Violence Factors during Crime in Mexico: Fire-Arms, Time of Day, and Criminal Experience

The aim of this study is to detect the existence of statistically significant associations between the use of violence during crime & a set of social, familiar & individual factors, which hypothetically inhibit or cause such violence. The associations are sought in a 2005 survey carried out on a sample of 655 inmates from 9 jails in Mexico City. The results of a multivariate logistic model indicate that the proclivity to violence increases if the criminal carries a firearm & the crime is committed during the night; whereas the proclivity diminishes if the criminal is reoffending. However, other factors do not have a statistically significant relation with violence during the commission of crimes. Consequently, policy recommendations are geared towards arms control, & increased patrolling & more efficient monitoring during the night, as well as towards the use of measures of social communication against violence. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.