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The Spatial Scale and Spread of Child Victimization
Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno1, Holly Thurston2, Bridget Freisthler2
1Colleges of Social Work and Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
|May 21, 2024
Summary
Child victimization clusters in urban areas due to neighborhood conditions, not contagion. This study analyzed Los Angeles data to understand the spatial patterns of child harm.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Urban Studies
- Public Health
Background:
- Child victimization rates are high in urban areas.
- Mechanisms behind spatial clustering of child victimization are unknown.
- Existing research lacks focus on the processes creating victimization hotspots.
Purpose of the Study:
- To distinguish between contagion and neighborhood structural inequality as drivers of child victimization.
- To develop a framework for analyzing spatial patterns of child victimization.
- To understand why child harms cluster in specific locations.
Main Methods:
- Applied the inhomogeneous K-function to Los Angeles Medical Examiner data.
- Analyzed child homicide victim locations.
- Controlled for regional differences in victimization events (heterogeneity).
Main Results:
- Found strong spatial clustering of child victimization at small scales.
- Observed inhibition of clustering at larger spatial scales.
- Found limited evidence for contagion effects in child victimization.
Conclusions:
- Neighborhood structural vulnerability plays a key role in child victimization patterns.
- Results support the influence of spatial heterogeneity over contagion.
- Findings have policy implications for targeted preventive interventions.
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