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The Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project in Chicago

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Section IVwith Rolando V. SosaIncident Rates of Crime Per 100,000 IndividualsWe were <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> the possible effects of the <strong>Project</strong> which could be associated withchanges <strong>in</strong> U.S. Census-based prevalence rates of serious gang violent crime <strong>in</strong>cidents by<strong>Project</strong>-equivalent community areas, particularly for 17-to-25-year-old males (essentially thetarget age group). For this purpose, we aga<strong>in</strong> selected Pilsen (District 12) as the comparisonarea.We needed to determ<strong>in</strong>e how many males, 17 to 25 years of age, <strong>in</strong> each of the twocomparable areas were at risk for gang membership and serious gang violence dur<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>Project</strong>developmental period. Such base-population data were obta<strong>in</strong>ed from the 1990 U.S. Census.We decided to compare the prevalence rate changes <strong>in</strong> serious violent <strong>in</strong>cidents per 100,000males, 17 to 25 years old, between the three-year pre-program and three-year program periods(i.e., close to the time the 1990 Census was carried out). We wanted to limit age redistributioneffects, as well as fluctuations <strong>in</strong> serious gang violence over longer periods. We wanted to betterassociate rate changes with what we considered optimum program effects, if they occurred.We computed a ratio between the number of serious violent gang crime <strong>in</strong>cidents (i.e.,homicides, aggravated batteries with handguns or firearms, and aggravated assaults withhandguns or firearms) occurr<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the three year pre-program and program periods, and theproportion of 17- to 25-year-old males per 100,000 <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>in</strong> the total population of eachcommunity, assum<strong>in</strong>g no major age redistribution effects over these periods.15.63

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