Medellín, Colombia, once among the most dangerous cities in the world has seen a sharp decrease in homicides since 2002. This thesis explores the geography of violence in Medellín from 2001 through 2005 with specific emphasis on two factors thought to have contributed to the city's drop in violence: Operación Orión, a police and military response to the bloodshed, and the 2003 disarmament and demobilization of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara paramilitary organization. A series of Paired Sample T-Tests show that Operación Orión and the paramilitary demobilization seem to have contributed to falling human rights abuses and homicides, respectively. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA and cluster analysis detail the changing geography of homicide from 2003-2004. The results show that homicides are distributed across social strata, throughout the city with a concentration of high homicides near the city center. The findings speak to a growing body of literature on urban crime and related issues, including the importance of infrastructure and social inclusion in urban life.
","abstract_html":"<p>Medellín, Colombia, once among the most dangerous cities in the world has seen a sharp decrease in homicides since 2002. This thesis explores the geography of violence in Medellín from 2001 through 2005 with specific emphasis on two factors thought to have contributed to the city's drop in violence: <em>Operación Orión</em>, a police and military response to the bloodshed, and the 2003 disarmament and demobilization of the <em>Bloque Cacique Nutibara</em> paramilitary organization. A series of Paired Sample T-Tests show that <em>Operación Orión</em> and the paramilitary demobilization seem to have contributed to falling human rights abuses and homicides, respectively. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA and cluster analysis detail the changing geography of homicide from 2003-2004. The results show that homicides are distributed across social strata, throughout the city with a concentration of high homicides near the city center. The findings speak to a growing body of literature on urban crime and related issues, including the importance of infrastructure and social inclusion in urban life.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Blickenstaff, Brian Kenneth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Geography and Geology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joby Bass","David Cochran","Andy Reese"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:58Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/412","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joby Bass","David Cochran","Andy Reese"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Blickenstaff, Brian Kenneth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-10-26T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Geography and Geology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/412"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Medellín, Colombia, once among the most dangerous cities in the world has seen a sharp decrease in homicides since 2002. This thesis explores the geography of violence in Medellín from 2001 through 2005 with specific emphasis on two factors thought to have contributed to the city's drop in violence: Operación Orión, a police and military response to the bloodshed, and the 2003 disarmament and demobilization of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara paramilitary organization. A series of Paired Sample T-Tests show that Operación Orión and the paramilitary demobilization seem to have contributed to falling human rights abuses and homicides, respectively. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA and cluster analysis detail the changing geography of homicide from 2003-2004. The results show that homicides are distributed across social strata, throughout the city with a concentration of high homicides near the city center. The findings speak to a growing body of literature on urban crime and related issues, including the importance of infrastructure and social inclusion in urban life.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Urban Crime in Latin America: A Case Study from Medellín, Colombia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joby Bass","David Cochran","Andy Reese"],"dc:creator":["Blickenstaff, Brian Kenneth"],"dc:date.available":["2018-10-26T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Medellín, Colombia, once among the most dangerous cities in the world has seen a sharp decrease in homicides since 2002. This thesis explores the geography of violence in Medellín from 2001 through 2005 with specific emphasis on two factors thought to have contributed to the city's drop in violence: Operación Orión, a police and military response to the bloodshed, and the 2003 disarmament and demobilization of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara paramilitary organization. A series of Paired Sample T-Tests show that Operación Orión and the paramilitary demobilization seem to have contributed to falling human rights abuses and homicides, respectively. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA and cluster analysis detail the changing geography of homicide from 2003-2004. The results show that homicides are distributed across social strata, throughout the city with a concentration of high homicides near the city center. The findings speak to a growing body of literature on urban crime and related issues, including the importance of infrastructure and social inclusion in urban life.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/412"],"dc:title":["Urban Crime in Latin America: A Case Study from Medellín, Colombia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Geography and Geology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:58Z"}