Extremely Poor Neighborhoods and Homicide*

Objective. This study explores the wide variation in homicide rates among extremely poor neighborhoods. Methods. Using cross‐sectional Census tract data for New York City (N= 2,042), the present analysis employs robust regression techniques to estimate the relationship between community resource deprivation and homicide for a subsample of 227 neighborhoods with poverty rates 40 percent and greater. Results. The main finding is that even at extreme levels of neighborhood poverty, variation in disadvantage is positively associated with variation in homicide rates. Moreover, the disadvantage‐homicide relationship appears especially strong in extremely poor areas (and in predominately African‐American neighborhoods). Conclusion. Consistent with W. J. Wilson's perspective on inner‐city disadvantage, the results imply that reducing the concentration of poverty will reduce overall homicide rates.     

Poverty, Socioeconomic Change, Institutional Anomie, and Homicide

Objective. This study examined institutional anomie theory in the context of transitional Russia. Methods. We employed an index of negative socioeconomic change and measures of family, education, and polity to test the hypothesis that institutional strength conditions the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on homicide rates. Results. As expected, the results of models estimated using negative binomial regression show direct positive effects of poverty and socioeconomic change and direct negative effects of family strength and polity on regional homicide rates. There was no support, however, for the hypothesis that stronger social institutions reduce the effects of poverty and socioeconomic change on violence. Conclusions. We interpret these results in the Russia-specific setting, concluding that Russia is a rich laboratory for examining the effects of social change on crime and that empirical research in other nations is important when assessing the generalizability of theories developed to explain crime and violence in the United States.     

Region,Race, and Support for the South Carolina Confederate Flag*

Objective. Existing research suggests that conservative racial attitudes are one of the strongest factors explaining support for the Confederate flag, but this conclusion has been reached by examining the attitudes of only white southerners. We provide a more complete understanding of this issue, focusing on both white and black opinion from across the country. Methods. We use a rolling cross‐sectional survey with a large sample size to model support for the South Carolina Confederate flag nationally and then among two groups: southerners and nonsoutherners. Results. Although racial attitudes are important among both southerners and nonsoutherners, region and race also influence support for the Confederate flag. Southern whites have the greatest support for the flag followed by nonsouthern whites, nonsouthern blacks, and southern blacks. Conclusions. Support for the Confederate flag is not simply about racial attitudes, but a more complex phenomenon where region and race exert important influences.     

A Tale of Two Border Cities: Community Context,Ethnicity, and Homicide*

Objective. Using Poisson‐based negative binomial regression, we estimate the effect of neighborhood factors on homicides in two cities (San Antonio, Texas and San Diego, California) that have large Mexican‐origin populations. Methods. Three independent data sources (official homicide police reports, medical examiner records, and the U.S. Census) are used to construct the dependent homicide, and independent neighborhood, variables. Census tracts represent the unit of analysis, which serve as a proxy for neighborhoods. Given the spatial nature of the data, spatial estimation procedures were also modeled. Results. Spatial proximity to violence, neighborhood disadvantage, and affluence (in San Antonio) consistently buffered homicide across neighborhoods, even in heavily populated Latino neighborhoods. Conclusions. Spatial embeddedness and neighborhood characteristics are important for improving our understanding about ethnic neighborhood variations in levels of violence. Comparative approaches across places, namely, Latino‐dominated cities, can yield considerable insight into how the local context intersects race/ethnicity and violent crime.     

Economic Segregation,Race, and Homicide*

Objective. Prior research assessing the association between structured inequality and homicides has produced inconsistent findings, particularly in regard to establishing an association between economic disadvantage and black homicide rates. In this study, we employ a measure of the spatial distribution of income, Jargowksy's (1996) economic segregation measure, to assess overall and race‐specific homicide rates. Methods. Using cross‐sectional Census data and Supplemental Homicide Report data across 166 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the present analysis uses negative binomial regression models to examine the association between economic segregation and homicide rates. Results. We find that both economic segregation and absolute deprivation (i.e., the overall extent of economic disadvantage) are robust predictors of black, white, and overall homicide rates. However, an alternative measure of economic segregation, a measure capturing poverty concentration, was not found to be a significant predictor of black homicide rates. Conclusion. We suggest that further studies should consider the extent of isolation across the income continuum, instead of focusing solely on poverty concentration.     

Crime in Our Cities: A Comparative Study

Crime rates in New South Wales are compared with overseas figures. Comparisons are made between Sydney and eight American and two Canadian cities of similar size. Urban-rural crime rates are studied by relating Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong to the rest of the State. In both rural and urban areas the rates for homicide, sex offences and other offences against the person are relatively low when compared with American rates. The rates for property offences and car theft are similar to those which exist in America and, and in the case of Sydney, exceed the rate of these offences in the two Canadian cities studied.     

SEXUAL INTIMATE HOMICIDES INVOLVING OVERSEAS-BORN IN AUSTRALIA: THE TIP OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ICEBERG?

This article examines the results relating to offenders' birthplace in a study on homicide between adult sexual intimates. The research showed a disproportionately high number of overseas-horn perpetrators and that cases were usually preceded by a history of physical or emotional violence often characterised by jealousy. The author concludes that these data may he an anomaly, or a sign of high domestic violence rates in these communities, or an indication that domestic violence is less reported by the overseas-born women survivors. The latter two theories are discussed using overseas and Australian literature on domestic violence.     

Preventing Domestic Violence in the South Asian Context: Men's or Family Involvement?

Globally there is a growing tendency to involve men in preventing domestic violence. Since men are the main perpetrators of violence against women, proponents of men's involvement argue that men must be involved to prevent men's violence against women. Conversely, opponents of men's involvement argue that involving men would not bring about the expected outcome, since men's involvement is challenging, particularly in the cultural context, and men intentionally perpetrate violence against women. In this paper, an attempt has been made to critically justify the suitability of men's involvement and to find a more culturally acceptable alternative for preventing domestic violence against women in South Asia. This article critically discusses theories related to the sociocultural understanding of domestic violence, insightfully presents domestic violence in this regional perspective, argues the pros and cons of men's involvement, and proposes family involvement as a culturally suitable approach to prevent domestic violence.     

What is Peace Psychology the Psychology of?

Peace psychology emerged as a distinct area of research and practice during the Cold War, when the preeminent concern was the prevention of nuclear war. Now global in scope, the focal concerns of peace psychologists are nuanced by geohistorical contexts and the distinction between episodic violence and structural violence, the latter of which also kills people, albeit slowly through the deprivation of basic need satisfaction. Accordingly, the focal concerns of contributors to this issue vary depending on geohistorical context: some being primarily concerned with patterns of behavior and cognition involved in the prevention of violent episodes and others with the amelioration of structural violence. A systems perspective is used as a framework for integrating episodes and structures of violence and peace. Articles emphasizing "systemic violence" demonstrate the interplay between structures and episodes of violence. Articles on "systemic peacebuilding" examine intergroup contact, the nonviolent management of conflict, and movement toward socially just structures, thereby yielding an increase in cooperative and equitable relationships across levels, from interpersonal to intergroup.     

School context influences the ethnic identity development of immigrant children in middle childhood

The present paper describes a study investigating the ethnic identity development of Latino immigrant children (n = 155) in middle childhood (ages 8–11) in a predominantly White community. The study examined how ethnic identity was related to children's school context. School context was operationalized at the structural level, as the ethnic composition of the teachers and peers, as well as the schools' implicit messages about their valuing of multiculturalism; and the proximal interpersonal level, as children's perceptions of peer discrimination and teacher fairness. Results indicated that both the structural and proximal context predicted children's ethnic label choices, the importance placed on their ethnic identity, the positivity of their ethnic identity, and their American identity.     

A Question of Power: Contemporary Self–Mutilation among Aborigines in the Kimberley

Non-traditional self-mutilation among young adult Aborigines in the Kimberley region of Western Australia has emerged in the 1980s in parallel to increases in other forms of intentional personal violence (including suicide, homicide and deaths from accidents). Having noted certain characteristics in common with self-mutilators encountered in psychiatric practice in the wider society, the author proceeds to a socio-historical analysis that foregrounds the changing intracultural dynamics of power among post-referendum Kimberley Aborigines. The intercultural context of these changes and the role of alcohol are examined in terms of their impact on the construction of identity.     

Locus of control and the direction of lethal violence: Cross national analysis,research note

Previous work has suggested that economic development affects the direction of lethal violence through a civilizing process wherein there is a shift from an internal to an external locus of control. However, data were not available to measure locus of control. The present work assesses the relationship between a measure of control and the direction of lethal violence or SHR (suicide rate/(suicide + homicide rates)). Data representing 53 nations are merged from the world values survey and the world health organization. The results of a multiple regression analysis show that locus of control is unrelated to the direction of violence. While development fosters internal locus of control, the link between development and direction of violence is not explained by locus of control.     

Race,victim precipitated homicide,and the subculture of violence thesis

The subculture of violence thesis suggests that African Americans are disproportionately likely to respond to minor transgressions with lethal force because of a culturally defined need to protect one’s reputation and a normative aversion to legal forms of dispute resolution. Using data on over 950 non-justifiable homicides from police files, the present study tests this hypothesis by examining race-specific patterns of victim precipitation (i.e., the victim’s role in initiating the homicide). If, as the theory suggests, African Americans are more likely to respond to minor affronts with lethal violence than Whites, then African American homicide incidents should have more victim precipitation, particularly in the form of minor acts of provocation. The results of the current analysis do not support this hypothesis and therefore are inconsistent with the notion that a unique subculture of violence among African Americans explains their disproportionately high levels of homicide victimization and offending.     

A reassessment of the association between social disorganization and youth violence in rural areas

Objective: To study the association between social disorganization and youth violence rates in rural communities. Method: We employed rural Missouri counties (N = 106) as units of analysis, measured serious violent victimization data via hospital records, and the same measures of social disorganization as Osgood and Chambers (2000). Controlling for spatial autocorrelation, the negative binomial estimator was used to estimate the effects of social disorganization on youth violence rates. Results: Unlike Osgood and Chambers, we found only one of five social disorganization measures, the proportion of female-headed households, to be associated with rural youth violent victimization rates. Conclusion: Although most research on social disorganization theory has been undertaken on urban areas, a highly cited Osgood and Chambers (2000) study appeared to extend the generalize ability of social disorganization as an explanation of the distribution of youth violence to rural areas. Our results suggest otherwise. We provide several methodological and theoretical reasons why it may be too early to draw strong conclusions about the generalize ability of social disorganization to crime rates in rural communities.     

Homicide in eighteenth-century Cheshire

This article provides an analysis of indictments and coroners’ inquests dealing with homicide coming before the Court of Great Sessions at Chester during the eighteenth century, with a special focus on the better documented second half of that century. The Court of Great Sessions was the equivalent of the assize court for the County of Chester, which was a Palatinate enjoying its own legal institutions. Initially the social status of offenders and the method of killing are analysed, and the results compared with patterns extant for the early seventeenth century, Cheshire being one of the few English counties whose records survive sufficiently to permit such long-term comparisons. The main features are a retreat by the gentry from homicidal violence by the late eighteenth century, and the preponderance of killing by simple kicking or beating in contrast to an earlier emphasis on the use of weapons. This latter feature is reinforced by the discovery of numerous cases, normally categorized as manslaughter by the court, in which death followed what appears to be a formalized form of fighting, obviously based on contemporary boxing practices. The findings are then placed in the broader context of cultural change in the eighteenth century, and it is argued that Cheshire materials relating to homicide and violence more generally provide a local perspective on the general shift towards ‘polite’ values which has been seen as characterizing the upper and middling social strata of eighteenth-century England.     

What are the Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior Among Low‐income Youth in CapeTown?

Research in high‐income countries has identified an array of risk factors for youth antisocial behavior. However, in low‐ and middle‐income countries, despite higher prevalence of offending and antisocial behavior, there is a paucity of prospective, longitudinal evidence examining predictors. South Africa is a middle‐income country with high rates of violence and crime, and a unique social context, characterized by striking income and gender inequality, and increasing number of children orphaned by AIDS. We tested predictors of antisocial behavior at community, family, and individual levels over four years. One thousand and twenty five adolescents from poor, urban South African settlements were assessed in 2005 (50 percent female; M = 13.4 years) and followed up in 2009. The sample analyzed consisted of the 723 youth (71 percent) assessed at both time points. We employed sociodemographic questionnaires and standardized scales. Validity of our antisocial behavior measure was supported by cross‐sectional associations with well‐evidenced concomitants of youth antisocial behavior, including drug taking and truancy. Regression analysis indicated that male gender and experience of community violence, but not poverty or abuse, predicted antisocial behavior. Despite many South African youth experiencing abuse and poverty at the family level, our findings suggest that high levels of violence in communities may be a more important factor contributing to the development of antisocial behavior, particularly among males.     

Reconsidering the Marielito Legacy: Race/Ethnicity,Nativity, and Homicide Motives*

Objective. This article investigates how race/ethnicity is associated with specific types of violent crime such as killings between intimates, robbery homicide, or drug‐related killings. We extend the study of the role of race and ethnicity for violence by examining five ethnic/immigrant groups, including the Mariel Cubans—a group singled out by many as particularly drug‐crime‐prone. Methods. Using 1980 through 1990 homicide data for the City of Miami, we use multinomial logistic regression to examine the association between race/ethnicity, nativity, and several types of homicide motives. Results. Contrary to popular expectations, ethnicity and immigration status rarely play a role in the types of homicide involvement of victims or violators. Incident characteristics, such as multiple offenders, or gender and age, were consistently more important influences in shaping homicide circumstances. Conclusions. The analyses revealed few significant relationships between immigration status and homicide motives, suggesting that immigrant groups like the Marielitos have more in common with native groups' experiences of criminal violence than is commonly assumed.     

Peacebuilding as a Gendered Process

Peacebuilding is frequently viewed in terms of post-conflict societal reconstruction without consideration of cultural context and gender. Using a feminist participatory methodology, this study investigated South African women's understandings of peacebuilding and how these are mediated by gender and context. Sixteen women engaged in dialogue over 2 days. Thematic analysis of the recorded dialogue provided insight into how the 16 South African women leaders understand their efforts to build a more peaceful society. The findings pointed to gender- and context-specific aspects of peacebuilding. Most of participants' peacebuilding activities occurred outside of the aegis of national governmental institutions and their peacebuilding priorities focused less upon structural rebuilding and more on processes, people, and relationships. One of the important priorities was the prevention of violence toward women. Whether these findings are gender-specific and contextually unique are topics for future research.     

Uniformity and Regional Variation: The Xiangli System in the Sui Dynasty

As defined in a decree issued in the spring of 583, the three heads or sanzhang system, designed to be implemented chiefly in the old Northern Qi area in Shandong, basically followed the Northern Qi version of 564, with slight modifications. With the setting up of a system of xiang heads (xiangzheng 乡正) who would hear disputes among the common people, as recommended in Su Wei’s memorial of the same year, the judicial position of xiangzheng coexisted with the administrative positions of the three-heads (or two-heads) system. The xiangli (乡里) system announced in the edict of 589 targeted the territory previously under the Chen dynasty; it was basically a continuation of the xiangli system of rural control originally based on a Han dynasty model and followed since then in the south under the Eastern Jin and the Southern dynasties. With the reform of the bureaucratic system in 607, the xiangli system centered on xiangzheng and lizhang became the basic system of rural administration under the Sui dynasty. In the course of its design and creation, the system had to take into account the institutions already existing in the target area and the question of feasibility. Thus “inconsistency” or “regional variation” was built into the system. However, in actual practice there was a tendency toward convergence that led to uniformity of implementation. In Chinese history, the coexistence of regional variation and uniformity was a marked feature of the formation and implementation of different systems.