Spatializing the Social Networks of Gangs to Explore Patterns of Violence

Tita, George E.; Radil, Steven M.

doi:10.1007/s10940-011-9136-8

Cited by 103 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…M. Kennedy et al, 1997;Papachristos, 2009;Papachristos et al, 2013;Tita & Greenbaum, 2009;Tita & Radil, 2011). Indeed, conflicts are often retaliatory in nature (Decker, 1996), and groups use violence as a form of justice to reciprocate a transgression or to respond to a threat by another group (Chinnici & Santino, 1989;Hopkins et al, 2013;Papachristos, 2009;Papachristos et al, 2013).…”

Section: Organized Crime-and Gang-related Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting Organized Crime Homicides: Risk Terrain Modeling of Camorra Violence in Naples, Italy

Dugato

Calderoni

Berlusconi

2017

J Interpers Violence

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Mafia homicides are usually committed for retaliation, economic profit, or rivalry among groups. The variety of possible reasons suggests the inefficacy of a preventive approach. However, like most violent crimes, mafia homicides concentrate in space due to place-specific social and environmental features. Starting from the existing literature, this study applies the Risk Terrain Modeling approach to forecast the Camorra homicides in Naples, Italy. This approach is based on the identification and evaluation of the underlying risk factors able to affect the risk of a homicide. This information is then used to predict the most likely location of future events. The findings of this study demonstrate that past homicides, drug dealing, confiscated assets, and rivalries among groups make it possible to predict up to 85% of 2012 mafia homicides, identifying 11% of city areas at highest risk. By contrast, variables controlling for the socio-economic conditions of areas are not significantly related to the risk of homicide. Moreover, this study shows that, even in a restricted space, the same risk factors may combine in different ways, giving rise to areas of equal risk but requiring targeted remedies. These results provide an effective basis for short-and long-term targeted policing strategies against organized crime-and gang-related violence. A similar approach may also provide practitioners, policy makers, and local administrators in other countries with significant support in understanding and counteracting also other forms of violent behavior by gangs or organized crime groups.

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Section: Organized Crime-and Gang-related Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting Organized Crime Homicides: Risk Terrain Modeling of Camorra Violence in Naples, Italy

Dugato

Calderoni

Berlusconi

2017

J Interpers Violence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As we have noted elsewhere (Tita and Greenbaum 2008;Tita and Radil 2010b), the selection of which model, error or lag, has, and continues to be, driven by conducting goodness of fit tests rather than theory. Similarly, in the case of the estimate of spatial lag models, the conventional approach has been inductive by nature as post-hoc explanations of why ''space matters'' are constructed after the models are estimated.…”

Section: Ecological Studies Of Crime: the Use Of Spatial Regression Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As we have noted elsewhere (Tita and Radil 2010b), these early studies were important because they began to hint at the structures and underpinnings of social processes that might help us understand why violence diffuses across space. Collectively, these studies also found that the clustering of violence is better explained using spatial lag models (i.e., the result of an unobserved pattern) rather than spatial error models (i.e., the result of the clustering of covariates).…”

Section: Ecological Studies Of Crime: the Use Of Spatial Regression Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, space also matters and the influence of violence in one area has on violence in another is especially powerful when the areas are both spatially and socially proximate. Tita and Greenbaum (2008) and Tita and Radil (2010b) provide examples of how the spatial and social dimensions of urban street gangs can be exploited in an inductive approach. Their research argues that gangs are likely to be especially relevant to diffusion because they are organizations that are sustained over time through continuing social interactions within specific geographic locations and because the area in which gangs hang out experience high levels of crime, especially violence (Kennedy et al 1997;Tita and Ridgeway 2007.…”

Section: Deductive Spatial Models and Alternative Measures Of ''Space''mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, there are some innovative advances being undertaken which rely upon capturing the spatial dimension of social networks to define the geography of a community. 2 For example, Radil et al (2010) and Tita and Radil (2010b) focus on territorially-based rivalry relationships as a way to capture place-to-place interactions between gangs. Using responses from a survey that asked police along with current and former gang members to identify the rivalry relationships between a set of 29 different gangs, the authors find that the complex web of rivalry relationships, some of which stretch relatively long distances over space, is an important factor that explains the spatial distribution of gang-related violence and that connections between census units based on rivalry are better predictors of the overall spatial pattern of violence than are connections based on distance or proximity.…”

Section: Defining Place For Spatial Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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