereas conventional mean regressions do not show any significant effect (which would confirm the usual result found for violent crimes in the literature), quantile regression uncovers that size and importance of the relationship are conditional on the crime rate: The partial effect is significantly positive for moderately low and median quantiles of local assault rates. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2014. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 8334: Accessed April 2, 2016 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8334.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Germany URL: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8334.pdf Shelf Number: 138534 Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUnemployment and Crime |
Author: Preciado, Luis E. Title: State approaches toward reducing youth violence in Honduras and Nicaragua Summary: Nicaragua and Honduras are neighbor countries situated in one of the most violent regions of the world. As such, they share many similarities, including geopolitics, a history of political violence and insurgency, as well as a repressive authoritarian past. In spite of the two countries' similarities, their divergent policing and public security policies have led to equally divergent outcomes in crime and homicide rates. What factors explain this divergence? How effective are their respective policing and security policies in confronting the proliferation of violence among the youth of their nations? Analysis of these questions helps U.S. policy-makers gain greater understanding of the critical factors that are contributing to Central America's escalating youth violence. By way of a most-similar systems approach, this thesis analyzes the aspects that either enable or degrade state efforts to address their youth gang crisis. In sum, building strong and accountable criminal justice institutions as well as addressing the socioeconomic challenges that confront youth populations are necessary preconditions for reducing youth violence. To assist our regional partners in restoring security to their nations, U.S. policymakers need to promote programs that help strengthen institutional capacities and expand social programs that assist at-risk youth. Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2015. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 11, 2016 at: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/47317/15Sep_Preciado_Luis.pdf?sequence=3 Year: 2015 Country: Central America URL: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/47317/15Sep_Preciado_Luis.pdf?sequence=3 Shelf Number: 138626 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGang ViolenceGangsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouth Violence |
Author: New Jersey. Commission on Violence Title: Report of the Study Commission on Violence Summary: The Study Commission on Violence discharged its duty to examine trends and sources of violence, the impact of violence on the community, identified funding opportunities that address violence, and the mental health system through the receipt of subject matter expert briefings, public hearings, and its own independent research. This report summarizes the Study Commission's findings and its recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor. Violence in our communities is a concern we heard expressed time and again in our public hearings and in examining data related to the frequency of violence in New Jersey. There is no one source of violence or a single impact on the communities where it occurs. Rather, violence is brought on by a host of socio-economic factors and individual decisions made by people who choose to perpetrate violent acts against others or themselves. While "violence" is an all-encompassing term, it can also be imprecise. Deaths due to violence are at a generational low; yet, violence remains stubbornly high in certain areas - in New Jersey, roughly 80 percent of all violent crime occurs in just 21 cities. It is not coincidental that these cities also have lower rates of high school graduation, higher rates of unemployment, lower rates of household income, and higher rates of school truancy. Violence does not occur in a vacuum; rather, it thrives in poor and disadvantaged communities where educational and economic opportunities are limited and residents have become accustomed to a certain level of lawlessness. In recent years, the challenges facing these communities have been compounded by economic turmoil that has resulted in reductions in law enforcement. Violence, however, is not confined to urban settings and occurs in suburban and rural communities as well. The issue of violence should be a concern to all New Jersey residents, to one degree or another. And while violent "street" crime is found disproportionately in a small number of places in New Jersey, certain crimes like domestic violence are more widespread. Still others, like elder abuse, are emerging as concerns in the community. At the same time, a consensus has begun to form around the manner in which those who are drug addicted, particularly those suffering from heroin addiction, are treated when they are arrested. Whereas public policy once focused exclusively on incarcerating individuals, even for low-level offenses, for significant periods of time, current policy has shifted toward diverting non-violent offenders away from incarceration and into treatment. Moreover, this trend has extended into how law enforcement treats juvenile delinquents. Through diversion programs that offer community-based oversight, some county youth detention facilities have closed because too few juveniles are being remanded to custody and the number of juveniles in Juvenile Justice Commission facilities has dropped by roughly half. Of course, violence is not limited to acts by one person against another. Self-directed violence in the form of suicide and attempted suicide is also prevalent in our country. Indeed, the number of suicides that occur nationally each year is more than twice the number of homicides that occur in our nation. The Study Commission took seriously its charge to examine the trends, sources, and impact of violence in the community, the availability of grant funding to combat violence, the implementation of expanded involuntary outpatient commitments, and whether and how defendants with identified mental health disabilities but who are charged with crimes, can be offered an alternative to incarceration in the form of a structured, case managed program of treatment and counseling. The Commission learned that there are a wide range of programs and services available to those with a diagnosed mental health disability or illness. Indeed, coverage for mental health treatment is now available to more individuals through the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. That said, issues still remain regarding access to that treatment due to limited resources and reimbursement for practitioners who treat these patients. With respect to at least one specific charge of the Commission - examining the involuntary outpatient commitment program and whether it should be extended statewide - the Commission determined that this has been mooted by legislation passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. Details: s.l.: The Commission, 2015. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 23, 2016 at: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2455899/study-commission-on-violence-report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2455899/study-commission-on-violence-report.pdf Shelf Number: 138801 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesMental Health ServicesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeSuicidesUrban AreasViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: O'Neil, Shannon K. Title: Mexico on the Brink Summary: The headlines don't mislead. Mexican society is reeling from the collateral damage of the permanent war on drugs in the Americas, as crime cartels duke it out for control of illicit exports to the US. Indeed, high levels of violence largely explain why Mexico ranked 104th out of 142 countries in the Safety and Security category in the 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index - and why, in spite of a very high ranking (27th) in the Economy category, the country is only 59th in the overall prosperity ranking. But that's just one element of the story of contemporary Mexico. Here, Shannon O'Neil, a senior fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (and author of the new book, Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead), focuses on Mexico's progress in escaping what development economists call the "middle-income trap". In the early 1980s, Mexico began to shake off the political and economic torpor created by one-party, Tammany Hallstyle rule and self-imposed isolation from the competitive pressures of a rapidly integrating global economy. Reform was initially forced on the country as a condition for relief from the consequences of default on its foreign loans. But it triggered a series of secondary tremors that shook the domestic economic and political landscape, leading first to the free trade agreement with the US and Canada, and then to the opening of the political system to interests that had no stake in preserving a bloated, bureaucratic government and corrupt, state-owned enterprises. O'Neil picks up the story from there. Arguably the least understood aspect of Mexico's coming of age, she suggests, is the role played by global supply chains in manufacturing. Mexico's combination of competitively priced labour, proximity to the US and Canada, and market-friendly regulation has led to an unprecedented degree of integration between the three economies, powering the growth of Mexico's middle-class. O'Neil makes it clear that the path forward is not strewn with roses, however. Organised crime still makes life terrifying for millions on a daily basis. Public services - in particular, public education - remain inadequate to meet the challenge of creating a workforce the equal of, say, the US or Northern Europe. The national oil monopoly is still corrupt, poorly managed and woefully lacking in modern technology. But by O'Neil's reading, Mexico really does have a shot at joining the elite club of rich, democratic nations. Details: London: Legatum Institute, 2013. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Prosperity in Depth: Mexico: Accessed May 13, 2016 at: https://lif.blob.core.windows.net/lif/docs/default-source/country-growth-reports/pid-mexico-2013---mexico-on-the-brink.pdf?sfvrsn=0 Year: 2013 Country: Mexico URL: https://lif.blob.core.windows.net/lif/docs/default-source/country-growth-reports/pid-mexico-2013---mexico-on-the-brink.pdf?sfvrsn=0 Shelf Number: 139017 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceDrugs and CrimeHomicidesOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) Title: Violence and Community Capabilities: Insights for Building Safe and Inclusive Cities in Central America Summary: This paper offers insights into dynamics of urban violence in two Central American countries that have evolved very differently historically. Costa Rica boasts the lowest overall levels of poverty and inequality of any country on the Isthmus, and has benefited from decades of stable and relatively inclusive governance highlighted by ambitious social policies. El Salvador, by contrast, exhibits severe levels of poverty and inequality typical of its neighbors, as well as a long history of exclusionary rule and corresponding inattention to social welfare. Yet our research reveals significant parallels between the two countries. This three-year, multi-method comparative study, carried out by teams at FLACSO-Costa Rica and FLACSO-El Salvador in collaboration with American University and with support from the IDRC/DFID Safe and Inclusive Cities program, focused on violence in two impoverished urban communities in Costa Rica and three in El Salvador. In all five settings, we analyzed neighborhood dynamics as well as community assessments of anti-violence interventions. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, American University, 2015. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: CLALS Working Paper Series no. 8: Accessed June 2, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2685419 Year: 2015 Country: Central America URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2685419 Shelf Number: 139272 Keywords: Gang Violence Gangs Poverty Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime Urban Violence Violence Violent Crime |
Author: Zinecker, Heidrun Title: Violence in Peace: Forms and causes of postwar violence in Guatemala Summary: On 29 December, 1996 the conflict in Guatemala between the URNG, a leftist guerrilla organization, and the authoritarian state came to an end. With the implementation of the peace agreements and the completion of peace-building, Guatemala has without doubt taken an important step on the road to democracy. However, the country's regime does not guarantee a civilized life for its citizens. Even by Latin American standards, it permits an extremely high level of violence. This can be characterized as violence in peace. Although the rates of homicide conditioned by this violence are higher than those that prevailed during the civil war, there is no danger of a return to war. During the war political violence was the main cause of death, and violent crime has now taken its place. This report analyses three forms of postwar violence which are especially typical of Guatemala: political violence, the maras, and lynch law. It then goes on to examine their causes. In the course of this examination, a number of elements which are generally supposed to be causes of violence are excluded as causal factors: the perpetuation of a culture of violence or/and war-violence racism and ethnic exclusion, poverty, and inequality in the sense of a general distribution of income as measured by the Gini coefficient. In the next step, an alternative model of explanation is presented. This distinguishes between enabling structures which make violence possible and structures that might prevent it (with particular reference to the absence of preventive structures). The report identifies regime hybridity and a rent economy as structures that make violence possible, and investigates these structures in order to identify the concrete configurations which are immanent to the structures and cause violence. In the case of the rent economy, the specific structures identified are the especially pronounced bipolarity between the oligarchy and the lowest quintile of the population, new rents as outlets for oligarchical structures and catalysts of violence, low rates of investment, and a low level of empowerment of work. However, none of these structures is, on its own, a cause of the high intensity of violence; they form a complex system. The absence in Guatemala of a structure that could prevent violence can be identified in the poor performance of the security sector, i.e. the police and judiciary, and in the lack of democratic commitment on the part of civil society in this sector. This low level of performance is, in addition to political exclusion and the absence of the rule of law, a characteristic feature of regime hybridity. Although this report is a case study, it has an intrinsically comparative character. This is because the other Central American countries (El Salvador and Honduras with a higher, and Costa Rica and Nicaragua with a lower intensity of violence) form the matrix which renders visible the specificity of Guatemala. Nicaragua is of particular significance for this implicit comparison, because it is the only country in Central America that has experienced a civil war in the recent past but seen a low level of violence since the end of that war. The conclusion of the report identifies two ways in which violence, or the intensity of violence, can be limited in the long term. In the Costa Rican model, a low intensity of violence has been achieved directly, via a long historical path in which "Democracy - Performance + Democratic Content" is combined with "Social Market - Empowerment of Labour + Production of Investment Goods". In the Nicaraguan model, a low intensity of violence has been achieved indirectly but over a shorter period of time; here, there can be no doubt about the absence of democracy, and therefore the existence of regime hybridity, or the absence of a social market economy, and therefore the existence of a rent economy. The main finding of the report follows from the Nicaraguan model: the level of violence can be reduced even though ethnically based exclusion, poverty, and inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) are present, and even though a rent economy and regime hybridity are present as well. If violence is to be successfully reduced, it is necessary for the police and judiciary to be supported conceptually and practically in their efforts to prevent violence and to rehabilitate violent offenders, and to bring about improvements in criminal investigation practices, the support provided to victims, and consistent criminal justice policies. Development aid can help in all these areas. Simultaneously, measures must be taken to bring about the empowerment of civil society - which, however, should not mean the empowerment of vigilantism. In addition, the situation of the lowest quintile of the population should be improved in such a way that there is at least a prospect of relative socioeconomic egalitarianism. This can be done if smaller enterprises are strengthened so that they can serve as a counterweight to the ruling oligarchy, in the context of an improvement in the rate of investment in the production of investment goods. In this way it would be possible to reduce both the official level of unemployment and the concealed unemployment that exists in the informal sector, leading to the empowerment of work. These autochthonous policies are necessary for Guatemala, and they should be combined with the exertion of international political pressure on the USA's problematic policies on immigration, integration, and deportation. This should include the provision of support to Guatemala (as well as El Salvador and Honduras) for the integration of young people deported from the USA. This report presents the first systematic analysis of postwar violence in Guatemala. It is based on approximately 50 interviews with Guatemalan academics, politicians, police and judicial officers, Maya priests, and NGO activists, and also with violent offenders, all of whom were interviewed during a month-long period of field research in Guatemala in March 2006. Details: Frankfurt, Germany: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, 2006. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: PRIF Reports No. 76: Accessed June 13, 2016 at: mercury.ethz.ch Year: 2006 Country: Guatemala URL: mercury.ethz.ch Shelf Number: 139425 Keywords: GangsHomicidesMarasPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVigilantismViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Letlatsa, Oumama Tryphosa Title: The effects of organised crime on the macroeconomic stability of South Africa Summary: Economists usually distinguish between five macroeconomic objectives, namely, high and sustainable economic growth, full employment, price stability, balance of payments stability and the equitable distribution of income. This research deals with the economics of organised crime. It aims to examine the relationship between organised crime and the five macroeconomic objectives. To prove that organised crime has an impact on macroeconomic stability, it is necessary to show that it involves large sums of money relative to overall economic activity. Crime has always been mentioned as a factor that has an impact on the economic growth of a country, but the extent to which crime constrains growth and by what mechanisms it limits growth and development is unknown. This can be attributed to the underground nature of most organised criminal activities, such as money laundering. Very little research has been done on the costs and the extent of organised crime on the macroeconomy of South Africa. In attempting to quantify the costs of crime relative to the macroeconomy of South Africa, this research identifies various organised criminal activities. It examines the extent of the costs and the threats they pose to the macroeconomic stability of South Africa. This research shows that the political transformation and the resultant globalisation of South Africa during the early 1990s provided an ideal opportunity for organised crime structures to expand. It also shows that organised crime imposes direct and indirect costs on households and businesses, and therefore on the economy of South Africa as a whole. Organised crime diverts funds that could otherwise be invested in productive capacity, it discourages foreign investment and induces the government to spend money on law enforcement, crime prevention and the administration of justice, instead of spending it on the creation of additional employment opportunities. Tax revenue is also lost to money laundering. The abuse of the informal economy by money launderers has an impact on growth. Crime has prevented the growth of the tourist industry to its full potential given the country's reputation of violence. A loss of skilled personnel who left the country has also been experienced, citing crime as a reason to immigrate. Details: Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg, 2008. 118p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 28, 2016 at: http://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10210/3453/Letlatsa.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2008 Country: South Africa URL: http://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10210/3453/Letlatsa.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 139653 Keywords: Economics and CrimeOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Richardson, Lydia Title: Armed violence and poverty in Brazil: A case study of Rio de Janeiro and assessment of Viva Rio for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative Summary: This report is the result of an 11-day visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September 2004. Wider research and information were used to complement the stakeholder interviews held during this period. The objectives of the study were to: - Contribute to the UK Government Department for International Development- (DFID) funded Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative (AVPI) global research study on the links between armed violence and poverty. - Contribute to the AVPI global study on assessing and reviewing the impact of small arms and light weapons (SALW) projects on small arms availability/misuse and poverty. - Support the case study organisation (Viva Rio) with its internal reflection on strategy and impact. Causes of violence in Rio de Janeiro are multi-faceted. High levels of inequality and physical, social and economic exclusion from the formal system are some of the principle causes. This combines with cultural factors such as machismo and the draw of perceived higher social status and identity through joining gangs. The availability of guns, cocaine and the marijuana industry exacerbates the problem. The lack of an integrated public security strategy coupled with a violent and corrupt police, and a judiciary and prison system which is ineffective, are also contributing factors. The political and economic history of Brazil has played a part: the transition from dictatorship to democracy; rapid and unplanned urbanization; and shifts in labour market requirements to higher skill levels to meet new demands, resulting in high unemployment and frustration felt by those with some education but insufficient to secure a job in the formal economy. Perpetrators and victims of armed violence in Rio de Janeiro are primarily the police, drug traffickers (mainly young men of 14-29 years old), and civilians caught in the crossfire. Favelas are the main locations of gun violence but criminal violence does occur in other parts of the city. The principle type of armed violence is organised drug gang fighting for territorial control; police use of arms; armed robbery and petty crime. Details: Bradford, UK: University of Bradford, Centre for International Cooperation and Security, 2005. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2016 at: http://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:8080/bitstream/handle/10454/1000/AVPI_Rio_de_Janeiro.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2005 Country: Brazil URL: http://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:8080/bitstream/handle/10454/1000/AVPI_Rio_de_Janeiro.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 140028 Keywords: Armed ViolenceDrug-Related ViolenceFavelasGun-Related ViolenceJuvenile GangsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Hume, Mo Title: Armed violence and poverty in El Salvador: A mini case study for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative Summary: One of the most powerful conflicts to affect Central America in the 1980s was that in El Salvador (1980-1992), resulting in the death of more than 80,000 citizens. This report on El Salvador is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies can be found at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations commissioned by operational agencies, and early warning and survey data where this has been available. These secondary sources have been complemented by interviews with government officers, aid policymakers and practitioners, researchers and members of the local population. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government Details: Bradford, UK: University of Bradford, Centre for International Cooperation and Security, 2004. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2016 at: https://core.ac.uk/download/files/10/6001.pdf Year: 2004 Country: El Salvador URL: https://core.ac.uk/download/files/10/6001.pdf Shelf Number: 140019 Keywords: Armed ViolenceDrug-Related ViolenceFavelasGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesJuvenile GangsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Turner, Mandy Title: The Impact of Armed Violence on Poverty and Development. Full Report of the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative Summary: This study examines the extent to which armed violence and small arms and light weapons (SALW) possession and usage, impoverishes individuals, groups, societies and states in various armed violence situations. The objective of the study is not only to advance and clarify understandings and knowledge in this area, which has been largely neglected in policy and research, but also to inform programme design and evaluation. In addition, it offers suggestions on how donors and agencies working in the field of armed violence/SALW and development can work better together to alleviate poverty. Details: Bradford, UK: University of Bradford, Centre for International Cooperation and Security, 2005. 99p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2016 at: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1006/AVPI_Synthesis_Report.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2005 Country: International URL: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1006/AVPI_Synthesis_Report.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 140020 Keywords: Armed ViolenceDrug-Related ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceJuvenile GangsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Maehler, Annegret Title: Oil in Venezuela: Triggering Violence on Ensuring Stability? A Context-Sensitive Analysis of the Ambivalent Impact of Resource Abundance Summary: This paper studies the causal factors that make the oil-state Venezuela, which is generally characterized by a low level of violence, an outlier among the oil countries as a whole. It applies a newly elaborated "context approach" that systematically considers domestic and international contextual factors. To test the results of the systematic analysis, two periods with a moderate increase in internal violence in Venezuela are subsequently analyzed, in the second part of the paper, from a comparative-historical perspective. The findings demonstrate that oil, in interaction with fluctuating non-resource-specific contextual conditions, has had ambiguous effects: On the one hand, oil has explicitly served as a conflict-reducing and partly democracy-promoting factor, principally through large-scale socioeconomic redistribution, widespread clientelistic structures, and corruption. On the other hand, oil has triggered violence - primarily through socioeconomic causal mechanisms (central keywords: decline of oil abundance and resource management) and secondarily through the long-term degradation of political institutions. While clientelism and corruption initially had a stabilizing effect, in the long run they exacerbated the delegitimization of the traditional political elite. Another crucial finding is that the impact and relative importance of oil with respect to the increase in violence seems to vary significantly depending on the specific subtype of violence. Details: Hamburg, Germany: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), 2009. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: GIGA Working Paper, No. 112: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1534618 Year: 2009 Country: Venezuela URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1534618 Shelf Number: 140096 Keywords: Natural ResourcesOilPolitical CorruptionSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence |
Author: Corporacion Andina de Fomento Title: Towards a Safer Latin America: A new perspective to prevent and control crime Summary: Public safety is an important determinant of the welfare of families and communities. The blistering growth of crime and violence in many countries of Latin America in recent years has not only entailed high economic and social costs but also, by undermining trust among citizens and public authorities, compromised democratic governance and state legitimacy. This year's Report on Economics and Development (RED) proposes an approach for the analysis of insecurity in which crime results from decisions made by individuals in a particular situation. While it is true that beliefs, perceptions, self-control, and other personality traits (in turn shaped by family experiences, education level, job opportunities, and other experiences throughout the life cycle) can tip an individual into crime, his physical and social environment, the incentives provided by illegal markets (e.g., drugs), and the credibility and efficiency of the criminal justice system are also important. From this perspective, crime-fighting actions involve a wide range of dimensions: family, school, neighbodhood, community, urban infrastructure, economic regulations, police, justice, and prisons. The available evidence (mostly for developed countries) shows that investing in the nutrition and early stimulation of children and promoting family environments with non-conflicting and proactive parenting have positive effects on people's crime propensity, decreasing the incidence of crime. The same goes for interventions at school and in the peer group during adolescence to reduce youth criminogenic exposure. Despite their importance, these are medium- and long-term investments. In the short term, interventions affecting the environment and the opportunities for committing crimes (such as, for example, improvements in public spaces, schedule limits on the sale of alcohol and targeted policing strategies, by type of crime or territory) could be very rewarding as well. However, to plan, design, and implement these various interventions the available information has to improve. A basic first step is to obtain reliable measurements of the incidence of crime, both from administrative records and victimization surveys. Yet, despite the increased importance of crime and violence for public opinion in the region, there is still much to be done to achieve statistics with methodological rigor and adequate frequency that make it possible to assess the phenomena quantitatively. Of course, reliable statistics are not enough. It is also important for public policy initiatives to be monitored and evaluated to learn about their quantitative and qualitative effects and understand the channels through which these effects play out. This learning is essential when it comes to phenomena with multiple determinants, regarding which the outcomes of any actions can be very specific to the context in which these actions are implemented. Critically, the process of generating statistics and designing, implementing, and evaluating policies requires hefty government institutional capabilities. These capabilities do not appear in a vacuum, but are rather the result of political will to prioritize crime control, which, in turn, depends on citizens' disposition to, through advocacy and vote, demand just this from their representatives. And besides political will, it is necessary for public bureaucracies to be properly trained and have the right incentives and resources for action. Details: s.l.: Corporacion Andina de Fomento, 2015. 268p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed September 3, 2016 at: http://scioteca.caf.com/bitstream/handle/123456789/708/RED2014-english-towards-a-safer-latin-america.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Year: 2015 Country: Latin America URL: http://scioteca.caf.com/bitstream/handle/123456789/708/RED2014-english-towards-a-safer-latin-america.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 140142 Keywords: CrimeCrime PreventionPublic SecuritySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Goda, Thomas Title: Absolute Inequality and Violent Property Crime Summary: Rational choice models argue that income inequality leads to a higher expected utility of crime and thus generates incentives to engage in illegal activities. Yet, the results of empirical studies do not provide strong support for this theory; in fact, Neumayer provides apparently strong evidence that income inequality is not a significant determinant of violent property crime rates when a representative sample is used and country specific fixed effects are controlled for. An important limitation of this and other empirical studies on the subject is that they only consider proportional income differences, even though in rational choice models absolute difference in legal and illegal incomes determine the expected utility of crime. Using the same methodology and data as Neumayer, but using absolute inequality measures rather than proportional ones, this paper finds that absolute income inequality is a statistically significant determinant of robbery and violent theft rates. This result is robust to changes in sample size and to different absolute inequality measures, which not only implies that inequality is an important correlate of violent property crime rates but also suggests that absolute measures are preferable when the impact of inequality on property crime is studied. Details: Colombia: Center for Research in Economics and Finance (CIEF), 2016. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Center for Research in Economics and Finance (CIEF), Working Papers, No. 16-26: Accessed September 8, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2827788 Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2827788 Shelf Number: 147907 Keywords: InequalityPovertyProperty CrimeRobberySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Urrego, Joaquin A. Title: A Spatial Analysis to Permanent Income as Deterrent of Homicides: the case of Medellin City Summary: This paper studies the relationship between permanent income and homicides, estimating an income-crime elasticity. We assume that this elasticity varies across geographical areas. We estimate different specifications of Spatial Panel Models using information of urban areas in Medellin (Colombia), areas known as communes. Spatial Models consider the importance of location and the type of neighbors of each commune. We simulate an intervention over permanent income in order to estimate the income elasticity for each commune and the average elasticity of income-crime on the city. We provide evidence about spatial dependence between the homicides per commune and their neighbors, and about a relationship between homicides and neighbor's income. In our case of study, the average estimated impact of 1% increase in permanent income in a specific commune produces a decrease in the homicide rate on average in 0.39%. Finally, permanent income plays a crime deterrent role, but also this effect of income on crime varies across the city, showing that some areas are strategically located to this kind of intervention. Details: Medellin, Colombia: Universidad EAFIT, 2016. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Center for Research in Economics and Finance (CIEF), Working Paper : Accessed September 8, 2016 at: https://repository.eafit.edu.co/bitstream/handle/10784/8562/2016_10_Urrego_Joaquin.pdf?sequence=2 Year: 2016 Country: Colombia URL: https://repository.eafit.edu.co/bitstream/handle/10784/8562/2016_10_Urrego_Joaquin.pdf?sequence=2 Shelf Number: 140252 Keywords: Economics of CrimeHomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas |
Author: Corrales Compagnucci, Hugo Title: Armed Groups and Violence in Paraguay Summary: Armed violence in Paraguay is not a recent phenomenon. During the second half of the XX Century, Paraguay saw the rise of a larger number of underground, revolutionary movements that sought the overthrow of the Alfredo Stroessner's (1954-1989) government. From among those movements emerged the Partido Patria Libre (or, Free Fatherland, also known for its acronym PPL), made up of a two branches: one legal and the other one, operational. The latter was based on people's power, as represented by "Ejercito del Pueblo Paraguayo" (or, the Paraguayan People's Army, with acronym EPP). After EPP broke with PPL in March 2008, this Marxist-oriented revolutionary project, which was apparently oriented to put an end to the social, political and economic inequalities in Paraguay, began to carry out markedly criminal activities, which included bank robberies, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorist attacks and armed confrontations. Its strategies and modus operandi utilized by the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC). Paraguay features a farm sector in a state of crisis, in which cattle-ranchers, peasants and agro-exporting companies live in a constant strife. The Paraguayan Departments that are the most affected by this situation are Concepcion, San Pedro, Canindeyu y Caazapa, which also suffer from a weak government presence. This deficiency has made these departments ripe for drug-trafficking activity by Brazilian groups such as Primer Comando Capital (i.e., First Capital command), also PCC and Comando Vermelho, (i.e., The Red Command). That is why many peasants, now recruited by EPP, have joined the drug-trafficking business and that, not only as marihuana growers but as "campanas" (i.e., early warning sentinels) for the organization. This helps shape their attitudes for their future involvement in all areas of drug-trafficking. Paraguayan society is the result of social inequity and inequality, such as those resulting from a lack of opportunity. Although Paraguay has successfully recovered from the last world economic crisis, economic growth, by itself, does not ensure an improvement in the quality of life. As long as such economic and social gaps persist and the government fails to enact the policies that would result in a more just society and toward EPP neutralization or containment, the latter is bound to grow stronger. In this context, the situation in Paraguay calls for more research into the EPP phenomenon. It would also seem necessary for Paraguay to promote an open national debate that includes all sectors of society in order to raise consciousness and to induce society to take actual steps to eliminate the EPP, as well as any other group that might arise in the immediate future. EPP has strong connections with the Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriguez in Chile and other armed groups and peasant movements in other countries of this region. Although most governments in the region are aware that the armed struggle is not a solution to current problems, it might be worth it to hold a regional debate about armed or insurgent groups in Latin American to seek common strategies and cooperation on dealing with them since the expansion of these armed groups is a problem for all. Details: Miami: Florida International University, Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center, 2011. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center. Paper 31. Accessed October 6, 2016 at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=whemsac Year: 2011 Country: Paraguay URL: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=whemsac Shelf Number: 140539 Keywords: Drug TraffickingHomicidesInequalityKidnappingsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorismViolence |
Author: Joseph, Regina Title: Rio and the Reds: The Comando Vermelho, Organized Crime and Brazil's Economic Ascent Summary: Brazil‟s growing status as a potential world power cannot obscure the characteristics of its other reality: that of a country with vast inequalities and high crime rates. The Comando Vermelho, the most prominent organized crime syndicate in Rio de Janeiro, besieges the beauty and charm that attracts tourists to this city. The CV arose not only as a product of the political dictatorship of the seventies, but also of the disenfranchised urban poor crammed into Rio's favela slums. Today, the CV presents a powerful challenge to the State's control of parts of Rio territory. As Brazil‟s soft power projection grows, it is seriously challenged by its capacity to eliminate organized crime. Economic growth is not sufficient to destroy a deeply embedded organization like the CV. In fact, Brazil's success may yet further retrench the CV's activities. Culpability for organized crime cannot be merely limited to the gangs, but must also be shared among the willing consumers, among whom can be found educated and elite members of society, as well as the impoverished and desperate. The Brazilian government needs a top-down response addressing the schism between rich and poor. However, Brazil's citizens must also take responsibility and forge a bottom-up response to the drug- and corruption-riddled elements of its most respected members of society. Brazil must target reform across public health, housing, education and above all, law enforcement. Without such changes, Brazil will remain a two-track democracy. Rio's wealthy will still be able to revel in the city's beauty, albeit from behind armored cars and fortified mansions, while the city's poor will yield-either as victims or perpetrators-to the desperate measures of organized crime. Details: Miami: Florida International University, Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center, 2011. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center. Paper 36: Student's Paper Series: Accessed October 6, 2016 at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=whemsac Year: 2011 Country: Brazil URL: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=whemsac Shelf Number: 140585 Keywords: FavelasInequalityOrganized CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Ogbozor, Ernest Title: Causes and Consequence of Violent Extremism in Northeast Nigeria Summary: The consequence of violent extremism on rural livelihoods has received less attention in academic literature. This paper addresses three fundamental questions: What are the socio-economic causes of terrorism and violent religious movements? What is the root cause of Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria? And what are the consequences of Boko Haram's violence on rural livelihoods? Based on a review of the literature and current studies in Nigeria, this paper contends that violent extremism has a correlation with the socio-economic conditions in Northeast Nigeria, and there are direct and indirect impacts of extremism on rural livelihoods. The paper concludes with a suggestion of further studies on the drivers of violent extremism, and the rural livelihoods strategies for coping with extremist activities in Nigeria. Details: Brighton, UK: Households in Conflict Network, Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: HiCN Working Paper 227: Accessed December 8, 2016 at: http://scar.gmu.edu/sites/default/files/HiCN-WP-227.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Nigeria URL: http://scar.gmu.edu/sites/default/files/HiCN-WP-227.pdf Shelf Number: 148136 Keywords: Extremists GroupsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorismViolenceViolent Extremism |
Author: Rojas-Gaona, Carlos E. Title: Adoption of Street Code Attitudes among Latinos and its Effects on Criminal Offending Summary: This individual-level study draws from Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street theory to examine racial/ethnic differences in levels of code-related attitudes and criminal offending with special attention to Latinos. The code of the street is a normative system of values that emphasizes the use of violence to achieve respect among peers and avoid moral self-sanctions. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample of serious adolescent offenders from two large U.S. cities and controlling for socio-demographic and risk factors, this study tests whether code-related attitudes are a mediating mechanism linking race/ethnicity and criminal offending. Net of a series of socio-demographic and risk factors, results obtained from path mediation models showed negative direct and total effects of Black non-Latino status on aggressive offending, and negative direct and total effects of Latino status on aggressive and income offending, relative to non-Latino Whites. More importantly, there is evidence of at least one mediation effect of race/ethnicity on criminal offending. Specifically, path mediation models revealed a positive indirect effect of Latino status on aggressive offending. That is, net of statistical controls, differences on aggressive offending among Latinos compared to non-Latino Whites operated indirectly through the adoption of code-related attitudes. Whereas the hypothesized mediation effect of code-related attitudes on aggressive offending was confirmed for Latinos, there is no support for the mediation effect of Black non-Latino status on aggressive and income offending through the adoption of code-related attitudes, nor for the effect of Latino status on income offending through the adoption of code-related attitudes. These results confirm and extend Anderson's theory to describe adherence to street codes among serious adolescent offenders, and among other racial/ethnic minorities such as Latinos. Based on these findings, theoretical and policy implications of this study are discussed. Details: Cincinnati, OH: University of Cincinnati, School of Criminal Justice, 2016. 186p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed December 10, 2016 at: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ucin1470043664&disposition=inline Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=ucin1470043664&disposition=inline Shelf Number: 145624 Keywords: Adolescent OffendersCode of the StreetLatinosMinorities and CrimeSerious Juvenile OffendersSocial ConditionsSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Kabia, Victor Sylvester Title: The Relationship Between Increased Police Patrols and Violent Crime Rates in Seven United States Cities Summary: Large, metropolitan areas across the nation have experienced high rates of violent crime over the past 2 decades. As a consequence, law enforcement agencies have increased patrol efforts, but little is known about whether the decrease in violent crime rates was correlated to increased police patrols or to the economic variables of unemployment, inflation, level of education, unemployment compensation, and home-ownership. The purpose of this non-experimental, correlational study was to examine the nature of the relationship between increased police patrols, the 5 economic variables, and violent crime rates in 7 large US cities for a 10-year period. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Paternoster's deterrence theory and Becker's economic theory of crime causation. Data were acquired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and used a sample of 114 cases of reported violent crimes for each city included in the study for the years 2000 – 2010 (n = 798). A multiple regression analysis was initially performed with inconclusive results. Spearman's correlations between each of the independent and dependent variables of violent crime indicated that all the independent variables except for home-ownership had statistically significant inverse correlations with violent crime rates. The findings of this study may be used by law enforcement agencies and policy makers to develop crime prevention interventions that address those economic factors associated with violent crime, thereby promoting positive social change through creating safer communities. Details: Minneapolis, MN: Walden University, 2016. 156p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed December 10, 2016 at: http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3420&context=dissertations Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3420&context=dissertations Shelf Number: 146044 Keywords: Communities and CrimeCrime RatesPolice EffectivenessPolice PatrolsSocioeconomic conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Connolly, Eric J. Title: Examining Gene-Environment Interactions Between Antisocial Behavior, Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Collective Efficacy Summary: The association between neighborhood context and antisocial behavior has been the focus of a considerable amount of criminological research over the past 50 years. During this time, numerous studies have found significant associations between neighborhood disadvantage and youth antisocial behavior. This body of evidence created the foundation for several neighborhood-level theories of crime and delinquency. One neighborhood-level theoretical framework that has received perhaps the most attention within criminology in recent years is collective efficacy theory. Although prior research has revealed that differences in collective efficacy explain differences in crime across neighborhood context, collective efficacy and other neighborhood-level risk factors only account for a fraction of the variance in youth antisocial behavior. One explanation for this finding could be that previous neighborhood-level research on neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy has not taken into account the effects of genetic factors, which have been found to explain a considerable amount of variation in antisocial behavior. Using longitudinal kinship data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child and Young Adult Supplement, this study aims to assess whether and to what extent neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy moderate latent genetic influences on variation in antisocial behavior during childhood and adolescence. Findings from a series of biometric decomposition models show that exposure to neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy condition the influence of genetic and environmental effects on antisocial behavioral development across different stages of childhood and adolescence. Implications of these Gene x Neighborhood Environment findings for contemporary neighborhood-level theory and neighborhood-level criminological research are discussed. Details: Tallahassee: Florida State University, 2014. 144p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed December 14, 2016 at: http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A252936 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A252936 Shelf Number: 140448 Keywords: Antisocial Behavior Collective Efficacy Neighborhoods and crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Detotto, Claudio Title: Counting the Cost of Crime in Italy Summary: The aim of this paper is to gauge the cost of crime in Italy by concentrating on a subset of offences covering about 64% of total recorded crime in year 2006. Following the breakdown of costs put forward by Brand and Price, we focus on the costs in anticipation, as a consequence and in response to a specific offence. The estimated total social cost is more than € 38 billion, which amounts to about 2.6% of Italy’s GDP. To show the usefulness of these measures, we borrow the elasticity estimates from recent studies concerning the determinants of crime in Italy and calculate the cost associated with the surge in crime fuelled by unemployment and pardons. Indeed, in both cases such costs are substantial, implying that they should no longer be skipped when assessing the relative desirability of public policies towards crime. Details: Caligari, Italy: Centre For North South Economic Research, 2010. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 2010/13: Accessed December 19, 2016 at: 25p. Year: 2010 Country: Italy URL: Shelf Number: 147755 Keywords: Costs of CrimeCrime StatisticsEconomics and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and crime |
Author: White, Jordyn Title: Improving Collection of Indicators of Criminal Justice System System Involvement in Population Health Data Programs: Proceedings of a Workshop Summary: In the U.S. criminal justice system in 2014, an estimated 2.2 million people were in incarcerated or under correctional supervision on any given day, and another 4.7 million were under community supervision, such as probation or parole. Among all U.S. adults, 1 in 31 is involved with the criminal justice system, many of them having had recurring encounters. The ability to measure the effects of criminal justice involvement and incarceration on health and health disparities has been a challenge, due largely to limited and inconsistent measures on criminal justice involvement and any data on incarceration in health data collections. The presence of a myriad of confounding factors, such as socioeconomic status and childhood disadvantage, also makes it hard to isolate and identify a causal relationship between criminal justice involvement and health. The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects periodic health data on the people who are incarcerated at any given time, but few national-level surveys have captured criminal justice system involvement for people previously involved in the system or those under community supervision—nor have they collected systematic data on the effects that go beyond the incarcerated individuals themselves. In March 2016 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop meant to assist the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and Office of the Minority Health (OMH) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in identifying measures of criminal justice involvement that will further their understanding of the socioeconomic determinants of health. Participants investigated the feasibility of collecting criminal justice experience data with national household-based health surveys. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. Details: Washington, DC: national Academies Press, 2016. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24633/improving-collection-of-indicators-of-criminal-justice-system-involvement-in-population-health-data-programs Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24633/improving-collection-of-indicators-of-criminal-justice-system-involvement-in-population-health-data-programs Shelf Number: 147785 Keywords: Children of PrisonersFamilies of InmatesHealth Care Mental HealthSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Bringing Human Rights Home. Chicago and Illinois: Gun Violence Summary: Gun violence is a widespread problem across the United States. Each year, more than 11,000 people are killed as a result of someone pulling a trigger. Gun violence impacts a range of human rights from the right to life; security of the person; to the rights to education; freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination. The reasons for gun violence in Chicago are complex. Poverty, unemployment, lack of access to education, and the fragmentation of gangs across the city are some of the factors that play a role in the violence. Also, the recent decision to close nearly 50 public schools has put thousands of children going to school at risk of violence or death. All states have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill human rights, including the right to life and security of the person, and have a duty to take positive measures to prevent acts of violence and unlawful killings. Gun Violence in Chicago In 2013, 414 people were killed in Chicago; with more than 80 percent of those deaths attributed to gun violence. While amounting to an 18 percent decrease from 2012, which saw a total of 506 homicides that year, Chicago had the highest number of homicides across the country in 2013. Chicago's homicide rate is alarmingly elevated, especially compared with other big cities like Los Angeles and New York. For instance, New York City has three times the population of Chicago, and had 333 murders in 2013. Los Angeles, with over a million more people than Chicago, had 255 murders in 2013. Seventy-five percent of Chicago's gun-death victims in 2012 were African- American or Latino. Violence affects everyone in Chicago, but it is particularly devastating for the City's youth who are so often the perpetrators and victims of violence. From 2008-2012, almost half of Chicago's 2,389 homicide victims were killed before their 25th birthdays. While an alarming number of young people in Chicago have been killed in gun attacks, many more are exposed to gun violence on a regular basis. While 414 people were killed in 2013, there were a total of 1,864 shootings in the city which resulted in 2,328 gunshot survivors. There were an additional 10,343 crimes committed with a handgun or firearm in Chicago during 2013. Studies have shown that children who are exposed to violence suffer increased rates of depression, aggression, delinquency, and poor school performance. Chicago's homicides have taken place mostly in neighborhoods in the west and south of the city. Gun crime in Chicago is most prevalent in communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment. The City of Chicago as a whole has an extreme poverty rate of nearly 10 percent, with more than 260,000 households living in extreme poverty (i.e. $10,000 or less for a family of three in 2012). The high school graduation rate for black males in Chicago is 39 per cent and a staggering 92 per cent of all black males aged 16-19 were unemployed in 2012. These issues are also human rights issues: the right to a living wage; affordable housing; equal access to education and health care, including mental health care, are human rights. Details: New York: Amnesty International USA, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 28, 2017 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/bringinghumanrightshome_gunviolence.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/bringinghumanrightshome_gunviolence.pdf Shelf Number: 144882 Keywords: Gun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Beall, Jo Title: PD4: mitigating conflict and violence in Africa's rapidly growing cities Summary: Over the past 50 years, the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa has expanded at a historically unprecedented rate. Although there is little evidence that urbanisation increases the likelihood of conflict or violence in a country, Africa’s urban transition has occurred in a context of economic stagnation and poor governance, producing conditions conducive to social unrest and violence. In order to improve urban security in the years ahead the underlying risk factors must be addressed, including urban poverty, inequality and fragile political institutions. This, in turn, requires improving urban governance in the region, including strengthening the capacity of local government institutions, addressing the complex political dynamics that impede effective urban planning and management, and cultivating integrated development strategies that involve cooperation between various tiers and spheres of government and civil society. Details: London: Government Office for Science, 2011. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/41855/1/pd4-mitigating-conflict-in-africas-cities.pdf%28lsero%29.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/41855/1/pd4-mitigating-conflict-in-africas-cities.pdf%28lsero%29.pdf Shelf Number: 146246 Keywords: Conflict ViolenceHomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Dix-Carneiro, Rafael Title: Economic Shocks and Crime: Evidence from the Brazilian Trade Liberalization Summary: This paper studies the effect of changes in economic conditions on crime. We exploit the 1990s trade liberalization in Brazil as a natural experiment generating exogenous shocks to local economies. We document that regions exposed to larger tariff reductions experienced a temporary increase in crime following liberalization. Next, we investigate through what channels the trade-induced economic shocks may have affected crime. We show that the shocks had significant effects on potential determinants of crime, such as labor market conditions, public goods provision, and income inequality. We propose a novel framework exploiting the distinct dynamic responses of these variables to obtain bounds on the effect of labor market conditions on crime. Our results indicate that this channel accounts for 75 to 93 percent of the effect of the trade-induced shocks on crime. Details: Durham, NC: Duke University, 2016. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID) Working Paper No. 242 : Accessed February 13, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2895107 Year: 2016 Country: Brazil URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2895107 Shelf Number: 145121 Keywords: Crime RatesEconomics and CrimeEmployment and CrimeLabor MarketsSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Cliffe, Lionel Title: Armed violence and poverty in Somalia: a case study for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative Summary: Somalia represents an extreme case. It has experienced a long period of insecurity and instability; its people have been subject to a wide range of armed violence. Following the overthrow of the military regime in 1991, it has experienced the longest period of statelessness of any country in modern history. A period of intense armed conflict for power between factions based around the clans that make up Somali society eventually gave way to an unresolved stalemate in the capital and the south-central areas. Fighting between smaller militia groups who preyed on the population has continued in most of these areas until the present. In the northeast and northwest a degree of security was slowly negotiated and these areas have enjoyed relative stability and the state-type administrations of Puntland and Somaliland, respectively, which offer examples of control of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and armed violence. The case thus allows for analysis of several stages and types of armed violence and of the context of statelessness, but also comparison of the different processes at work in areas of much greater or lesser armed violence and impoverishment. The Republic of Somalia that came into being in 1960 has been subject to intense armed violence for most of its existence (and before). It has experienced military coup, inter-state war, insurgencies, civil war and ‘institutionalised disorder’ and insecurity. Likewise, SALW, as well as heavy weapons, have been widely spread since colonial times and through these stages of violent conflict, supplied by cold war powers, neighbouring governments and an active illegal market. The contending parties in the period of crisis since any semblance of a state with a monopoly of means of violence disappeared in 1991 have included: • Factional militias, mainly clan-based • Business militias, forced into self-protection • Private security guards • Freelance armed groups (mooryan) The problem of SALW is often seen by those bidding for political power in a new Somalia and by international actors as their spread to ‘civilians’. In reality it is their possession by these armed groups that represents a threat now and to a future peace. Without alternative livelihoods there is no solution. However, the juxtaposition of critically insecure with stable regions, which were also awash with SALW, demonstrates that their availability alone is not a single explanatory ‘cause’ of impoverishment. Details: Bradford, UK: Centre of International Cooperation and Security, Department of Peace Studies, 2005. 31p. Source: Internet Resource:Accessed February 13, 2017 at: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1002/AVPI_Somalia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2005 Country: Somalia URL: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1002/AVPI_Somalia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 145769 Keywords: Armed ViolenceIllegal WeaponsMilitia GroupsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Ngugi, Rose W. Title: Security Risk and Private Sector Growth in Kenya: A Survey Report Summary: Crime is one of the major factors that define the investment climate or the enabling environment for private businesses to thrive. A favorable investment climate is crucial for private sector growth, as it reduces the cost of doing business. A good investment climate attracts private investment by assuring "business security". Security of both property and individuals influences the investment climate. Crime and insecurity in Nairobi and in Kenya as a whole has been on the increase over the years. Indeed, the recent upsurge in crime has been reported in the Economic Survey 2004. Furthermore, concerns about crime and insecurity have been widely broadcasted in the media and have been a subject for discussion in various fora, including parliament. In the 1990s, Nairobi was rated by the United Nations (UN) as one of the most dangerous capital cities and was downgraded from class B to C in the UN security classification. The perceived insecurity in Kenya has also created a negative image of the country within the international community. The Government of Kenya has recognized the problem of crime and insecurity as a major hindrance to rapid economic recovery; as a result, the need for enhancing law and order was identified as one of the priority areas in the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation. Security risk affects performance of firms through various channels. Firms for example loose sales or face low turnover due to reduced demand/market scope, which is partly attributed to limited hours of doing business. Firms also loose sales due to inability to distribute products. However, a few firms, especially those providing security-related services benefit from a high level of insecurity, especially when the government machinery fails to provide adequate security. The competitiveness of firms is also lost due to either high prices of products in an effort to cover the costs of providing individual security or the disincentive to invest in technology that would see the products attain a competitive quality. Security risk also affects investment decisions. Firms may for example be reluctant to undertake heavy and new investments especially if the investment decision is irreversible. Firms may also opt to postpone making investment decisions due to the feeling of insecurity. Insecurity also increases the cost of capital because it raises the risk-premium tagged on financial capital. New entrants into the market may also be discouraged. Therefore, insecurity slows down business growth and deters employment creation and poverty reduction. The aim of this study is to establish the scope, threats and dynamics of crime and insecurity in Kenya. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to examine issues related to insecurity and crime in Nairobi, including the scope, trends and dynamics of insecurity and crime in Kenya; and to review the implications of crime and insecurity on the business environment especially in terms of private sector business operations and investment. The study was conducted in Nairobi City in Kenya. The study mainly utilized a survey design covering households, businesses, individuals and security workers. Additional information was collected from private security firms, community-based organizations and key informants from the public and private sectors. In selection of study respondents, mapping of Nairobi City was carried out to establish spatial and socio-economic characteristics. The city was stratified into 22 clusters to ensure appropriate representation. Respondents were then selected based on predetermined quotas along the different aspects of the study. Details: Nairobi: Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), 2004. 135p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report No. 6: Accessed February 15, 2017 at: http://kippra.or.ke/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=219&Itemid= Year: 2004 Country: Kenya URL: http://kippra.or.ke/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=219&Itemid= Shelf Number: 145330 Keywords: CrimeEconomics of CrimePrivate SecuritySecuritySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: CNDH Mexico Title: Adolescentes: Vulnerabilidad y Violencia Summary: This report Examines the impact of poverty, social disorganization, and the influence of peers and adults that encourage crime and violence among juveniles in Mexico. It consists of interviews who explain how and why they became involved in organized crime. Details: Mexico: CNDH, 2016. 188p. Source: Internet Resource: Informe Especial: Accessed February 17, 2017 at: http://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/all/doc/Informes/Especiales/Informe_adolescentes_20170118.pdf (In Spanish) Year: 2016 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/all/doc/Informes/Especiales/Informe_adolescentes_20170118.pdf Shelf Number: 147326 Keywords: AdolescentsJuvenile OffendersJuvenile ViolenceOrganized CrimePovertySocial DisorganizationSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Davis, Ashley Title: Citizen Security in El Salvador: Improving the Effectiveness of International Aid Summary: This policy report examines the ways in which the international aid community can better support the citizen security needs of the Central American people. El Salvador serves as an appropriate case study in this context, as it currently has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. While international donors have committed significant resources and developed a wide range of projects in response to the nation's escalating violence rates, such efforts have yet to produce appreciable results. International donors and multi-lateral banks have thus far indirectly supported the government of El Salvador in its framing of the violence from a national security perspective through direct military support and indirect budgetary support. This has translated to increasingly militarized solutions that are in conflict with the objectives of local community organizations that view the violence as a product of social exclusion and lack of opportunities. Details: Seattle: University of Washington, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, 2012. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Student Research Paper: Accessed February 18, 2017 at: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/19667 Year: 2012 Country: El Salvador URL: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/19667 Shelf Number: 141102 Keywords: Citizen Security Homicides Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Violent Crime |
Author: Carvalho, Alexandre Title: Socioeconomic Structure, Self-Fulfillment, Homicides and Spatial Dependence in Brazil Summary: In this article we develop a theoretical model to explain the homicide rate in any given place and construct a Bayesian model with a spatial structure to test the hypotheses. We assume that in his quest for self-fulfillment the individual, when taking the decision to perpetrate violence, not only responds to expected economic costs and benefits, but also to an internal system of reward and punishment, synthesized by the emotions. Symbolic valuation, in particular, with respect to conventional rules and the subjective valuation of life itself, depends on socioeconomic and age-group bonds. Theoretical conclusions show that the probability of victimization by violence is higher in places with greater income inequality, larger proportion of youths in the population and socioeconomic vulnerability. The model tested covered 5.507 Brazilian municipalities from 1999 to 2001, and we calculated the risk of a resident in any given municipality being a victim of homicide. This variable was confronted with other structural variables in order to obtain homicide elasticities and the effect of spatial dependency in explaining the risk of local victimization. The results suggest that there is evidence to support the theoretical propositions. Details: Rio de Janeiro: Institute for Applied Economic Research, 2005. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: IPEA Discussion Paper No. 1105: Accessed February 24, 2017 at: http://www.ipea.gov.br/agencia/images/stories/PDFs/TDs/ingles/dp_151.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.ipea.gov.br/agencia/images/stories/PDFs/TDs/ingles/dp_151.pdf Shelf Number: 141210 Keywords: Economics of CrimeHomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Han, Woojae Title: Impact of Community Treatment and Neighborhood Disadvantage on Recidivism in Mental Health Courts Summary: The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of community treatment and neighborhood disadvantage on recidivism among offenders with mental health problems in Mental Health Courts (MHCs) and in traditional courts. Although treatment is believed to lead to reduced recidivism for offenders with mental illness, little research has been conducted for MHC participants. Further, neighborhood disadvantage are known to influence recidivism generally, but environmental factors have not been examined in the MHC context. Data from the MacArthur MHC study were analyzed. The sample includes 741 offenders with mental illness from four counties. Participants were interviewed at baseline and six months after and objective arrest data were collected. Multilevel modelling and propensity score weighting was used to investigate individual level (level 1) and neighborhood level (level 2) variances on recidivism and to control for selection bias. Neighborhood disadvantage data were obtained from the American Community Survey at U.S. Census Bureau, and linked with residential data from participants. Study results suggest that some of treatment variables have significant impact on arrest. For example, MHC participant with more substance abuse service were less likely to be arrest compared to those with less substance abuse service before the court enrollment. Both TAU and MHC participants has significant effect of neighborhood disadvantage on arrest before the court enrollment. After the court enrollment, only MHC participant continued to have effect of neighborhood disadvantage on arrest. In addition, MHC participant with higher treatment motivation were less likely to recidivate compared to those with lower treatment motivation after the court enrollment. The probability of recidivism remained statistically lower among the MHC than the TAU group after the court enrollment. Understanding treatment characteristics and neighborhood disadvantage associated with recidivism for offenders with mental illness can help to more efficiently target research, practice, and policy in the future. In addition, social work professionals should recognize themselves the importance of the treatment related variables and neighborhood disadvantage to provide, develop, and implement innovative interventions for offender with mental illness. Lastly, this research will shed new light into future interventions and/or policies that aim to reduce the recidivism for this difficult-to-treat population of offenders. Details: Albany, NY: University at Albany, 2016. 160p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 28, 2017 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250535.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/250535.pdf Shelf Number: 141247 Keywords: Alternatives to IncarcerationCommunity Mental Health CourtsMentally Ill OffendersProblem-Solving CourtsRecidivismSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Guevara Moyano, Inigo Title: Sharp Around the Edges: A Comparative Analysis of Transnational Criminal Networks on the Southern Borders of NAFTA and the EU Summary: Although radically different in so many ways, Mexico and Bulgaria share the common benefits, grievances, and some major misfortunes of being on the bottom end of the two most powerful economic development polls in the Western World: NAFTA and the EU. The most disrupting of misfortunes is that both countries have become hubs to a broad number of Transnational Criminal Networks (TCNs). This paper compares TCN's in Mexico and Bulgaria, analyzing their network’s structure, modus operandi, and development, prescribing a set of recommendations to assist the institutions in charge of combating them as well as those that need to survive them. Details: Bogota, Colombia: Vortex Foundation, 2014. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Vortex Working Paper no. 13: Accessed March 2, 2017 at: http://www.casede.org/BibliotecaCasede/13VWPSharpAround.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.casede.org/BibliotecaCasede/13VWPSharpAround.pdf Shelf Number: 141259 Keywords: Criminal NetworksEconomics of CrimeOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Ewi, Martin Title: Money Talks: A key reason youths join Boko Haram Summary: This policy brief is an overview of key findings from a study aimed at understanding violent extremism in northern Nigeria, and identifying factors that are key in Boko Haram recruitment and membership. This analysis contributes to knowledge about the political and socio-economic preferences of the individuals involved in the group. This policy brief highlights one of the major findings of the study, namely the perception that financial incentives, not religion, are a key motivator for individuals who join Boko Haram. Recommendations The following recommendations could assist the Nigerian government in combating Boko Haram: 1 Promoting a common Nigerian identity that transcends ethnic, religious and geographic lines by reviewing school curricula and programmes to mainstream national identity. 2 Declare, but don't negotiate the terms of amnesty with Boko Haram: government should declare a blanket amnesty for low- and mid-level Boko Haram militants who may wish to give up arms. 3 Establishing a criminal tribunal to investigate and prosecute Boko Haram militants and others who bear the greatest responsibility for the group’s atrocities. 4 Preventing and combating sources of radicalisation by working with local communities and religious leaders to identify strategies for dissuading vulnerable individuals from turning to violent extremism Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Police Brief 98: Accessed march 2, 2017 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief98.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Nigeria URL: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief98.pdf Shelf Number: 141293 Keywords: Boko HaramExtremismExtremist GroupsRadical GroupsRadicalizationSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorist RecruitmentViolent Extremism |
Author: Taheri-Keramati, Yashar Title: Drugs, Police Inefficiencies, and Gangsterism in Violently Impoverished Communities like Overcome Summary: This research establishes an understanding of the relationship between gangsterism, the drug commodity and inefficiencies in the state's policing institution, as well as the consequences of this relationship, in the context of Overcome squatter area in Cape Town. Overcome is representative of other violently impoverished Cape Town communities with its high rate of unemployment, low quality of education, domestic abuse, stagnant housing crisis, lack of access to intellectual and material resources or opportunities for personal growth, gangsterism, inefficient policing, substance-dependency, and violence. This research demonstrates that the current relationship between the gangs, drugs and the police fosters an unpredictable, violent environment, leaving residents in a constant state of vulnerability. The argument is developed around three key historical junctures in the development of organized crime in South Africa, starting with the growth of the mining industry in the Witwatersrand after 1886, followed by forced removals and prohibition like policies in Cape Town circa 1970, and finally the upheaval created around transition away from apartheid in 1994. Research for this paper was both quantitative and qualitative in nature, and included expert interviews on the subjects of police criminality, narcotic sales, and gangsterism. Newspapers articles, crime statistics, books, census figures, and a host of journals were also utilized. Upon reviewing a host of police inefficiencies and criminal collusions, the research concludes that public criminals related to the state, such as police, and private criminals, such as gangsters, work together in a multitude of ways in a bid to acquire wealth, most notably through an illicit drug market today dominated by 'tik'. It is shown that this violent narcotics market binds police and gangsters together at the expense of creating a state of insecurity for those living in poor drug markets. Details: Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 2013. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/item/3536/thesis_hsf_2013_taheri-keramati_y.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2013 Country: South Africa URL: https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/item/3536/thesis_hsf_2013_taheri-keramati_y.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 141342 Keywords: Drug marketsDrug-Related ViolenceGangsOrganized CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Zimmer, Jacqueline Nicole Title: The New Orleans murder epidemic: Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida on the irresponsibility of violence Summary: I live on Jeannette Street in New Orleans, about fifty yards from where Joseph Massenburg's body was found on the night of April first. On a fence close to where Massenburg lost his life, I recently noticed a sign depicting the Biblical imperative "Thou shall not kill". I have come across these signs around New Orleans since the end of 2012 – they can be found plastered to the façade of churches or displayed as yard signs in front lawns – but this was the first time I considered the irreverent tone of the commandment for the people of New Orleans. What exactly is achieved by posting this message across various public buildings around the city? Does it convey to the city's most dangerous criminals that the community is fed up with the killing? In theory, the placards are intended to evoke a moral response from those individuals who are most likely to engage in activities associated with gun violence. More often than not, these individuals are young, black, and male, and are in some way affiliated with the "narcoeconomy" of New Orleans. Even if the commandment "thou shall not kill" does give some people momentary pause, ultimately its message is devoid of the logical connection between murder and the imperative to not murder. If nothing else, the signs serve as ironic reminders that the slaughter of so many of New Orleans' black citizens is a phenomenon that consistently crowns New Orleans the most deadly city in the United States. On the surface, the murder of eighteen-year old Joseph Massenburg, who was shot in cold blood on the corner of Eagle and Birch Streets, appeared to be anything but unusual considering his victim profile. Massenburg looked like the typical victim of gun violence: black, young, and male. However, information detailing Massenburg's other attributes – a Chicago-born recent New Orleans transplant, an Americorps volunteer, a high school graduate, the son of a highly educated public servant – was not released to the public until a few days after Massenburg had succumbed to his gunshot wounds. Massenburg had gone for a walk in the same area where a bitter feud was underway between two local gangs, the "Hot Glocks" and the "Mid-City Killers". Several months later, the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) charged eighteen-year old Glen Emerson with shooting Joseph Massenburg. Police concluded that Emerson, a member of the Mid-City Killers, had mistakenly identified Massenburg as a member of the Hot Glocks in a drive-by shooting. Massenburg's death symbolizes the endemic gun violence problem that has plagued the city of New Orleans for several decades. The drug and gang-related violence that affects many impoverished black neighborhoods in New Orleans is the modern-day product of a composite of factors, including racial inequity, an untrustworthy police force that is rife with corruption, the prevalence of guns and the ease of gun accessibility, and the successive generations of young men who have grown up in broken, impoverished families with few legitimate economic opportunities. While the problems that characterize New Orleans’s impoverished neighborhoods are comparable to other American urban communities, the murder epidemic of New Orleans is unique to cities of its size. While gang-related gun violence is responsible for a significant number of the city's murders each year, a significant number of the city's homicides result from interpersonal conflicts. In order to combat the conditions that lead to deadly gun violence, the city must be willing to reinstate the legitimacy of the police force, whose corruption and inefficiency has led some New Orleans’ citizens to resort to alternative means of attaining "justice". This essay investigates the conditions that created the "street code" that governs drug-related activity among New Orleans' criminal groups and gangs, and why New Orleans' murder rate is directly linked to the manifestation of the street code. The street code is formulated by a variety of factors and sentiments, including poverty, race, hopelessness, fear, anger, boredom, and a distrust in the police. I argue that people resort to extreme forms of violence when environmental and contextual factors corrupt Emmanuel Lévinas' conception of the face-to-face encounter by priming people automatically to reduce the other to the same as a means of self-protection when the absence of a reliable protective state corrupts the ethical decision to regard the other peacefully. Furthermore, I refer to Jacques Derrida's theoretical approach on hospitality to examine how such collective norms foster a culture of violence. Details: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, 2014. 115p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1965&context=gradschool_theses Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1965&context=gradschool_theses Shelf Number: 141351 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesMurdersSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Hunter, Marcena Title: Follow the Money: Financial Flows Linked to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Sierra Leone: A Case Study Summary: Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has largely been dismissed as an economically insignificant, subsistence based activity in Sierra Leone. This is in sharp contrast to the artisanal diamond sector, which has historically been seen as a much more significant livelihood option. As one Mining Ministry agent stated: it's different with diamonds, you understand. If you are in diamonds, you want the license, because it's worth so much. But with gold, not so much: it's small and quick and just for survival. However, an investigation into the sector reveals that Sierra Leone's ASGM sector is not only active and vibrant, but also generating significant economic value. Despite government and civil society efforts at formalisation, Sierra Leone's ASGM remains largely in the informal sector. Investigations reveal most of Sierra Leone's gold never enters the formal supply chains within its borders. Rather, gold is mined, bought, sold and exported through informal networks that only occasionally and selectively intersect with formal supply and value chains prior to crossing the border. Consequently, the country records minimal gold exports and the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) reaps little benefit from the gold sector through formal channels of taxation. This is not to say the sector is not benefitting the people of Sierra Leone. ASGM is providing rural communities a critical livelihood option across Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone registers some of the most challenging development and poverty statistics in the entire world, ranking 181 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index. The Ebola crisis (2014 - 2016) seriously exacerbated these challenges, extracting a massive socio-economic toll on the country. ASGM has evolved in this context as a strong economic magnet, drawing in old stakeholders and new entrants alike. In addition, ASGM plays a vital economic function in many communities, providing investment opportunities, an economic social safety net, an avenue to social mobility, and contributing to local economic growth. While a number of positive attributes can be linked to ASGM in Sierra Leone, the informality of the sector also results in undesirable outputs and impacts including: value from the ASGM sector is not equitably distributed; evidence of bribery and corruption of traditional and government officials; negligible protections against environmental degradation; and opportunity for money laundering and criminal exploitation. In turn, while there are a number of short-term benefits to informality, persistent informality has the potential to undermine long-term development and governance aims. The informality of Sierra Leone's gold sector is perpetuated and exacerbated by downstream illicit financial flows (IFFs). Defined as 'money illegally earned, transferred or used', IFFs are paradoxically dualistic. On the one hand, IFFs linked to ASGM serve a critical economic function, fuelling an informal sector which plays an important role in poverty alleviation and economic development in Sierra Leone. On the other hand, IFFs are facilitating complicated layers of exploitation and victimisation by opportunistic actors along the value chain. In the Sierra Leonean context, many upstream financial transactions (i.e. those which take place at the mine site) are better characterised as informal transactions, while those that take place further downstream (i.e. the buying and selling of smuggled gold) are IFFs. Upstream actors who engage in IFFs tend to reinvest profits back into the ASGM sector, thus perpetuating supply chains and financial relationships reliant on informal and illicit activity at all levels. In turn, IFFs are a bulwark against ASGM sector formalisation efforts in Sierra Leone. Any attempt must acknowledge the complex nature and impacts of IFFs if they are to hope to be successful without further marginalizing vulnerable populations. Without appreciating the extent and efficiency of ASGM and related IFFs to meet local economic needs, formalisation efforts will fail to replace them, and at worst could have devastating consequences. As a government agent stated, gold mining is a livelihood activity, so it is difficult to strongly enforce laws that are perceived to be harmful to local people (GOV080716c). Details: Geneva: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2017. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sierra-leone_06.03.17.compressed.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Sierra Leone URL: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sierra-leone_06.03.17.compressed.pdf Shelf Number: 146411 Keywords: Financial CrimesGold MiningIllicit GoldMoney LaunderingOrganized CrimePovertySmugglingSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Martin, Tara Elaine Title: Lead Exposure and Crime Summary: While lead exposure during childhood has been linked to criminal activity later in life, prior research has failed to develop a theoretical foundation explaining why lead and crime rates are positively related at the aggregate level. Utilizing tract-level data, I examine the relationship among elevated blood lead level rates, levels of concentrated disadvantage, and crime rates. Through a biosocial approach, I explore the lead-crime relationship using a measure of concentrated disadvantage to account for the variations across tracts. Finally, I discuss the results of this study as well as implications for public policy and future research. Details: Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 2014. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed March 17, 2017 at: http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2762/ Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2762/ Shelf Number: 144495 Keywords: Lead Exposure Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific. ASEAN Title: Evidence for enhancing resilience to opium poppy cultivation in Shan State, Myanmar: Implications for alternative development, peace, and stability Summary: In 2016, the annual village survey was conducted in 591 villages in Shan state, the main opium poppy cultivating area in Myanmar. An independent area estimation was not part of the survey this year; however, UNODC expanded largely on the socio‐economic analysis of opium cultivation in the context of the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Opium poppy continues to be an important part of the Shan State economy About 1 in 10 households in the villages surveyed in Shan State are directly involved in opium poppy cultivation. The share of villages that cultivate opium poppy and the share of households within these villages that participate have both decreased over the past year. However, opium poppy is still integral to the state’s economy, and there are many households who depend on poppy cultivation for their livelihood. Fewer villages and farmers are growing opium poppy There has been a reduction in the number of villages and households involved in opium poppy cultivation; however, accompanied by an increase in the average area under cultivation per household. The average area under opium poppy cultivation increased from 0.4 hectares per household in 2015 to 0.6 hectares in 2016. This concentration of cultivation confirms earlier observations. The average income in opium poppy villages is higher, but the positive impact on household finances is largely offset by higher costs of living The average annual household income is higher in villages where opium poppy is cultivated (US$2,261) than in non‐opium poppy villages (US$1,839). Farmers in opium poppy villages, however, were primarily buying food with the income from poppy cultivation. Moreover, there are several indications that people living in villages where opium poppy is grown face higher living costs than their peers in non‐opium poppy villages. Many opium poppy villages in East and North Shan are located in remote or highly inaccessible areas with low infrastructure coverage. For example, very few opium poppy villages have asphalt roads, and somewhat fewer of these villages have clinics than non‐growing villages (although village clinics are rare throughout East and North Shan, with such facilities operating in less than one in five villages). The nearest outside clinic also took twice as long to reach from opium poppy villages. The lack of clinics and roads means that health and transportation costs are higher for farmers in opium poppy villages in East and North Shan. Farmers in opium poppy villages face challenges in relying only on licit sources of income Across Shan State, cash crops – licit or illicit – are the main source of income for farmers. In non‐ opium poppy villages, cash crops, primarily rice, were cited as the primary source of income by nearly half of all surveyed village headmen. Before deciding to substitute opium poppy with licit crops, farmers would need to consider some challenges. Access to local markets for agricultural products is critical. None of the opium poppy cultivating villages had local markets, whereas 8 per cent of the non‐opium poppy villages had them. Moreover, the nearest market took more than two hours to reach on foot from opium poppy villages, compared to just under an hour from non‐ opium poppy villages. Daily wages were also markedly lower in poppy‐cultivating villages; the difference was greatest for male workers. These challenges make it more difficult to earn a living from licit activities in opium poppy villages than in villages where opium poppy is not grown. Distinct motivations for growing opium poppy in South Shan Several sustainable development indicators show a different situation in South Shan in comparison to East and North Shan. Villages which cultivate opium poppy in South Shan still have low levels of development but their characteristics are different from those in East and North Shan. In South Shan, the average income is higher and the infrastructure better than in East and North Shan, and more people are able to access salaried jobs, which are usually better remunerated and more stable. Moreover, according to the village headmen, the majority of households in South Shan, regardless of their opium poppy cultivation status, do not need to resort to drastic strategies to cope with food insecurity, such as reducing the number of meals per day, in contrast to East and North Shan. The higher incomes, better infrastructure and food security status in South Shan may indicate that opium poppy cultivation is primarily driven by capital accumulation, while in East and North Shan, cultivation seems to be more closely linked with subsistence needs. However, the relatively high income inequality among farmers in opium poppy villages in South Shan may suggest that there are a number of farmers who are not able to make ends meet also there. People in opium poppy villages are more dependent on forest resources, and more prone to experiencing environmental and climate‐related challenges Many households across Shan State depend on wood from local forests for cooking, particularly in villages where opium poppy is cultivated. More village headmen from opium poppy villages reported declining local forest quality in the last two years than their peers from non‐opium poppy villages. The quality of the drinking water is another concern, and again, the problem is more pronounced in opium poppy villages. There are also indications that opium poppy villages seem to be somewhat more affected by climate related shocks, like frost or drought, which could decrease crop yields and increase the price of food. Details: Thailand: UNODC - ASEAN, 2017. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 3, 2017 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2017/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2017/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf Shelf Number: 144703 Keywords: Illegal DrugsIllicit CropsOpium Poppy Cultivation Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Buitrago, Katie Title: Cycle of Risk: The Intersection of Poverty, Violence and Trauma Summary: People living in poverty are more likely to become victims of violent crime than higher income earners whether they live in cities, suburbs or rural areas, but the rural poor experience crime at higher rates, according to a Wednesday report by a Chicago research group. Chicago is currently facing a devastating surge in lethal violence in addition to staggering rates of poverty across Illinois. Policymakers and community leaders are struggling with finding short- and long-term solutions to stem the violence and allow neighborhoods to heal. In the meantime, communities are fearing for their own safety and grieving over lost parents, children, friends, and leaders every day. The stakes for getting the solutions right could not be higher. Poverty and violence often intersect, feed one another, and share root causes. Neighborhoods with high levels of violence are also characterized by high levels of poverty, lack of adequate public services and educational opportunity, poorer health outcomes, asset and income inequality, and more. The underlying socioeconomic conditions in these neighborhoods perpetuate both violence and poverty. Furthermore, trauma can result from both violence and poverty. Unaddressed trauma worsens quality of life, makes it hard to rise out of poverty by posing barriers to success at school and work, and raises the likelihood of aggressive behavior. In this way, untreated trauma - coupled with easy gun availability and other factors - feeds the cycle of poverty and violence. In last year's Report on Illinois Poverty: Racism's Toll (2016), we explored the persistent inequity caused by racially discriminatory policies and practices. Many of those themes are critically important to this discussion as well, especially given how the American justice system has been used to systemically deny opportunities and rights to people of color. A past and living legacy of segregation and the perpetuation of racial inequity today have led people and communities of color to experience poverty at higher rates than whites. The harmful policies and practices explored in last year's report have stripped resources and opportunities from many of the communities that are grappling with violence today. Through this report we make the case that, in addition to rapid responses, we must also take a long-term approach to reducing violence. The causes of violence are complex, systemic, and long-standing - and we must take a comprehensive approach to address them effectively. Importantly, we must be cautious that efforts at short- or long-term reform do not perpetuate the very inequities and conditions that have led to violence in our communities. Details: Chicago: Heartland Alliance, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2017 at: https://www.heartlandalliance.org/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/CycleofRisk2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.heartlandalliance.org/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/CycleofRisk2017.pdf Shelf Number: 144724 Keywords: Gun ViolenceHomicidesNeighborhoods and CrimePovertyRacial DiscriminationSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVictims of CrimeViolent Crime |
Author: Marcus, Rachel Title: Poverty and violations of children's right to protection in low- and middle-income countries: A review of the evidence Summary: Why do up to 1.5 billion children suffer physical violence every year? Why do up to 2251 million children suffer sexual violence every year? Why are 14.2 million girls every year married off to start adult lives in adolescence or before?2 Why are considerable numbers of young children left alone for long hours without competent adult supervision? Historically, in studies of violence against children in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, explanations emphasised the role of individual psychological factors. The pendulum swung in the 1960s to highlight structural forces contributing to the abuse and neglect of children, in particular poverty and unemployment. In more recent years, understanding of the factors underlying violations of children's right to protection has drawn on an ecological model that emphasises factors at several levels: individual, family, household, community and broader society (Frederick and Goddard, 2007). The international child protection community generally sees three broad sets of factors as underlying many child protection violations: sociocultural norms, weak protective structures and poverty or deprivation. However, within this community there are divergences of opinion concerning the extent to which poverty is a significant underlying or risk factor. Interviews with child protection and poverty specialists and an electronic survey conducted for this research programme revealed a notable split. The majority considered poverty an important and often-neglected factor underpinning many child protection violations, but a significant number of respondents highlighted the fact that abuse, exploitation and neglect of children occurs across all socioeconomic groups, and thus felt economic deprivation played a more minor role. Perspectives varied considerably across different types of violation, with most respondents feeling that economic deprivation was a critical factor in early marriage, inadequate care and sexual exploitation, but relatively fewer convinced it was an important factor underpinning corporal punishment or sexual abuse. The electronic survey, like the majority of the literature examined for this review, focuses on children's vulnerability to protection violations, not whether poverty increases the risk of perpetrating abuse. Broadly, these perspectives concur with insights from the literature examined for this study. Despite increased recognition of the importance of effective joined-up child protection systems (e.g. World Vision, 2011; Wulcyzn et al., 2010), state agencies charged with child protection in most low- and middle-income countries are severely underfunded (Everychild, 2010b; Holmes and Jones, 2009). At the same time, there is a global move towards strengthening social protection - much of which has a partial focus on children in poverty, and thus is directing resources towards realising children's survival and development rights. In this context, there is growing interest in exploring the potential and limitations of social protection, human development and other anti-poverty programmes to reduce violations of children's protection rights - and of action to protect children's rights to promote better anti-poverty and human development outcomes. As a contribution to emerging practice and debate in this area, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the Oak Foundation are undertaking a two-year programme of work to explore the potential for greater linkages between child protection and anti-poverty work in low- and middle-income countries. This report - the first output of the programme - has two main objectives: 1. To examine how far and in what ways poverty contributes to violations of children's rights to protection in four key areas - child marriage, sexual and physical violence against children and inadequate care of children - and thus to clarify the significance of poverty as an underlying or risk factor for these different violations of children's protection rights; and 2. To assess the strength of evidence concerning the relationship between poverty and child marriage, sexual and physical violence against children and inadequate care of children, and thus to identify knowledge gaps. It reviews evidence from low- and middle-income countries on the linkages between poverty and child marriage, sexual and physical violence against children and inadequate care of children. It also draws selectively on evidence from OECD countries in areas where the low- and middle-income country literature is sparse, or to highlight differences related to income and institutional capacity. It is intended as a detailed resource on the issues explored. Key findings are summarised in a short background note (Marcus, 2013). Other components of this programme include an adapted systematic review of the extent to which child protection policies and programmes involve attention to anti-poverty issues, and the contribution of antipoverty components to effective action on specific child protection issues (Marcus and Page, 2013); an electronic survey of practitioners and key informant interviews; and fieldwork exploring the relationship between poverty and violation of children's protection rights in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Vietnam. The programme is also exploring the potential for and different ways of promoting greater synergies between analysts and practitioners with anti-poverty and child protection foci. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, 2014. 97p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2017 at: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9309.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9309.pdf Shelf Number: 145223 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild MaltreatmentChild MarriageChild ProtectionChild Sexual AbuseChild WelfarePoverty and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Against Children |
Author: International Institute for Strategic Studies Title: Climate Change, Violence and Young People: Report for Unicef UK Summary: This Unicef UK commissioned report, co-authored by the Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a world-leading authority on global security, and International Alert, one of the worlds leading peacebuilding organisations, adds to a growing body of research which emphasises the role of climate change and environmental stress as a 'threat multiplier' in terms of stability and security. The report finds that regions where large youth populations will be present in the coming decades currently have low resilience to the impacts of climate change and generally experience poor governance and social and political instability. The worsening effects of climate change, combined with growing social, economic and political pressures as a result of rapidly-expanding populations, will place additional strain on governments and social systems that are already over-burdened - potentially triggering, or exacerbating, social unrest, instability and even conflict. Details: London: IISS, 2015. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2017 at: https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IISS-UNICEF-report_FINAL.pdf?_ga=2.253999745.889170539.1493821501-1438843313.1493818709 Year: 2015 Country: International URL: https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IISS-UNICEF-report_FINAL.pdf?_ga=2.253999745.889170539.1493821501-1438843313.1493818709 Shelf Number: 145250 Keywords: Climate Change Environmental Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Perkins, Christina Title: Achieving Growth and Security in the Northern Triangle of Central America Summary: The Northern Triangle of Latin America, consisting of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, has experienced overwhelming challenges to economic growth and development. Gang violence is the root of many of these challenges, and the cost of hiring security forces for individuals and businesses creates a significant tax on the economy of these three countries. Beyond this drain on the region's finances, the Northern Triangle is considered one of the most dangerous places on the planet, excluding active war zones. The interrelated issues of violence, poverty, and slow economic growth have led to high rates of emigration from the region, such as during the summer of 2014 when thousands of unaccompanied minors entered the United States. This study examines these issues and goes on to explore connections to the successes of Plan Colombia. Specifically, it considers the opportunity for a "Plan Colombia for the Northern Triangle" to generate long-term economic growth, personal safety, and political stability and accountability in the region. Details: Washington, DC: Center for Strategic & International Studies; Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield; 2016. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2017 at: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/161201_Perkins_NorthernTriangle_Web.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Central America URL: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/161201_Perkins_NorthernTriangle_Web.pdf Shelf Number: 145259 Keywords: Gang-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesPlan ColombiaSecuritySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Schultze-Kraft, Markus Title: Toward Effective Violence Mitigation: Transforming Political Settlements Summary: Recognising the centrality of violence in the development process (though not subscribing to the notion that conflict and violence are development in reverse), in 2012-14 a group of researchers at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) engaged in depth with the complex and thorny questions of how 'new' forms of violence in the developing world - as opposed to 'traditional' civil or intra-state war - should be understood; and through which policies they could best be prevented and/or mitigated. The result of this endeavour is a series of evidence-based reports that were produced in collaboration with Southern partners in a sample of four violence-affected countries in Africa: Nigeria (Niger Delta), Sierra Leone, Egypt and Kenya (Marsabit County). The evidence from the four case studies suggests that - contrary to the early post-Cold War accounts of 'barbarism' and 'senseless bloodshed' - the violence we observe in many countries and locales today is about something. Yet, the analyses also show that the triggers, manifestations and effects of this violence - characterised as diffuse, recursive and globalised - cannot be captured by using the analytical tools developed to explain armed conflict within states. Strictly speaking, it would be misguided to label the violence in the Niger Delta, Marsabit County, Egypt and Sierra Leone as 'civil war', 'internal armed conflict' or 'new war'. Instead, it is more accurate to speak of highly heterogeneous situations of violence or 'fields of social violence'. At the same time, it is crucial not to dissociate these situations of violence from political processes by, for instance, reducing them to manifestations of criminality, such as homicide and illicit drug trafficking, or reflections of social problems like rampant youth unemployment, the use of prohibited psychoactive substances, and gang culture. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute Of Development Studies, 2014, 35p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report 101: Accessed May 6, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5367/ER101TowardEffectiveViolenceMitigationTransformingPoliticalSettlements.pdf;jsessionid=BE35B3DE96D5A63C6C020B53BA376257?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: Africa URL: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5367/ER101TowardEffectiveViolenceMitigationTransformingPoliticalSettlements.pdf;jsessionid=BE35B3DE96D5A63C6C020B53BA376257?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 145345 Keywords: Conflict-Related ViolenceDrug TraffickingGang-Related ViolenceHomicidesSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Cuartas, Jorge Title: Parenting, Scarcity and Violence: Theory and Evidence for Colombia Summary: During early childhood, children develop cognitive and socioemotional skills that predict success in multiple socioeconomic dimensions. A large part of the development of these skills depends on the child's context during the first years of life and, in particular, on the quality of parental care. Grounded on recent literature in psychology and behavioral economics, we discuss a theoretical framework for understanding why some children receive adequate care, while others do not. Within this framework, we identify a determinant of the quality of parenting that has not yet been explored in-depth: the availability of parents' mental resources, which are depleted by the subjective feeling of scarcity and the stress generated by adversities. Using cross-sectional data from a household survey in Colombia and administrative data on crime and violence, we find that a greater subjective feeling of scarcity (β=0.45, IC95%:[0.082, 0.979]) and greater exposure to violence (β =0.09, IC90%:[0.004, 0.182]) are associated with a lower likelihood that parents engage in stimulating activities with their children. At the same time, the results show that receiving information on childrearing is correlated with better parental practices (β =-0.48, IC95%:[-0.822, -0.136]). Details: Bogota; Universidad de los Andes Facultad de Economa, 2016. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Documento CEDE No.38 2016: Accessed May 10, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2912482). Year: 2016 Country: Colombia URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2912482 Shelf Number: 145401 Keywords: Child Abuse and NeglectChild MaltreatmentParentingSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence |
Author: South African Cities Network (SACN) Title: State of Urban Safety in South Africa Report 2016 Summary: There is a growing understanding, both globally and in South Africa, that cities or metros need to play clear roles in advancing urban safety. The Urban Safety Reference Group (USRG), with the technical support of the South Africa Cities Network (SACN) and the GIZ Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention (VCP) programme, has emerged as a key mechanism and platform for coordination and advocacy on urban safety. Cities have distinct safety challenges and tend to experience higher rates of crime, which have implications for their growth, development and quality of life. As a result of poor planning and socioeconomic factors, low-income areas, such as townships and informal settlements, suffer from particularly poor levels of safety. This uneven spatial distribution of safety affects the overall inclusivity, efficiency and functioning of cities. To address the social, economic, spatial and political drivers of violence and crime will require integrated approaches that go beyond conventional security and policing. Resource allocation is essential to the success of such approaches, and so a greater focus is needed on how the fiscal set-up can and should enable safety. Targeted interventions should be supported by consistent, long-term urban safety policies that are comprehensive, cross-sectoral and set out the competencies, responsibilities and accountability of local governments, as well as other spheres of government and other role-players such as civil society. Details: Johannesburg: SACN, 2016. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2017 at: http://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/PDF/SACN-Urban-Safety-2016-Report.pdf.pdf Year: 2016 Country: South Africa URL: http://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/PDF/SACN-Urban-Safety-2016-Report.pdf.pdf Shelf Number: 145807 Keywords: Crime Prevention Crime Statistics Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime Urban Safety |
Author: Ligtvoet, Willem Title: Water, Climate and Conflict: Security Risks on the Increase? Summary: This briefing note explores the multidimensional relationship between water, climate change, human security and political conflict. The relationship between human security and water- and climate-related stressors such as floods, droughts and reduced food availability is quite straightforward. The relationships between water, climate and political conflict, however, are complex and depend strongly on political, economic, societal and cultural contexts. Water and climate conditions in the world are expected to change dramatically due to population growth, further economic development and climate change. It is projected that these developments will lead to increased water stress affecting conflict risks at local, national and river-basin levels. Also, the implementation of mitigation policies may unintentionally aggravate water stress and competition. Details: The Hague: Clingendael, 2017. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Planetary Security Initiative: Accessed May 26, 2017 at: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/Briefing_Note_PSI_Water_climate_and_conflict.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/Briefing_Note_PSI_Water_climate_and_conflict.pdf Shelf Number: 145809 Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeWeather and Crime |
Author: Wong, Ivan T. Title: Predicting Arrest Trajectories in Micro-Places: A Test of Social Disorganization Theory Summary: Although much has been learned about crime in micro-places, their development and continuity over time remains largely misunderstood. In 2006, Weisburd, Bushway, Lum and Yang were the first to develop trajectories of crime at micro-places, but their study was largely atheoretical. In 2012, Weisburd, Groff, and Yang explored theoretical predictors of crime in micro-places, but they did not formally test any one theory. This study builds on both prior efforts by testing whether social disorganization theory predicts Census block-level arrest trajectories in Dallas, Texas, between 2010 and 2014. Results suggest that social disorganization can help explain arrest trajectory group membership, but not completely. While socioeconomic factors, residential stability, and family disruption were significantly associated with trajectory group membership, racial heterogeneity was only significant when it was interacted with other variables. Also, urbanization exerted no discernible effect on arrest trajectory group membership. Finally, social disorganization variables helped predict certain arrest trajectories, but not all of them. Policy implications and research limitations are also discussed. Details: Dallas, TX: University of Texas at Dallas, 2016. 203p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 26, 2017 at: http://libtreasures.utdallas.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10735.1/5207/WONG-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://libtreasures.utdallas.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10735.1/5207/WONG-DISSERTATION-2016.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 145812 Keywords: Crime and Place Social Disorganization Theory Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Martinez, Denis Roberto Title: Youth under the Gun: Violence, Fear, and Resistance in Urban Guatemala Summary: This study examines how violence affects youth in marginalized urban communities, focusing on the experiences of three groups of young people: gang members, activists, and the "jovenes encerrados", youth who live confined to their homes due to fear. Based on 14 months of ethnographic research in El Mezquital, an extensive marginalized urban area in Guatemala City, I explore the socio-economic conditions that trigger violence in these communities, the responses of young people and the community to violence, and the State's role in exacerbating violence in impoverished neighborhoods. In this dissertation I argue that gang members and activists are expressing a deep-seated social discontent against the exclusion, humiliation, and social stigmatization faced by young people in marginalized urban neighborhoods. However, the two groups express their discontent in significantly different ways. Initially, gangs used violence to express their discontent, but they gradually resorted to a perverse game of crime, in complicity with the police, and they distanced themselves from their own communities; in this work I analyze gangs' process of transformation and the circumstances that led to this change. Activists express their discontent through community art and public protest, but their demonstrations have limited social impact, since public attention continues to focus on gangs; here I examine activists' motivations, struggles, and obstacles. However, the vast majority of young people live in a state of fear, preferring to keep quiet and withdraw into their homes; here I show how violence, fear, and distrust affect the generation born into postwar Guatemala. This study illustrates the perverse role of the State in impoverished urban neighborhoods and its responsibility for the escalation of urban violence in Guatemala. On the one hand, the State shuns residents from these neighborhoods and systematically denies them basic services; it criminalizes and abuses young people, even forming social cleansing groups to eliminate gang members. On the other hand, the State fosters crime in these communities and acts as gangs' accomplice in extortions, drug trade, and robberies. As in many other Latin American countries, the Guatemalan State penalizes crime, but simultaneously encourages and benefits from it; the State is complicit in crime. Details: Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin, 2014. 263p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 27, 2017 at: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/28318/MARTINEZ-DISSERTATION-2014.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: Guatemala URL: https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/28318/MARTINEZ-DISSERTATION-2014.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 145831 Keywords: Fear of CrimeGang-Related ViolenceGangsNeighborhoods and CrimePovertySocioeconomic conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Musoi, Kyalo Title: A Study of Crime in Urban Slums in Kenya: The Case of Kibra, Bondeni, Manyatta and Mishomoroni Slums Summary: Crime continues to be a major scar on the peace and security landscape in Kenya. Whereas crime cuts across the country geographically, it is more prevalent, severe and acute in peri-urban informal settlement areas that are popularly known as slums. Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC), with support from the Government of Kenya (through the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management and the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons) and UNDP Kenya has been conducting crime surveys - in its strategic role as a crime observatory - since 2011 in the greater Nairobi region and other select parts of the country. These crime surveys have consistently established that crime is a major peace and security concern in the major urban areas in the country particularly in the slums. It is against this backdrop that SRIC undertook a study on crime in four select slums in the four major cities in the country namely, Kibra (Nairobi), Mishomoroni (Mombasa), Manyatta (Kisumu) and Bondeni (Nakuru). For the purpose of this study, crime is understood to mean acts or prohibitions which are against the law (both written and unwritten for the case of societal norms). The main objective of the study was to contribute to better understanding of the nature, trends and dynamics of crimes in the four select major urban slums in Kenya and to formulate actionable policy recommendations. The study also sought to identify and analyse crime hot spots, criminal organized groups and impact of crime in the select slum areas. The findings of the study can thus be extrapolated to present a general crime status in the slum areas in the country as a whole. Various methods of data collection and analysis were used. Secondary data was mainly derived from previous studies and reports on crime and crime observatories including print media. Primary data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and observations. A total of 654 questionnaires were administered to members of the public in the study areas taking into consideration age and gender sensitivities. In addition, 48 key informant interviews were conducted. The researchers also spend considerable time during the study period in the study areas observing crime trends and patterns. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis. The quantitative data was organized, cleaned, coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to help generate summaries in terms of tables and graphs for easy analysis and interpretation. Qualitative data was analyzed qualitatively through interpretation of the responses by respondents and also analysis of secondary data on the subject matter. The study found that theft (35.37%), was the main type of crime across the four sampled slum areas. In addition, robbery (15.55%), burglary/break-ins (10.67%) and mugging (23.17%) were the other main typologies of crime in slum areas, accounting for combined 84.76% of crimes committed in slum areas in Kenya. The study also established that an overwhelming majority, 98.8% of the respondents, had witnessed crime being committed in the last three months of the study period. This can be inferred to mean that almost everyone in the four slums had either been affected (may be within the family) or personally experienced some form of crime. Asked to state causes of crime in slum areas in urban centres, 61.2% of the respondents cited youth unemployment as the main cause of crime. Poverty (11.3%) and illicit brews/drug abuse (9.5%) were cited as the other causes of crime in slum areas. Based on these statistics, it can be inferred that rampant poverty and depressed income levels seem to be the primary drivers of localized crimes in major urban slums in Kenya. Contrary to assertions by many researchers and reports that Kibra is the most unsafe area to live in, public perceptions on safety in this study demonstrate that comparatively, Bondeni slum in Nakuru town was the most unsafe place to live in (60.98%) followed by Mishomoroni in Mombasa (44.44%). Kibra was third with 40% and lastly Manyatta slum in Kisumu where only 36.9% of respondents felt the slum was unsafe to live in. Moreover, it was only in Manyatta slums that respondents felt very safe (7.14%), making it to be, in relative terms, the safest of the four slums. In terms of reporting crime to the authorities the study established that 53.21% of the respondents had reported crime to the police while 46.79% of the respondents did not report crime to the police at all. 42.2% of the respondents indicated that they had no confidence in administration of justice by the Police Service and that's why they would rather let the matter (crime) "die" than seek intervention from the police. 14.7% of the respondents indicated that they were afraid of the perpetrators, 18.7% indicated that sometimes they would not report any crime incident perpetrated or involving any member of the family/ friends, 9.2% indicated that some criminal cases were not serious enough to warrant the attention of the police, 7.3% posited that the police were not friendly and were thus afraid of approaching them while others indicated reporting was inconsequential since the police were incapable of recovering lost properties in cases of property related crimes. In addition and despite the efforts expended by the government, NGOs and the communities themselves to prevent and reduce crime in urban slum areas in the country, a majority of respondents (81%) felt that crime incidences remained high. Only 17% of the total respondents indicated that crime levels had reduced. The study also identified 21 organized criminal groups and or gangs operating in the slum areas. Kibra had 6, Mishomoroni in Mombasa 8, Bondeni of Nakuru 8 whereas Manyatta respondents in Kisumu identified 4 such groups. Extortions, levying of protection fees, muggings, heckling/disrupting political rallies and events, trafficking drugs and kidnappings are some of the common crimes committed by these identified criminal groups/gangs. It is also important to note that in Mishomoroni, Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) was not identified as a criminal organization or group. Maybe the respondents feared mentioning it or perceived it as a legitimate organization pursuing interests of the coastal people. In addition, the study identified 44 crime hotspots and times of the day the crime is likely to take place or committed. Kibra, had the highest number of hotspots at 17. This was followed by Mishomoroni (11), Manyatta (9) and Bondeni (7) in that order. It is interesting to note that based on public perceptions, Bondeni - with only 7 identified crime hotspots - was found to be the most unsafe slum amongst the four sampled slum areas. To ameliorate the dire crime situation in slum areas in the country, the study makes key policy recommendations to the National Police Service, National Government, County Governments and the members of the public. To the Police Service, the police reforms should be hastened so that corruption is reduced and accountability enhanced. In addition, the police should intensify patrols within the settlements, strengthen witness/informers protection services/ unit and equip the police officers with the necessary tools to enable them perform their work effectively. The National Government should address youth unemployment by increasing the uptake of grants such as Uwezo Fund and also ensure proper mechanisms are put in place, including subsidizing the prices of basic commodities, in order to lower the cost of living. On the other hand, the County Governments should improve infrastructure in slum areas such as erecting lighting masts and improving access roads. The public has a role to play in making slum areas safer places to live in. They should step up collaboration with police officers in detecting and reporting crime as well as avoid buying or trading in stolen properties. Buying stolen goods encourages the criminals to continue stealing. Details: Nairobi: Security Research & Information Centre, 2014. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 5, 2017 at: http://www.srickenya.org/images/publications/slum%20Crime%20Survey%20Report.%20Thur.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.srickenya.org/images/publications/slum%20Crime%20Survey%20Report.%20Thur.pdf Shelf Number: 145909 Keywords: Crime StatisticsPovertySlumsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeStolen GoodsTheftUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Jaitman, Laura Title: Evaluation of Slum Upgrading Programs: Literature Review and Methodological Approaches Summary: This technical note analyzes the methodologies used to evaluate neighborhood upgrading programs, describes their results, and suggests approaches for future evaluations. Local and central governments are increasingly utilizing slum or neighborhood upgrading programs to deal with the multiple problems of urban poverty. These programs employ a methodology of integral interventions, combining of both infrastructure works and social services targeted to specific neighborhoods. Due to this variety of interventions the assessment of their impact is complicated and requires a comprehensive approach. This document analyzes the methods used in the evaluation of a number of upgrading programs either looking at individual interventions or their combined outcomes. It proposes a methodological approach for their assessment based on three categories of outcomes: housing, neighborhood, and individual. For each type of outcome, the authors present a literature review of common interventions and their evaluation results. The document also suggests relevant indicators for evaluating slum upgrading programs according to these three types of outcomes, and finally, it presents methodological issues to take into consideration when designing the evaluations of integral programs. Details: Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2013. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: No. IDB-TN-604: Accessed June 5, 2017 at: http://services.iadb.org/wmsfiles/products/Publications/38339263.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://services.iadb.org/wmsfiles/products/Publications/38339263.pdf Shelf Number: 145911 Keywords: Poverty Slums Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas Urban Areas and Crime |
Author: King, Raymond Title: The Effects of Organizational Agility on Transnational Crime in Jamaica Summary: Factors influencing incidents of transnational crime in Jamaica and the international community have been established in the literature. However, strategies to counter transnational security threats have been predicated on a foundation of re-activity, necessitating the need for proactive crime fighting efforts. This study investigated the effects of organizational agility, a proactive crime abatement strategy, on transnational crimes in Jamaica using quantitative analysis. An input-output framework based on economic theory, along with a multiple regression model provided the analytic foundation for this study. Thirty-two years of crime data between 1982 and 2013, one independent variable-organizational agility, and five control variables comprised the analytic model. Chief among the findings are that organizational agility as a proactive crime abatement strategy was found to be inversely related to incidents of transnational crime at α = 0.05 and that the overall model explained 91% of the variation in transnational crime incidents. Details: Miami Gardens, FL: St. Thomas University, 2015. 119p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed June 7, 2017 at: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1749780648.html?FMT=AI Year: 2015 Country: Jamaica URL: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1749780648.html?FMT=AI Shelf Number: 145952 Keywords: Crime PreventionCrime StatisticsEconomics of CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTransnational Crime |
Author: Tadros, Mariz Title: Settling After the Revolts? Egypt's Political Settlements and Violent Transition Summary: The uprisings in the Arab region generated much hope among significant proportions of the population that a rupture with the status quo would herald a new era marked by bread, freedom and social justice/human dignity, the catchphrase of many of the revolts. However, the new political settlements in many instances neither created the spaces for more inclusive politics, nor were they responsive to the masses' aspirations. This paper presents the case study of Egypt, a country that between January 2011 and July 2013 witnessed two regime overthrows following mass uprisings of a scale unprecedented in the region. While the country has not fallen into a state of civil war such as Syria, it has nevertheless been experiencing rising levels of violence since the revolution of January 2011. This paper discusses the nature of the political order in relation to violence through two nexuses: first, the extent to which the surge in violence, in particular political violence, can be attributed to the nature of the political settlements forged, and second, the extent to which a bottom-up approach informs our understanding of the dynamics and outcomes of political settlements. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute for Development Studies, 2014. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report 57: Accessed June 13, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3545/ER57%20Settling%20After%20the%20Revolts%20Egypt%E2%80%99s%20Political%20Settlements%20and%20Violent%20Transition.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: Egypt URL: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3545/ER57%20Settling%20After%20the%20Revolts%20Egypt%E2%80%99s%20Political%20Settlements%20and%20Violent%20Transition.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 146085 Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Violent Crime |
Author: Sana, Olang Title: Taking Stock of Socio-economic Challenges in the Nairobi Slums: An Inventory of the Pertinent Issues between January 2008 and November 2012 Summary: Kenya's post-2007 elections violence was a landmark event in the country's political history. The violence led to the death of over 1, 300 people, displacement of others, and destruction of property of unknown value especially in the then Nyanza, Western, Rift-valley and Coast provinces. Howevwer, the social cost of the violence was greater than the visible dislocations reported in the media and elsewhere. Over four and a half years after the violence, the social cost of the phenomenon still lives with the victims: survivors who suffered in not-so-visible ways, the internally displaced persons, people who lost property, victims of sexual assault, and people who sustained different kinds of physical and emotional injury. And whereas post -2007 elections crisis speeded up the pace of reforms in Kenya's body politic including the completion of the hitherto stalled constitutional review process, it is surprising that the Kenya government has made frail efforts to address the socio-economic needs of the communities and families affected by the scourge of violence. More surprisingly, very little attention to understand and act on the potential effects of post 2007 elections crisis on the forthcoming polls already slated for March 2013. The Nairobi slums are one area that was adversely affected by the December 2007-January 2008 post elections violence. The slums occupy one-eighth of the land space in Nairobi but host three-quarters of the city's population of four million people. Many factors combine to make the Nairobi slums the most violent and vulnerable neighborhoods in Nairobi. And as media reports indicate, post-election violence started in the Nairobi slums (Kibera) before it spread to other parts of the country. Consequently, the slums bore the heaviest brunt of the violence (relative to the up-market neighborhoods of Nairobi). A lot of information is still outside the public domain regarding how the violence erupted, immediate issues that provoked the violence, the ethnic character of the violence, the nature of disruptions wrought by the violence, and how various slum villages are coping with the trauma. Also outside the public domain is information regarding how the actual socio-economic conditions that prevail in the slums add to their violent character, and an exposition of some unresolved issues as well as emerging threats that could affect the stability of these neighborhoods both before and after the March 2013 polls. More importantly, there is an urgent need to re-examine the slums with reference to the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and other gains so far made towards the implementation of the Constitution. Can the (new) Constitution be used as a reference document for increasing service delivery, advancing rights protection, and laying the foundation for the rule of law in the lives of the three million slums dwellers? What can be done in the pre-and post-March 2013 elections to not only rid the slums of their violent character but also to initiate programmes geared towards changing the face of the slum permanently? The purpose of this booklet is to provide some insight into the concerns outlined above. The authors of the booklet note that there has been some good progress towards addressing some or a combination of the above concerns especially in the aftermath of the violence. However, the intellectual discourse about the slums and violence is as yet embryonic and far too incoherent to guide focused interventions before and after the forthcoming polls. Primarily, the booklet aspires to provoke some thought about the slums and slum dwellers with a view to encouraging government policy makers, the civil society, the international community, the academia and other actors to make informed interventions geared towards improving the physical conditions in the slums without depriving the dwellers of dignity and rights. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: accessed June 14, 2017 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/kenia/09860.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Kenya URL: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/kenia/09860.pdf Shelf Number: 146172 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimePoverty and CrimeSlums (Nairobi, Kenya)Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVigilantismViolence |
Author: Musau, Anastasia Nzisa Title: Insecurity in Nairobi: A Case of Street Children in Nairobi central business district Summary: The situation of street children in Nairobi in particular is of great concern to the government of Kenya mainly due to the socio-economic impact it has on the residents, businesses, property owners and individuals in the town and the government in terms of investments by local and foreign investors. The main study objectives were to determine the criminal activities that street children commit and their effects on the economy, to establish the socio-economic factors that contribute to the criminal behavior among street children and also to assess how street children relate to the law enforcement agencies, the public and the business community. The study examines the most common types of crimes committed by street children, the relationship between street children and security agencies, and how their criminal behaviour affect the country's economic growth. It also examines contributing factors that influence children to run from their homes to the streets. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were employed to identify respondents to identify respondents. The data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data was collected by administering structured questionnaires to a sample drawn from business people, individuals, property owners and security workers in Nairobi. Secondary data was obtained from policy abstracts, government reports and annual reports from relevant ministries. The study is aimed at providing recommendations to help policy makers in addressing the problem of street children by taking up prevention and control measures and addressing the detrimental effects the street children phenomenon has on the economy of the country Details: Nairobi: University of Nairobi, 2014. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed June 17, 2017 at: http://www.streetchildrenresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Insecurity-in-Nairobi-a-case-of-street-children-in-Nairobi-central-business-district.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.streetchildrenresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Insecurity-in-Nairobi-a-case-of-street-children-in-Nairobi-central-business-district.pdf Shelf Number: 146225 Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency Runaways Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeStreet Children Unemployment and Crime |
Author: Lavoie, Kelly Ann Title: School Shootings and Moral Panics: Differences in Media Framing Based on Race, Class, and Socioeconomic Status Summary: Media coverage of school shooting incidents are constructed using various frames that differ depending on the race, class, and socioeconomic status of the victims, perpetrators, and their communities. Moral panics have arisen as a result of these frames, having been constructed to instigate fear and affect policy in ways that can have negative effects on both students in general and, in particular, minority students in urban schools. In this study, I analyzed the framing language used in news content, the demographic information of the schools in which shootings occurred, and the amount of coverage afforded to the incidents. This content analysis will observe television news broadcasts regarding school shootings from Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN, ranging from 1995 to 2014. Details: Bridgewater, MA: Bridgewater State University, 2015. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed June 19, 2017 at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=honors_proj Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=honors_proj Shelf Number: 146259 Keywords: Homicides Mass Shootings Media Moral Panics Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Esser, Joseph Walsh Title: From Hyperghettoization to the Hut: dilemmas of identity among transmigrant Tipoti in the Kingdom of Tonga Summary: Youth interactions with structures of the community, as well as their self-conceptions of identity, masculinity, and ethnicity, are highly powerful social categories that inform behaviors and practices. Through life history narratives of deported immigrant Tongan gang members, I examine adaptation to violent U.S. inner-cities, U.S. penal institutions, and rural Tongan villages. In one context an identity may transform into violent delinquency spiraling through the American criminal/penal system; yet in a separate context, the same individual may develop into a devout churchgoer and steward of the community as each youth delineates what it means to be Tongan. Moving beyond the conventional explanation of gang formations and violence, the construction and performance of social identities are central to the formations of violence, gangs, and criminality. Through positing macrostructural and macrohistorical forces, the important interplay between social structures and individual agency emerges. Through a self-reflexive and interpretive process of revisiting and reimagining identity and ethnicity, in addition to changing socio-cultural frameworks and social structures (deportation and stigmatization as tipoti or deportees in the "homeland") ultimately result in access to new social and symbolic resources and decisions to abandon violence and criminality. Details: Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2011. 340p, Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed June 19, 2017 at: http://gradworks.umi.com/34/90/3490644.html Year: 2011 Country: Tonga URL: http://gradworks.umi.com/34/90/3490644.html Shelf Number: 146270 Keywords: Gang Violence Gang-Related Violence Gangs Ghettos Immigrants and Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Turley, Ruth Title: Slum upgrading strategies and their effects on health and socio-economic outcomes: a systematic review Summary: Low and middle income countries (LMIC) are home to over 90% of the one billion people living in slums. Urban slums describe parts of cities where living conditions are exceptionally poor. The slums lack basic services and often have many people crowded into small living spaces. Slums can provide shelter and proximity to jobs, and communities are often social and supportive. However, poor living conditions and health are closely related, and illnesses such as diarrhoea, malaria, cholera and respiratory diseases are common. Slum upgrading basically involves improving the physical environment, for example the water supply, sanitation, waste collection, electricity, drainage, road paving and street lighting. Additional strategies may be included to improve access to health, education and social services, increase residents' income and secure legal rights to the land. We found five main studies with suitable methods for examining the effect of slum upgrading on health, quality of life and social wellbeing (for example poverty). Nine supporting studies were also included, which used methods that could indicate associations between interventions and outcomes but could not assess whether interventions caused the effect. Only one main study had a low risk of bias, with the rest having a mixed or high risk of bias. The majority of supporting studies had a high risk of bias, meaning their methods had several limitations that made the study results unreliable. In addition, the studies measured different interventions and outcomes, making it difficult to compare results. Overall, there was limited but consistent evidence to suggest that slum upgrading may reduce diarrhoea in slum dwellers and their water-related expenses. There were mixed results for whether slum upgrading reduced parasitic infections, general measures of communicable diseases, financial poverty and unemployment outcomes. There was very little information on other health or social outcomes, or which types of interventions were most beneficial. Some of the studies asked slum dwellers for their views and their experiences of slum upgrading interventions. They suggested a number of reasons why facilities were not used as intended and which may have reduced the benefits. Future research, with improved study designs and common outcome measures, is needed to determine how best to improve the conditions of existing slums and to offer the most benefit to the health, quality of life and social wellbeing of slum dwellers. Details: London: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), 2013. 184p. Source: Internet Resource: 3ie Systematic Review 13. Accessed June 29, 2017 at: http://www.3ieimpact.org/media/filer_public/2016/07/12/sr13-slum-upgrading-strategies-review.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.3ieimpact.org/media/filer_public/2016/07/12/sr13-slum-upgrading-strategies-review.pdf Shelf Number: 146468 Keywords: PovertySlumsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Eide, Stephen D. Title: Poverty and Progress in New York III: Crime and Welfare Enrollment One Year Into the de Blasio Administration Summary: Mayor Bill de Blasio assumed office in January 2014, promising to "take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities - [and] put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love." With respect to public safety, this promise translated into a determination to continue the low crime rates of recent years through a modified version of the Giuliani and Bloomberg approaches to policing. On welfare, de Blasio made a sharper break from the past. The overarching goals remain greater economic mobility and less government dependence. But these goals are to be achieved through a less "punitive" approach toward enforcing eligibility requirements and "more effective" employment programs that emphasize education and training over work experience. This paper is the third installment in a series that has been tracking the effect of de Blasio's policies at the neighborhood level. Focusing on the effect of initiatives on policing and public assistance, it examines how conditions in the poorest neighborhoods in the five boroughs have changed during 2014, the first year of the de Blasio administration. The paper also investigates citywide trends in arrests, data regarding potential racial bias in the police department, and rates of dependence on social assistance programs. Key Findings Welfare - New York City ended 2014 with more people on welfare than it began. Midyear, the Human Resources Administration (HRA) announced major changes to the city's public assistance program; by the end of 2014, enrollment had grown by about 16,000 since the HRA announcement. - This increase has come during a time of relative prosperity for the local economy, which added more than 90,000 jobs in 2014. Significant growth came in low-wage industries likely to hire welfare recipients. Throughout New York City's history, the general tendency has been for welfare enrollment to decline as job numbers grow. - Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) proved more responsive to improved economic conditions, steadily declining throughout 2014. - The number of public assistance recipients remains very low, by historical standards. Policing - The year 2014 saw annual declines in six out of seven major crime categories. Murders reached historical lows. - There are exceptions to the general good news on crime: 28 precincts saw at least one more murder in 2014 than in 2013; and total crime was up in 14 precincts. The lowest-income neighborhoods in the five boroughs remain far more dangerous than their high-income counterparts. - In the ten lowest-income neighborhoods in the five boroughs, eight saw two or three more murders in 2014 than in 2013. Two experienced more total crime in 2014 than in 2013. - Misdemeanor arrests, though higher than they were ten years ago, are currently on a downward trend. This includes arrests for many, though not all, "Broken Windows," or quality-of-life, offenses such as drug possession. - Civilian Complaint Review Board complaints and allegations of unnecessary or excessive use of force by police are trending down. The year 2014 saw fewer complaints against the NYPD than all but three of the last 16 years. - Use of force in making misdemeanor arrests is extremely rare (2.2 percent) and trending down. - With respect to allegations of racial bias, a comparison between victim-initiated and police-initiated misdemeanor arrests shows that police do not arrest minorities at a higher rate when acting on their own judgment than when responding to specific victim complaints. - Crime is overwhelmingly more of a problem for poor minority neighborhoods, where the greatest demand for policing, measured by 911 calls, is found. Details: New York: Manhattan Institute, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Civic Report no. 94: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/cr_94.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/cr_94.pdf Shelf Number: 146471 Keywords: Neighborhoods and CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and CrimeWelfare |
Author: Ferroni, Matteo Francesco Title: Which are the Causes of Criminality in Brazil? Summary: The objective of this study is to better understand the determinants of criminality rate in Brazil, more specifically the determinants of homicides. I based myself on Becker's model of criminal rational behavior. After selecting some economical and sociological variables, I run a cross sectional regression using the data of 2010 from 608 Brazilian municipalities. My main result suggests that inequality has an impact on the homicide rate while poverty does not. Furthermore, there is evidence proving that urbanization and unemployment are positively related to the homicides, whereas education is negatively related. On the other hand the age composition of the population is positively related only until a certain level. Details: Unpublished paper, 2014. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 4, 2017 at: http://www.economicsocietybocconi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ferroni1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Brazil URL: http://www.economicsocietybocconi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ferroni1.pdf Shelf Number: 146728 Keywords: Crime RatesEconomics of CrimeInequality and CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Musyoki, Kithusya Peter Title: Factors Influencing organised Crime in Urban Centres: The Case of the City of Nairobi, In Kenya Summary: Organized crime and insecurity are major challenges to the society. The city of Nairobi is not crime free, because there are:- Violent robberies, muggings, shop lifting, acts of terrorism, vandalism on utility property, drug and substance abuse, illegal firearms, Ethnicity and political incitements and violence, corruption, fraud, money laundering and other economic allied offences top the list. The study focused on factors influencing organized crime in the city of Nairobi with the following variables considered: -Weak: family structures, Overpopulation in unplanned informal settlements, Un-employment, High population growth and finally Peer pressure relationships. Despite the Government interventions, crime trends and patterns in the city of Nairobi have has continued to be recorded on alarming and worrying rates. Hence, the necessity of the study. Relevant sociological theories on crime were incorporated in the study e.g. The Focus of Militia Mapping and organized gangs according to Ruggiero Vincenzo, (2006). Expounding on the impact of space dynamics to crime, according to Clifford R. Shaw, (1929) on his publication of delinquency areas. Methodology used was descriptive survey design, with primary and secondary sources applied. Accidental sampling (also known as grab, convenience or opportunity) which is a non probability sampling was used. The study was based on a sample size of about 35 respondents with self administered Questionnaires. Study findings indicated problems of organized crime as caused by weak: family structures, over population in unplanned informal settlements, un-employment, high population growth and peer group relationship. Necessary recommendations were put in place including a requirement by the government of Kenya to have careful financial and other critical resource planning of the country's security. The data was analyzed by categorizing, ordering and manipulating and stored in electronic and non-electronic forms. A provision for further research was also allowed because of the dynamism of the study Details: Nairobi: University of Nairobi, 2012. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 18, 2017 at: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/8910 Year: 2012 Country: Kenya URL: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/8910 Shelf Number: 147721 Keywords: Organized Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban Areas and Crime |
Author: Murphy, Tommy E. Title: Following the Poppy Trail: Causes and Consequences of Mexican Drug Cartels Summary: We study the historical origins and consequences of Mexican cartels. We first trace the location of current cartels to the location of Chinese migration at the beginning of the XX century, and document that both events are strongly connected. We then use Chinese presence in 1930 as an instrument for cartel presence today. We find a positive link between cartel presence and good socioeconomic outcomes, such as lower marginalization rates, lower illiteracy rates, higher salaries, and better public services. We also report that municipalities with cartel presence have higher tax revenues and more political competition. Given that Chinese immigration at the end of the century was driven by elements largely exogenous to the drug trade, the link between cartel presence and good socioeconomic outcomes can be interpreted in a causal way. Previous research has shown that the presence of organized crime is associated with bad outcomes at the macro level (Pinotti, 2015) and has deep effects at individual level, making children more likely to be criminals in adulthood (Sviatschi, 2017a; 2017b). Our paper reconciles this previous literature with the fact that drug lords, the leaders of this particular form of organized crime, have great support in the local communities in which they operate. Details: Buenos Aires, Argentina: Universidad de San Andres, 2017. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2018 at: ftp://webacademicos.udesa.edu.ar/pub/econ/doc130.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Mexico URL: ftp://webacademicos.udesa.edu.ar/pub/econ/doc130.pdf Shelf Number: 148851 Keywords: Drug CartelsDrug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceEconomics of CrimeOpium Poppy CultivationOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Hombrados, Jorge Garcia Title: What Is the Causal Effect of Poverty on Property Crime? Evidence from Chile Summary: In February 27th 2010, an earthquake Richter magnitude 8.8 affects the south of Chile leading to increases in poverty rates in municipalities of the south and the center of Chile. This study exploits the variation in the exposure of Chilean municipalities to this exogenous income shock combining instrumental variables and spatial panel econometric models to investigate the causal effect of poverty on property crime at the municipality level in Chile. Preliminary results show that once endogeneity and spatial dependence are accounted for, poverty has a strong and significant effect on property crime, measured as incidence of car thefts. A 10 percentage points increase in poverty incidence increases in 54 the number of car thefts per 100,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, the study shows that the incidence of property crime of a municipality is not only affected by its poverty level but also by the level of poverty in neighbour municipalities. The significance of the effect of poverty on property crime is robust to alternative specifications, econometric models and to other robustness checks. Details: Unpublished paper, 2015. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 27, 2018 at: http://lacer.lacea.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/53025/lacea2015_effect_poverty_property_crime.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2015 Country: Chile URL: http://lacer.lacea.org/bitstream/handle/123456789/53025/lacea2015_effect_poverty_property_crime.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 149271 Keywords: Automobile TheftCar TheftsEconomics of CrimePoverty and CrimeProperty CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeVehicle Theft |
Author: Reitano, Tuesday Title: Mitigating the threat of organised crime in Africa's development Summary: Organised crime presents a manifold threat to sustainable development. This is recognised by the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063. However, policy statements which recognise the cross-cutting threat of organised crime have not been translated to the implementation framework in a systematic way, and policy tends to focus on the fight against organised crime at the sectoral level. Development actors need to understand not only how organised crime will undermine their objectives, but also that development itself presents opportunities for organised crime to flourish. As Africa focuses on stimulating economic growth, investment and infrastructure, the danger is that development goals will be subverted. Development actors need to both crime-proof existing interventions and ensure future investments are crime sensitive. Key points - Organised crime threatens all aspects of the continent's sustainable development. - Too much of the response to organised crime is crafted as policies to counter specific illicit markets rather than examining the issue and its impacts holistically. - The illicit economy can be a source of livelihoods and a resilience strategy for the poor and vulnerable. There is thus a development paradox at play. - Both the SDGs and Agenda 2063 emphasise economic stimulus and investment through public-private partnerships. However, without proper oversight, organised crime reinforces negative governance patterns that create an unhealthy alliance between crime, government and business. - Development itself comes with organised crime risks, which can facilitate the growth of illicit markets. - If SDG goals are to be achieved, development must be crime-sensitive and crime-proof. Details: s.l.: ENACT Programme, 2018. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief: Accessed March 15, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018_02_20_PolicyBrief_OCinAfrica_OCSDGs.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Africa URL: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018_02_20_PolicyBrief_OCinAfrica_OCSDGs.pdf Shelf Number: 149471 Keywords: Development and Crime Economic Development Organized Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Corman, Hope Title: Age Gradient in Female Crime: Welfare Reform as a Turning Point Summary: This study explores how a major public policy change-the implementation of welfare reform in the U.S. in the 1990s-shaped the age gradient in female crime. We used FBI arrest data to investigate the age-patterning of the effects of welfare reform on women's arrests for property crime, the type of crime women are most likely to commit and that welfare reform has been shown to affect. We found that women's property crime arrest rates declined over the age span; that welfare reform led to an overall reduction in adult women's property crime arrests of about 4%, with the strongest effects for women ages 25-29 and in their 40s; that the effects were slightly stronger in states with stricter work incentives; and that the effects were much stronger in states with high criminal justice expenditures and staffing. The key contributions of this study are the focus on a broad and relevant policy-based "turning point" (change in circumstances that can lead people to launch or desist from criminal careers), addressing the general question of how a turning point shapes age gradients in criminal behavior, and the focus on women in the context of the age patterning of crime. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper 24464: Accessed April 5, 2018 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w24464 Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w24464 Shelf Number: 149704 Keywords: Female OffendersPoverty and CrimeProperty CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeWelfare ReformWomen Offenders |
Author: Hsiao, Celia Title: Reducing violence in South Africa: From research to action Summary: Preventing and reducing violence in South Africa must be a national priority if the country is to realise the development goals set by the National Development Plan 2030. Violence exacts an enormous cost - both directly and indirectly - and will undermine and hamper efforts to reduce poverty and inequality and to grow the economy. In December 2017 South Africa joined 15 Pathfinding countries under the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children. Being a Pathfinding country commits South Africa to realise the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 16.2: to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children. It also commits the country to ensuring that all sectors - government, civil society and the private sector - work together to end violence against children. But ending violence experienced by children requires us also to end violence against women. Not only is this important because it will reduce children's exposure to violence, but also because violence against women is a human rights violation that impacts negatively on the society in which children are raised. Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief, Accessed April 9, 2018 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/plicybrief108-v2.pdf Year: 2017 Country: South Africa URL: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/plicybrief108-v2.pdf Shelf Number: 149735 Keywords: Children Exposed to ViolenceCrime and DevelopmentCrime PreventionEvidence-Based ProgramsSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent CrimeViolent Prevention |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Crime and Development in Africa Summary: Our knowledge on the state of crime in Africa is limited. Given the many development challenges facing the continent, it is not surprising that little attention has been given to crime. But Africa's development challenges are precisely the social factors found to be associated with high crime situations internationally. For example: - Income inequality is one of the most robust quantitative correlates of official crime rates, and Africa hosts some of the most unequal countries in the world: on average, the richest 10% earn 31 times more than the poorest 10%. - Throughout the world, teenaged and young adult males commit most of the crime, and Africa's youthful population (43% under the age of 15) means that a greater part of the society falls into this pool of potential offenders. Many of these young people are not enrolled in educational programmes and cannot find employment. - Rapid rates of urbanisation, a factor that combines elements of population density, cultural clash, and population instability, is also a strong correlate of crime rates. Africa is urbanising at about 4% a year, about twice the global average. - Poor countries have poorly-resourced criminal justice systems, and Africa suffers from the world's least favourable police- and judge-to-population ratios. This ultimately impacts on conviction rates; even if the police perform optimally, offenders in Africa are much less likely to be punished for their wrongdoings than those in the rest of the world. Such a system cannot effectively deter, incapacitate, or rehabilitate criminals. - The proliferation of firearms, related in part to the recurrence of conflict in all regions of the continent and in part to a growing sense of public insecurity, enables and aggravates violent crime. While none of these factors alone causes crime, their presence together does make it more probable that crime will occur, all other things being equal. This does not mean that the continent is doomed to criminality. Rather, it means that crime needs to be anticipated and that development planning should proceed with these dynamics in mind. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2005. 160p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2018 at: http://www.unodc.org/pdf/African_report.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Africa URL: http://www.unodc.org/pdf/African_report.pdf Shelf Number: 149797 Keywords: Developing CountriesGun-Related ViolencePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Muggah, Robert Title: Youth, Security and Peace: Brazil Revisited Summary: Brazil is not facing so much a conventional "armed conflict" as a systemic crisis of public security. Its high levels of insecurity are not due to a single cause but rather a combination of individual, household and societal factors; concentrated disadvantage and fragmented families together with limited access to quality education, employment and other opportunities all play a role. Yet there are also remarkable efforts underway to prevent and reduce violence at national, state and municipal levels. Brazil features a rich, if understudied, ecosystem of interventions to promote youth safety and security that offer lessons to the world. The following report is designed to offer insights for the Youth, Peace and Security review. It considers first the scope and scale of youth violence. It then turns to the key perpetrators. Next, it explores the underlying risks giving rise to youth insecurity. The report closes with a review of national, state, city and civil society animated measures to prevent and reduce violence. Details: Rio de Janeiro: Igarape Institute, 2018. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2018 at: https://igarape.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Youth-Security-and-Peace-Brazil-Revisited-Robert-Muggah.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Brazil URL: https://igarape.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Youth-Security-and-Peace-Brazil-Revisited-Robert-Muggah.pdf Shelf Number: 150024 Keywords: At-Risk YouthDisadvantaged YouthPreventing Youth ViolencePublic SecuritySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeYouth Violence |
Author: Chavez Villegas, Cirenia Title: Youth and Organised Crime in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: An exploration of contributing factors Summary: This research explores why young men participate in organised crime in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. From an ecological perspective, decisions are the result of a combination of factors at the macro, micro, and individual levels. The research explores factors at each of these levels, particularly the role of unfulfilled aspirations, the family and community environments, as well as different dimensions of poverty. In doing so, it uses an original survey covering a sample of 180 delinquent young men aged 12 to 29, who were in prison for organised criminal activity, and a sample of 180 non-delinquents with the same age, social background, and geographical origin in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Twenty in-depth interviews were also carried out with a subsample of delinquents. To my knowledge, this is the first study to use a quasi-experimental approach to understand why young men in Mexico participate in organised crime that considers their aspirations and measures multidimensional poverty amongst a population that is commonly excluded from census data. The thesis draws on several theoretical frameworks from the fields of criminology and sociology, including anomie and attachment theories. The findings lend support to the importance of aspirations at the individual level. Opportunity constraints predict criminal participation and delinquents tend to place greater value on material items than their nondelinquent counterparts, which calls for the co-creation and management of aspirations of former delinquents and at-risk youth with the aid of counsellors. In the family environment, being raised in a single parent household was a significant predictor of participation in organised crime. As these households are often headed by women, greater support for working mothers is pressing, as work in the assembly plants in Juarez (the prime source of employment) is not accompanied with childcare. More involved fathers who constitute positive role models are necessary to mitigate the risks of criminal participation. In the community environment, regularly spending time in a gang significantly predicted organised crime participation. Although gangs constitute a gateway, they do not unequivocally lead to organised crime. This calls for an adequate assessment of gangs, a phenomenon that is still poorly understood in Mexico. At the macro level, the findings reveal that those who are more income deprived have a lower probability of having participated in crime, suggesting that participation reduces income poverty marginally. However, a higher proportion of delinquent participants are vulnerable due to deprivation in several social indicators and most delinquent participants are still multidimensionally poor, despite their participation in organised crime. This indicates that participating in crime does not constitute an effective or sustained pathway out of poverty, a message that should be communicated to at-risk youth. A more robust poverty and inequality reduction program accompanied by fiscal reform and higher minimum wages are also among the key policy recommendations. Details: Cambridge, UK: Queens' College, University of Cambridge, 2018. 266p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 10, 2018 at: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/273773/Chavez-2018-PhD.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2018 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/273773/Chavez-2018-PhD.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 150144 Keywords: Juvenile DelinquentsOrganized CrimePovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolent CrimeYouth GangsYouthful Offenders |
Author: Heeks, Matthew Title: The economic and social costs of crime Summary: The economic and social costs of crime estimates are important in helping to develop an understanding of the wider costs and benefits associated with changes in the number of crimes. Although methods have been developed to try to capture an assessment of the societal harms of different crime types, for example the Crime Harm Index, these do not set out to estimate the monetary costs of different offences. This report uses existing crime and cost data to update previous analysis by the Home Office to estimate the economic and social costs of different offences. It does not estimate the economic and social costs of every type of crime; it concentrates on more serious victim-based offences which are likely to have the largest economic and social costs. Costs have been estimated for crimes against individuals and, for a limited number of sectors, businesses. Those crimes which are not committed against an individual victim - so-called crimes against society - are excluded from the analysis; for example, possession of drugs. The report considers three main cost areas: - Costs in anticipation of crime, for example the cost of burglar alarms. - Costs as a consequence of crime, for example the cost of property stolen or damaged. - Costs in response to crime, for example costs to the police and criminal justice system. The total costs of crime in England and Wales in the 2015/16 are estimated to be approximately L50bn for crimes against individuals and L9bn for crimes against businesses. Violent crimes make up the largest proportion of the total costs of individual crime - almost three quarters - but only one third of the number of crimes. This is mainly due to the higher physical and emotional costs to the victims of violent offences. These costs are particularly high for crimes that are more likely to result in emotional injuries, such as rape and violence with injury. The offence with the highest estimated unit cost2 is homicide (L3.2m). Rape (L39,360) has the highest estimated unit cost of non-fatal offences. Thefts from businesses make up almost 90% of business crime but account for approximately half of the total estimated costs of crime against businesses (L4.2bn), as each crime has a low impact on society. In contrast, robberies and burglaries against businesses - estimated to cost L2bn and L1.6bn respectively - make up over 40% of the costs of crime, but account for only 5% of all crimes against businesses. Details: London: Home Office, 2018. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report 99: Accessed August 1, 2018 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727958/the-economic-and-social-costs-of-crime-horr99.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727958/the-economic-and-social-costs-of-crime-horr99.pdf Shelf Number: 150989 Keywords: Costs of CrimeCrime RatesCrime StatisticsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolenceViolent Crime |
Author: Lambeth Community Safety Title: Serious Violence in Lambeth: Needs Assessment Summary: This report offers the key findings and recommendations from a Needs Assessment derived from evidence and research into the nature of serious violence in Lambeth incorporating a public health model. Lambeth's Health and Well-being Board and the Safer Lambeth Partnership jointly commissioned this work to assess the evidence about violence and its underlying causes in Lambeth. This is designed to be part of Lambeth's wider commissioning workstreams (providing the evidence base for the three year framework for protective and preventative services to reduce serious violence across the partnership) and will incorporating a public health approach to violence prevention, incorporating proposals from the report by Prof. Mark Bellis and based on joint work between Lambeth Community Safety and Lambeth and Southwark Public Health teams. Lambeth has traditionally suffered high levels of violent crime in relation to the rest of London and the country. Levels of violence against the person, sexual offences and hospital admissions for violence are rated as significantly worse in Lambeth than the London or England average. In addition, Violence is a major public health issue causing injury, ill health and poor wellbeing to thousands of people living in Lambeth. The costs of violence to individuals, families, communities and the local economy are high, and treating the effects of violence draws heavily on local resources, including the police, social care and the NHS. The Violence Needs Assessment (VNA) presents a picture of 'what we know' about the reality of violence in Lambeth and identifies what more we need to find out and is based on evidence and research work comprising a Quantitative review of relevant datasets; a Literature survey of published evidence about the risk factors that are known to be associated with violence; a Service Review and Gap Analysis of service provision and activities by relevant public services and Qualitative Research to examine in more detail the underlying experience and perception of violence and victimisation in Lambeth's communities. The key conclusion of this Needs Assessment is that the public health model of violence reduction has strong applicability in Lambeth: a borough with traditionally high levels of violence and victimisation. Application of the public health model and the available evidence base, suggests an accumulation of risk factors which lead to greater predisposition towards violence in Lambeth's communities. Key risk factors in the Lambeth context include: - Issues around early childhood and families, particularly early adverse life experiences and quality of and support for parenting. - Issues around the influence of delinquent peer groups and social and cultural norms on the socialisation of boys and young men. - Issues around 'socio-health' factors including the prevalence of poverty, deprivation, learning and other disabilities and poor mental health. - Issues around the sale and consumption of alcohol (and to a lesser extent, drugs) and a lack of 'resilience' in public places such as night time economies and transport hubs. The overall aim of 'primary' interventions needs to be to 'innoculate' communities against violence by addressing these risk factors in order to improve the social 'resistence' or resilience to violence. This leads to two key recommendations for the future: First, that future service provision and commissioning should be focused around four priority themes: - Family Support and Interventions in Early Childhood - To address key risks around the early years of the life course, particularly early adverse life experiences, families and parenting, behavioural issues, brain injury and mental health. - Violence Against Women and Girls - To address key risks around victimisation of young women and girls; violence within intimate relationships and domestic settings; sexual violence in domestic and public settings. - Violence Involving Young Men and Boys To address the prevalent involvement of young men and boys, as victims and offenders, in all forms of violence in Lambeth. - Resilience of Public Environments - To address key risks associated with stranger-based violence in public environments and risks that lead to declining feelings of public safety and well-being about the public places of the borough. Secondly, that there is a need for systems change - to strengthen the public health approach to violence prevention and reduction through the many services involved and how they interact between themselves and the public. In particular, - better detection of violence, especially in under-represented groups by the many services involved; - timely referral, treatment and (if relevant) enforcement/mitigation; - tackling cultural norms and improving community resilience are important; - better evaluation of existing services to inform future service development and interventions. Details: Lambeth, UK: The Author, 2015. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 27, 2019 at: https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/serious-violence-in-lambeth-needs-assessment-june-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/serious-violence-in-lambeth-needs-assessment-june-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 154776 Keywords: Crime Prevention Needs Assessment Public Health Approach Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence Violence Prevention Violent Crime |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: Mexico's Out-of-Control Criminal Market Summary: This paper explores the trends, characteristics, and changes in the Mexican criminal market, in response to internal changes, government policies, and external factors. It explores the nature of violence and criminality, the behavior of criminal groups, and the effects of government responses. Over the past two decades, criminal violence in Mexico has become highly intense, diversified, and popularized, while the deterrence capacity of Mexican law enforcement remains critically low. The outcome is an ever more complex, multi-polar, and out-of-control criminal market that generates deleterious effects on Mexican society and makes it highly challenging for the Mexican state to respond effectively. Successive Mexican administrations have failed to sustainably reduce homicides and other violent crimes. Critically, the Mexican government has failed to rebalance power in the triangular relationship between the state, criminal groups, and society, while the Mexican population has soured on the anti-cartel project. Since 2000, Mexico has experienced extraordinarily high drug- and crime-related violence, with the murder rate in 2017 and again in 2018 breaking previous records. The fragmentation of Mexican criminal groups is both a purposeful and inadvertent effect of high-value targeting, which is a problematic strategy because criminal groups can replace fallen leaders more easily than insurgent or terrorist groups. The policy also disrupts leadership succession, giving rise to intense internal competition and increasingly younger leaders who lack leadership skills and feel the need to prove themselves through violence. Focusing on the middle layer of criminal groups prevents such an easy and violent regeneration of the leadership. But the Mexican government remains deeply challenged in middle-layer targeting due to a lack of tactical and strategic intelligence arising from corruption among Mexican law enforcement and political pressures that makes it difficult to invest the necessary time to conduct thorough investigations. In the absence of more effective state presence and rule of law, the fragmentation of Mexican criminal groups turned a multi-polar criminal market of 2006 into an ever more complex multi-polar criminal market. Criminal groups lack clarity about the balance of power among them, tempting them to take over one another's territory and engage in internecine warfare. The Mexican crime market's proclivity toward violence is exacerbated by the government's inability to weed out the most violent criminal groups and send a strong message that they will be prioritized in targeting. The message has not yet sunk in that violence and aggressiveness do not pay. For example, the destruction of the Zetas has been followed by the empowerment of the equally aggressive Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). Like the Zetas, the Jalisco group centers its rule on brutality, brazenness, and aggressiveness. Like the Zetas and unlike the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG does not invest in and provide socio- economic goods and governance in order to build up political capital. Equally, the internal re-balancing among criminal groups has failed to weed out the most violent groups and the policy measures of the Mexican governments have failed to reduce the criminal groups' proclivity toward aggression and violence. The emergence of the CJNG has engulfed Mexico and other supply-chain countries, such as Colombia,in its war with the Sinaloa Cartel. The war between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG provides space for local criminal upstarts, compounds instability by shifting local alliances, and sets off new splintering within the two large cartels and among their local proxies. To the extent that violence has abated in particular locales, the de-escalation has primarily reflected a "narco-peace," with one criminal group able to establish control over a particular territory and its corruption networks. It is thus vulnerable to criminal groups' actions as well as to high-value targeting of top drug traffickers. In places such as Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, and Monterrey, local law enforcement and anti-crime socio-economic policies helped in various degrees to reduce violence. When the narco-peace was undermined, the policies proved insufficient. At other times, the reduction of violence that accompanied a local narco-peace gave rise to policy complacency and diminished resources. Socio-economic policies to combat crime have spread resources too thinly across Mexico to be effective. Violence in Mexico has become diversified over the past decade, with drug trafficking groups becoming involved in widespread extortion of legal businesses, kidnapping, illegal logging, illegal fishing, and smuggling of migrants. That is partially a consequence of the fragmentation, as smaller groups are compelled to branch out into a variety of criminal enterprises. But for larger groups, extortion of large segments of society is not merely a source of money, but also of authority. Violence and criminality have also become "popularized," both in terms of the sheer number of actors and also the types of actors involved, such as "anti-crime" militias. Widespread criminality increases the coercive credibility of individual criminals and small groups, while hiding their identities. Low effective prosecution rates and widespread impunity tempt many individuals who would otherwise be law-abiding citizens to participate in crime. Anti-crime militias that have emerged in Mexico have rarely reduced violence in a sustained way. Often, they engage in various forms of criminality, including homicides, extortion, and human rights abuses against local residents, and they undermine the authority of the state. Government responses to the militias-including acquiescence, arrests, and efforts to roll them into state paramilitary forces-have not had a significant impact. In fact, the strength and emergence of militia groups in places such as Michoacan and Guerrero reflect a long-standing absence of the government, underdevelopment, militarization, and abuse of political power. In places such as Guerrero, criminality and militia formation has become intertwined with the U.S. opioid epidemic that has stimulated the expansion of poppy cultivation in Mexico. The over-prescription of opioids in the United States created a major addiction epidemic, with users turning to illegal alternatives when they were eventually cut off from prescription drugs. Predictably, poppy cultivation shot up in Mexico, reaching some 30,000 hectares in 2017. Areas of poppy cultivation are hotly contested among Mexican drug trafficking groups, with their infighting intensely exacerbating the insecurity of poor and marginalized poppy farmers. Efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation have often failed to sustainably reduce illicit crop cultivation and complicated policies to pacify these areas, often thrusting poppy farmers deeper into the hands of criminal groups that sponsor and protect the cultivation. Eradication is easier than providing poppy farmers with alternative livelihoods. Combined with the Trump administration's demands for eradication, the Enrique Peea Nieto administration, and Mexico historically, showed little interest in seriously pursuing a different path. Poppy eradication in Mexico does not shrink the supply of illegal opioids destined for the U.S. market, since farmers replant poppies after eradication and can always shift areas of production. The rise of fentanyl abuse in the United States, however, has suppressed opium prices in Mexico. Drug trafficking organizations and dealers prefer to traffic and sell fentanyl, mostly supplied to the United States from China, because of its bulk-potency-profit ratio. The CJNG became a pioneer in fentanyl smuggling through Mexico into the United States, but the Sinaloa Cartel rapidly developed its own fentanyl supply chain. Although the drug is deadly, the Sinaloa Cartel's means of distribution remain non- violent in the United States. Fentanyl enters the United States from Mexico through legal ports of entry. In the short term, fentanyl has not altered the dynamics of Mexico's criminal market, but in the long term, fentanyl can significantly upend global drug markets and the prioritization of drug control in U.S. agendas with other countries. If many users switch to synthetic drugs, the United States may lose interest in promoting eradication of drug crops. Such a switch would also weaken the power of criminal and insurgent groups who sponsor illicit crop cultivation. Even if they switch to the production of synthetic drugs, they will only have the capacity to sponsor the livelihoods of many fewer people, thus diminishing their political capital with local populations and making it less costly for the government to conduct counter-narcotics operations. Mexico's violence can decline in two ways. First, a criminal group can temporarily win enough turf and establish enough deterrence capacity to create a narco-peace, as has been the case so far. Alternatively, violence can decline when the state at last systematically builds up enough deterrence capacity against the criminals and realigns local populations with the state, from which they are now often alienated. Mexico must strive to achieve this objective. Details: Washington, DC: Foreign Policy at Brookings Institute, 2019. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 27, 2019 at: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FP_20190322_mexico_crime-2.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FP_20190322_mexico_crime-2.pdf Shelf Number: 155192 Keywords: Criminal CartelsDrug MarketsDrug TraffickingFentanylHomicidesNarcoticsOpioidsOrganized CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeViolence |
Author: Cigdem-Bayram, Melek Title: Responding to high crime rates: what is the mix of prevention, insurance and mitigation individuals choose and its results? Summary: In this paper we take first steps in providing parameters capturing some wider impacts of crime on individuals for the cost benefit analysis of investments in justice infrastructure. Statistical matching methods are applied to the HILDA dataset in the first broad economic analysis of how individuals respond to living in an acutely high crime environment and the consequences. Compared with individuals living in a postcode with a moderately high crime rate, the matching analysis shows individuals living in postcodes with acutely high crime rates are more likely to be a victim of a violent crime and spend less on insurance. They are also more likely to have a family member incarcerated even if they are no more likely to be incarcerated themselves. There are no significant differences in household incomes or full-time employment rates though those living in an acutely high crime rate postcode are more likely to be unemployed. Finally, although there are no significant differences in measures of mental health, individuals in acutely high crime rate areas spend less on health. This could be because they are less likely to have a long term health condition but could also reflect under-investing in health care which may have negative consequences for health in the long term. Details: Melbourne: Infrastructure Victoria, 2018. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Technical Paper No. 3/18: Accessed April 5, 2019 at: http://repec.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/RePEc/inv/tpaper/IVT201803.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: http://repec.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/RePEc/inv/tpaper/IVT201803.pdf Shelf Number: 155354 Keywords: Cost-Benefit Analysis Crime Hotspots High Crime Areas Insurance Rates Neighborhoods and Crime Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Coccia, Mario Title: General Causes of Terrorism: High Population Growth in Problematic Society Summary: A fundamental problem in social and political sciences is how to explain the root causes of terrorism. The vast literature has analyzed several determinants of terrorism. However, the precise role of demographic factors for the origin and evolution of terrorism in specific geoeconomic areas is hardly known. Results here show that population growth of the Middle East seems to be basic for the source and evolution of terrorism. This study found that terrorism thrives in specific cultural zones with high growth rates of population combined with collective identity factors and low socioeconomic development. In particular, the finding here shows that the high growth rates of population in the Middle East, combined with acute environmental and socioeconomic stressors, can lead to cultural deviance, frustration and anger of individuals, and terrorism as a result. Overall, then, the main aim of this study is to clarify and generalize whenever possible, the demographic source of the terrorism and suggest appropriate socioeconomic policies of conflict resolution directed to preempt this critical problem in society over the long run. Details: Unpublished paper, 2017. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: CocciaLab Working Paper 2017 - No. 4: Accessed May 8, 2019 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2951293 Year: 2017 Country: International URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2951293 Shelf Number: 155688 Keywords: Population Growth Socioeconomic Conditions and CrimeTerrorism Violent Crime |