An examination of the impact of street code inspired homicide on the spatial and temporal diffusion of murder in inner city communities.

• In Event: Issues in Homicide

Abstract

Inner city communities consistently evince the highest rates of interpersonal violence across urban landscapes in the United States. Some criminologists have attributed this fact to the reliance on a code of the street that is prevalent in economically distressed communities. While some studies have provided support for the existence of the street code, less is known about whether or how street code related violence influences the spatial and temporal patterns associated with these behaviors. The present study builds on this gap in the literature by examining the spatial and temporal patterns of homicides in a large northeastern city to determine whether homicide incidents sparked by the victim and/or offender’s desire to save face after an act of perceived disrespect are unique with respect to diffusion processes. These incidents are examined with a cluster detection software (SaTScan v.9.0) used in the public health and medical geography fields to model the spatio-temporal movement of statistically significant homicide clusters in order to assess whether patterns of diffusion emerge among these incidents. The findings as well as theoretical and practical implications are discussed in this article.

Authors

• Jesenia M. Pizarro, Michigan State University

• Sue Grady, Michigan State University

• Christopher Melde, Michigan State University

• April M. Zeoli, Michigan State University