Community Resources and Collective Efficacy: A Structural Analysis of Violent Crime in Toronto, Canada

• In Event: Rethinking Place and Spatial Dynamics

Abstract

Violent crime remains a hot topic in criminological research. While most violent crime research relies on a deprivation model, my study uses resource-based models that underscore factors like community trust and social cohesion. I draw upon both Social Disorganization Theory and the concept of collective efficacy to suggest that neighbourhood community resources (NCR) help mitigate the negative association between violent crime rates and collective efficacy. Specifically, this study asks: How do neighbourhood community resources (NCR) predict crime rates (CR), and is this association mediated by collective efficacy (CE) at the aggregate level? To answer this research question, I use several data sets from Toronto, Ontario, including crime data from the City of Toronto, data from the Neighbourhood Effects on Health and Well-Being study, and the Canadian Marginalization Index (CAN-Marg) which uses aggregate census data from Statistics Canada. I will analyze the final combined dataset using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Stata 18 to address my research questions. The results of this study will offer a resource-based approach to studying violent crime in Toronto as well as delve into the presumed association between neighbourhood community resources, crime rates, and collective efficacy.

Author

• Carly Richards, McMaster University