The nexus between contexts of crime risk and socioeconomic inequality on the rate of violent crime victimization: evidence from variations across neighborhoods in Bogotá, Chicago, and Paris

This study presents a novel approach to the study of neighborhood effects on crime. In this sense, it tests the varying influences that unique contexts of crime risk and socioeconomic inequality present on the spatial distribution of violent crime victimization rates across neighborhoods in the cities of Bogotá, Chicago, and Paris. This analysis utilizes both micro and neighborhood-level social and physical variables to study the spatial association between unique contexts of relative deprivation and crime risk with an increase in neighborhood-level violent crime rates. The presence of risky environments across neighborhoods is measured with ANROC and calculated using the RTM technique. The second independent variable is based on neighborhood-level Gini index data for income inequality. The association between the two predictors is tested using different multivariate OLS regression models. As per the results of this research, unique contexts of socioeconomic inequality and environmental risk are positively associated with an increase in neighborhood-level rates of violent crime victimization. This spatial relationship holds across the three case studies presented in this study with varying degrees of association regarding the inequality measure in three case studies. The current study proposes combining the study of community-specific contexts of crime risk and social contexts of socioeconomic inequality to explain the spatial distribution of violent crime rates across neighborhoods in a variety of study settings. The policy implications of this research study support the need for scientific evidence in the development of community-based strategies to improve risk management efforts to prevent and reduce violent crime. Additionally, community outreach programs and other social initiatives should be established to reduce the pervasive effect created by unique social contexts of socioeconomic inequality across neighborhoods.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Alejandro Giménez Santan