RT Article
T1 Gang Membership and Gang Crime in New Zealand: A National Study Identifying Spatial Risk Factors
JF Criminal justice and behavior
VO 49
IS 8
SP 1154
OP 1172
A1 Breetzke, Gregory D.
A1 Curtis-Ham, Sophie
A1 Gilbert, Jarrod
A1 Tibby, Che
A2 Curtis-Ham, Sophie
A2 Gilbert, Jarrod
A2 Tibby, Che
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1809030897
AB In this exploratory study, we identify the spatial risk factors associated with gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand using social disorganization as a theoretical framework. Gang membership data from the Gang Intelligence Center and gang crime data from New Zealand Police are included in spatial regression models to identify risk factors. Overall marginal support was found for the use of social disorganization constructs to explain gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand. Higher deprivation and higher diversity were both found to be associated with gang membership and gang crime, respectively. Some similarities and notable differences were observed between our results and the mainly U.S.-centric results of past spatial gang research. This study allows for a greater understanding of the generalizability of the social disorganization theory to explain gang membership and gang crime in areas with markedly different cultural perspectives and ethnocentricities to the United States.
K1 Spatial
K1 Risk factor
K1 New Zealand
K1 gang crime
K1 Gang membership
DO 10.1177/00938548211034200