CAREER: "Crime Victimization Patterns in American Cities"

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1151449 Andrew Papachristos Yale University ABSTRACT CAREER: Crime Victimization Patterns in American Cities This research explores the importance of social networks for individual victimization by analyzing the ways social networks and an individual's position within social networks influence the probability of being a victim of homicide or violent crime. The project is based on a comparative case study of violent crime patterns in four U.S. cities: Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, and San Francisco. Particular attention is directed towards understanding how the topology of social networks influences the spread of crime and violence within a population, maintaining that this diffusion of crime and violence can be more fully explained by the structure of social networks than by individual or neighborhood attributes. To that end, the project is divided into two inter-related studies. The first phase focuses on individual networks at the core of inter-personal violence. By analyzing the social networks of individuals in these four cities it examines (a) how an individual's position within a social network influence his likelihood of being shot or the victim of violent crime, (b) whether or not certain types of networks are more conducive to the diffusion of violence than others, and (c) the extent to which certain network positions are more susceptible to victimization than others. The second phase focuses on how three specific ecological contexts (the city, the neighborhood, the gang) may foster or constrain particular types of social relationships. Broader Impacts This project seeks to inform policy and violence prevention efforts by determining strategic points of intervention. Findings regarding the role of different types of networks and the precise patterns of violence might help identify individuals and groups most at risk of victimization. Findings might be of interest to the law enforcement community, social service agencies, urban planners, policy makers, and the general public.