Uprooting the Gang: Public Housing Demolition and Criminal Violence

• In Event: Militias, Militaries, and Criminal Gangs

Abstract

Control of turf plays a central theoretical role in studies of armed actors. Despite its centrality, little is known about how changes to access to turf shape the behavior of violent groups. In this research design, we outline three logics through which a shock to turf may shape criminal group behavior: challenging inter-gang commitment to truces; weakening intra-gang capacity to control rank-and-file members; and incentivizing rapacity from the gang towards the community. We test these logics using novel city block-level data from Chicago, leveraging a series of public housing demolitions which shocked the turf-holdings of Chicago's gangs.

Authors

• Sarah Zukerman Daly, Columbia University

• Elena Barham, Columbia University