NEIGHBORHOOD INEQUALITY, COLLECTIVE EFFICACY, AND THE SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF URBAN VIOLENCE

Highlighting resource inequality, social processes, and spatial interdependence, this study combines structural characteristics from the 1990 census with a survey of 8,872 Chicago residents in 1995 to predict homicide variations in 1996–1998 across 343 neighborhoods. Spatial proximity to homicide is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Criminology (Beverly Hills) 2001-08, Vol.39 (3), p.517-558
Main Authors: MORENOFF, JEFFREY D., SAMPSON, ROBERT J., RAUDENBUSH, STEPHEN W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Cities
Crime
Criminology
Homicide
Illinois
Murders & murder attempts
Neighborhoods
Neighbourhoods
Social Cohesion
Social Control
Social Inequality
Spatial Analysis
U.S.A
Urban areas
Violence
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Summary:Highlighting resource inequality, social processes, and spatial interdependence, this study combines structural characteristics from the 1990 census with a survey of 8,872 Chicago residents in 1995 to predict homicide variations in 1996–1998 across 343 neighborhoods. Spatial proximity to homicide is strongly related to increased homicide rates, adjusting for internal neighborhood characteristics and prior homicide. Concentrated disadvantage and low collective efficacy—defined as the linkage of social control and cohesion—also independently predict increased homicide. Local organizations, voluntary associations, and friend/kinship networks appear to be important only insofar as they promote the collective efficacy of residents in achieving social control and cohesion. Spatial dynamics coupled with neighborhood inequalities in social and economic capacity are therefore consequential for explaining urban violence.
ISSN:0011-1384
1745-9125
DOI:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00932.x