Community Variations in Violence: The Role of Social Ties and Collective Efficacy in Comparative Context

This article explores the relative roles of social ties and collective efficacy in explaining community variations in violent victimization in Australia. Using data from a survey of 2,859 residents across 82 communities in the city of Brisbane, coupled with official reported crime data provided by t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of research in crime and delinquency 2010-02, Vol.47 (1), p.3-30
Main Authors: Mazerolle, Lorraine, Wickes, Rebecca, McBroom, James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Behavior
Censuses
Community Relations
Comparative analysis
Crime
Crime Prevention
Cross-cultural analysis
Crosscultural Differences
Cultural Differences
Cultural theory
Delinquency
Efficacy
Environmental aspects
Measurement
Neighborhoods
Organizational behavior
Police
Prevention programs
Queensland
Social Networks
Social relations
Spatial analysis
Statistical analysis
Urban communities
Victimization
Victims
Victims of Crime
Victims of violence
Violence
Violent crime
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Summary:This article explores the relative roles of social ties and collective efficacy in explaining community variations in violent victimization in Australia. Using data from a survey of 2,859 residents across 82 communities in the city of Brisbane, coupled with official reported crime data provided by the Queensland Police Service and Australian Bureau of Statistics census data for 2001, the authors employ multilevel statistical models to depict the relative importance of social ties and collective efficacy in predicting between-neighborhood violent victimization in an Australian context. The models include measures of social relationships and community-based crime prevention programs, and the authors compare and contrast their findings with studies of collective efficacy in Chicago and Stockholm, finding similar results. These findings suggest that despite structural and cultural differences between the United States and Australia in particular, collective efficacy is a significant mechanism in explaining the spatial distribution of self-reported violent victimization in the Australian context. This research underscores the importance of cross-cultural theory testing and the need to further develop the measurement of ecological constructs such as social ties and organizational behavior.
ISSN:0022-4278
1552-731X
DOI:10.1177/0022427809348898