The Geography of Social Cohesion and Crime at the Municipality Level

auteurs Wim Hardyns
  Lieven Pauwels
tijdschrift GofS (ISSN: )
jaargang 2009
aflevering Contemporary Issues in the Empirical Study of Crime
onderdeel Artikelen
publicatie datum 13 maart 2009
taal English
pagina 157
samenvatting

It is impossible to imagine life without social cohesion, both in the social sciences and in social and criminal policy. However, there is a lack of clarity as to the exact definition of the concept of social cohesion. In this article the conceptualisation and theoretical role of social cohesion is discussed within the field of criminology. Criminologists tend to focus on social cohesion as an aggregate characteristic.
Within the field of the social ecology of crime we speak of a multidimensional concept. This article focuses on the development of dimensions of social cohesion since the emergence of studies of the social ecology of crime. We identified five dimensions of social cohesion (i.e. locality of social ties, informal social control, network density, social capital and collective efficacy), which followed each other chronologically in time. These different dimensions are interrelated from a theoretical point of view. Social cohesion is conceived as a complex of social mechanisms. From a theoretical point of view these mechanisms are assumed to account for effects of community social structure on ecological concentrations of crime, victimisation and fear of crime. Further, this article argues that municipalities can be thought of as a relevant unit of analysis in the study of the social ecology
of crime. The consequences of this study for further research into the social ecology of crime are discussed. Key words: social cohesion / social capital / collective efficacy / social ecology of crime / municipality