Violence in the Deep South: The Relation Between Homicide, Economic Inequalities, Culture and Social Control.

• In Event: Crime and Violence in Context

Abstract

It is well known that the Southern states of the U.S. have the highest levels of violence in the nation. However, there is no real consensus about the fundamental causes of this violence. Several researchers highlight the impact of the Southern culture on the level of violence, while others conclude of the importance of socioeconomic inequalities, particularly between races, or the importance of poverty.
The present research analyzes the gap between structural and cultural theories by integrating inequalities and culture in the larger spectrum of formal and informal social control. In this logic, we compare the variation of the 2014 homicide rate in the five Deep South states with the homicide rate in the rest of the United States. The results address the importance of considering a more holistic social control system when focusing on homicide and inequalities.

Authors

• Claire Chabot, Université de Montréal

• Marc Ouimet, Université de Montréal