In my master’s thesis, we explored relationships between different aspects connecting crime, victims, and spatial locations. We investigated territorial criminal patterns in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to understand how people’s spatial location and personal characteristics influence their propensity to become victims of certain types of crime. The hypothesis was that these relationships are not random but involve patterns of connection between certain types of crime, characteristics of victims, and the location of the crime. Heterogeneous connections between these factors would make certain social groups more prone to specific types of crime.
To investigate these connections, we used a method of analysis of complex networks capable of grouping (i) similar crime incidents according to the profile of the victims, (ii) the characteristics of the types of crime registered, and (iii) their different locations.The examination of this urban crime topology was carried out in a large-scale empirical study involving 5,000 randomly selected crime incidents between 2007 and 2018.
Supervisor: Prof. Vinicius M. Netto
References
2024
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The Hidden Connections of Urban Crime: A Network Analysis of Victims, Crime Types, and Locations in Rio de Janeiro
Fernanda Ventorim; Vinicius M. Netto
Urban Science, 2024
Urban crime is a pressing issue in socially unequal regions like Brazil. We investigate the complex relationships between crime, victims, and urban situations in Rio de Janeiro. We analyze the connections between specific types of crime, victim characteristics, and crime locations through complex network analysis. In a large-scale empirical study, we examine 5000 randomly selected crime incidents in Rio between 2007 and 2018. Our analysis reveals a strong association between sex, race, location, and income inequality in the risk of exposure to crime. The results suggest that specific social groups, notably black and brown women, face a higher-than-average vulnerability to particular types of crime in Rio. Our investigation confirms our hypothesis that crime incidents are not random occurrences. Instead, we have discovered meaningful connections between specific types of crime, victim characteristics, and crime locations. These findings indicate a pattern of underlying factors shaping the distribution of crime and vulnerable social groups.
2023
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Crime and urban space: the relationship networks between crime, victims and location in Rio de Janeiro
Fernanda Ventorim; Vinicius M. Netto
Revista Brasileira de Gestão Urbana, 2023
Urban crime is one of the most serious problems in developing countries. In contexts of strong social inequality, as in Brazil, criminal activities affect people’s lives in a generalized way, apparently ignoring geographic, economic or social contours. However, a rigorous reading of the crime problem can reveal ways in which it is accentuated due to specific social and spatial factors. This paper investigates the relationships between crime, victims and urban situations. The hypothesis is that these relationships are not random, but involve patterns of connection between certain types of crime, characteristics of victims and location of the crime. Heterogeneous connections between these factors would make certain social groups more prone to specific types of crime. The article investigates these connections in the city of Rio de Janeiro, using a method of analysis of complex networks capable of grouping (i) similar crime incidents according to the profile of the victims, (ii) the characteristics of the types of crime registered and (iii) their different locations. The examination of this urban crime topology is carried out in a large-scale empirical study involving 5,000 randomly selected crime incidents, between 2007 and 2018, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.