Diagnosing the Increase in Homicides in Montevideo

After many years of being remarkably flat, in 2012 the homicide rate in Montevideo (the Capital city of Uruguay) started rising. By 2018 it had almost doubled and there is nothing yet to suggest that homicides might start to reverse to their pre 2012 numbers any time soon. Though this has naturally elicited much talk and media coverage, so far no one in Uruguay has conducted an in-depth study of the phenomenon. Therefore, there is a notorious lack of evidence on the nature of the problem on which to base policies and measures to address it. This dissertation provides an elaborate diagnosis of homicides in Montevideo during both the period prior to the rise and the years that followed it, with an aim to gaining insight into the driving forces of this change. The data is analyzed by means of a variety of rather novel approaches within the field of criminology, such as network analysis, exploratory spatial data analysis and techniques developed in the context of epidemiological studies. The evidence presented suggests that the rise in homicides cannot be blamed on traditional crime patterns in the local scene (such as robbery-related, domestic or acquaintance homicides) but that there might be new developments going on in the city. Specifically, the emergence of a gang violence problem seems to be at the core of the growth of homicides, with drug distribution at the retail level being probably the main force driving gang formation and wars.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Donnangelo Cleffi, Francisco Javier

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sherman, Lawrence

• Drugs
• Gangs
• Montevideo
• Violence

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/1cf30c9d-ba9d-4919-881e-145825224f5a/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.110903

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/371874