Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

72
Urban crime and violence
One violent crime
can have many
victims, including
shattered families
Figure 3.21
Expected relationship
between democracy
and violent crime from
different perspectives
Source: LaFree and Tseloni,
2006, p33
Homicide rates
Homicide rates
Null hypothesis
High
Low
Democratization
Conflict
High
Low
Democratization
What this implies is that connections between democratization
and violence are extremely complex and not easily
explained.
Nevertheless, some groups have used high violence
rates as political arguments against democratization and as a
rationale for segregating distressed populations and carving
up urban territories into gated privatized enclaves. Such
approaches have been particularly evident in São Paulo
(Brazil) and Johannesburg (South Africa) 184 and are implicit
in strategies used elsewhere to privatize security and territory.
IMPACTS OF CRIME AND
VIOLENCE
This section addresses some of the social, psychological and
economic impacts of crime and violence at the global,
national, local and individual levels. These impacts are
complex, interconnected and not easily separable.
Nevertheless, some of the conditions and trends are
sketched here relative to homicide, robbery, burglary and
corruption. Owing to data availability, the discussion focuses
more on local impacts relative to robbery and burglary. The
section starts by distinguishing between primary, secondary
and tertiary victims of crime and violence.
Impacts of crime and violence: Victim
categories
At the global level, homicide and other violent crimes have
obvious and significant impacts, which include loss of life
and physical and psychological injury to the primary victims.
Data from the WHO suggests that almost one third of the
estimated global violence-related deaths in 2000 were due
to homicides. In some countries with easy access to
weapons, the tolls have been particularly high. For example,
Colombia has experienced over 500,000 deaths due to
common and organized crime since 1979, which amounts to
17,600 deaths per year. Over 80 per cent of these have been
due to gun violence. 185 The incidence of homicide is often
exacerbated by civil conflicts that make weapons more available
to the general population.
Homicide rates
Homicide rates
Civilization
High
Low
Democratization
Modernization
High
Low
Democratization
Secondary victims include family and friends, often
referred to as homicide survivors, who often experience
negative psychological and physical effects, including intense
grief and impairment of social functioning. These impacts
are borne out by recent research on the clinical implications
of homicide to surviving family and friends. They suggest
staggering psychological costs that require long-term professional
treatment. Worldwide, homicide survivors often
experience post-traumatic stress disorder, with significant
impacts on the children of homicide victims. It is clear,
therefore, that one violent crime can have many victims,
including shattered families.
Tertiary victims include communities and society,
generally, which can experience profound shocks to healthcare,
social services and economic systems. The costs of
crime play out very differently for individuals and their
families across the world, especially when compared
between developed and developing nations. For example,
UNOCD compared the discounted value of the lost
economic productivity costs of a typical homicide victim in
Cape Town (South Africa) as US$15,319 relative to a typical
homicide in New Zealand as US$829,000, with the difference
stemming from the much higher predicted income for
the latter individual. However, the death or injury of the
individual in Cape Town is liable to be economically
profound since there are likely to be more family members
directly dependent upon the victim than in New Zealand,
which also has more public and private safety nets. 186
Impacts on most vulnerable victims
Violent crimes such as homicide and armed robbery eat away
at the social and cultural fabric of communities by threatening
the covenant of trust binding people together. This is
often manifested in the isolation of individuals from each
other and from work, educational and healthcare opportunities,
all necessary elements to building social and human
capital. The most vulnerable citizens, such as the poor,
elderly, women and children, are victimized in multiple
ways: some become stranded in their own homes at night,
some retreat into depression, while others give up life and
career opportunities. For example, one author describes the
experience of her neighbours in Guayaquil (Ecuador) having
to live with the daily terror of violent robbers such that in
one six-month period ‘one in five women had been attacked
by young men armed with knives, machetes or hand guns’.
In speaking about the impacts of these acts, she notes that
‘the streets were no longer safe after dark, so girls and young
women were dropping out of night school, exacerbating
their social isolation’. 187 In this way, violent crime tends to
compound already existing patterns of discrimination against
women and girls. As Box 3.4 suggests, violent crime often
highlights social justice gaps between the wealthy and the
vulnerable poor, and tests citizens’ confidence in the willingness
of public authorities to listen to them.
Some groups, such as women and those living in
impoverished communities, are particularly vulnerable to
violent crime. While men are the primary users of guns,
women suffer disproportionately from gun violence as they