Connected in crime: the enduring effect of neighborhood networks on the spatial patterning of violence
The unequal spatial distribution of crime is an enduring feature of cit-ies. While research suggests that spatial diffusion processes heightenthis concentration, the actual mechanisms of diffusion are not well un-derstood as research rarely measures the ways in which people, groups,and behaviors con...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Contributors: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2018
|
In: |
The American journal of sociology
Year: 2018, Volume: 124, Issue: 2, Pages: 517-568 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Keywords: |
Summary: | The unequal spatial distribution of crime is an enduring feature of cit-ies. While research suggests that spatial diffusion processes heightenthis concentration, the actual mechanisms of diffusion are not well un-derstood as research rarely measures the ways in which people, groups,and behaviors connect neighborhoods. This study considers how a par-ticular behavior,criminalco-offending, createsdirectand indirectpath-ways between neighborhoods. Analyzing administrative records andsurvey data, the authorsfind that individual acts of co-offending linktogether to create a“network of neighborhoods,”facilitating the dif-fusion of crime over time and across space and, in so doing, create path-ways between all Chicago neighborhoods. Statistical analyses demon-strate that these neighborhood networks are stable over time; generated by important structural characteristics, social processes,and endogenous network properties; and a better predictor of the geo-graphic distribution of crime than traditional spatial models. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1537-5390 |