What Explains Criminal Violence in Mexico City? A Test of Two Theories of Crime

Abstract

There are competing theories of what drives crime in cities and neighbourhoods. Two widely cited theoretical approaches focused on social disorganization and institutional anomie propose different explanations for the causes and dynamics of criminality. Yet these theories are seldom empirically tested, much less acknowledged, outside of North America and Western Europe. This article considers their applicability in Mexico's capital, a sprawling metropolis of more than 20 million people. The authors administer spatial and general statistical tests to explain the geographical patterns of crime rates across multiple forms of criminality. The assessment demonstrates that both theories accurately predict the spatial distribution of crime. The article concludes with a host of policy conclusions, emphasizing social crime prevention over more traditional law and order measures. and consolidating families, parents and childcare.

Migration crisis in the EU: developing a framework for analysis of national security and defence strategies

“…It is also necessary to weigh up the security of immigrants themselves, especially when they try to enter the host country illegally because of human trafficking networks (Czaika & de Haas, 2013), that have caused the loss of human lives, notably in routes from North Africa to Southern European countries and, more recently, related to the Syrian civil war (Ferreira, 2016a, pp. 1–2).…”

“…91–93). Outside the EU, the Syrian conflict and political instability in MENA region do not seem to suggest a decrease in migration and refugee flows during the next years, which makes even more urgent to review the Dublin system (Ferreira, 2016a, p. 2). Restrictive policies will not stop irregular migration flows in the EU and will not increase internal security in ‘EU’rope (Völkel, 2017, p. 93).…”

Examining the Local Spatial Variability of Robberies in Saint Louis Using a Multi-Scale Methodology

“…GWR becomes a valuable tool in identifying local areas within a city that may have varied social or economic environments that influence crime differently. Supporting this trend, Vilalta and Muggah (2016) used GWR to examine which theories of crime, social disorganization or institutional anomie, influenced Mexico City's crime environment. The authors observed local spatial variation with variables representing the two different theories and their relationships with crime throughout Mexico City.…”

Multicriteria Decision Model to Support the Evaluation of Common Jurisdiction Violence in the Capital Cities of the States of Mexico

“…The evaluation of the incidence of common jurisdiction crimes in the capital cities of Mexico is an essential activity in the planning of public security, not only because 17.9 percent of the total population of Mexico resides there, but also because they use a considerable amount of human, economic, and technical resources [7]. Moreover, public security and crime victimization have a direct impact on the quality of life of the population [8]- [10].…”