Violence in the Street, Violence of the Street: - The spatiality of street violence among youth

Marie Bruvik Heinskou; Lasse Suonperä Liebst

Violence in the Street, Violence of the Street: - The spatiality of street violence among youth

Marie Bruvik Heinskou, Lasse Suonperä Liebst

Abstract

While in his early and general theory of interaction rituals Randall Collins emphasised that social situations are both ’symbolic’ and ’material’, the latter dimension is largely absent from Collins’ theory of violence(Collins 2004; 1993: 214). Compared with criminology’s more recent situational studies of violence, it is noticeable that the analytical success of these studies is closely linked with understanding street violence as a spatial-situational phenomenon (Clarke 1997; Eck & Weisburd 1995; Bragand & Weisburd; 2010; Wikström et al. 2012; Sampson et al. 1997). In light of evidence for the spatial concentration of street violence, this paper takes its point of departure in a large study of Street Violence among youth in Copenhagen, Denmark (combining quantitative data from filed police reports (N = 501), data from CCTV (N=100) and qualitative analysis of selected cases of street violence among youth (N= 150). We illuminate how the spatial, material and symbolic context of the situation is equally crucial to the outcome of the violent situation. Hence, we argue that the spatial characteristics of the violent situation constitute a fruitful continuation of Collin’s micro-sociology and its analytical potential for explaining the spatiality of street violence.

Original language	English
Publication date	2015
Publication status	In preparation - 2015
Event	Annual Meeting - ASC - The American Society of Criminology: Annual Meeting - Washington DC, United States Duration: 18 Nov 2015 → 21 Nov 2015

Conference

Conference	Annual Meeting - ASC - The American Society of Criminology
Country/Territory	United States
City	Washington DC
Period	18/11/2015 → 21/11/2015

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cite this

@conference{3e0a0169483148b48548a3312d1ee0a8,

title = "Violence in the Street, Violence of the Street: - The spatiality of street violence among youth",

abstract = "While in his early and general theory of interaction rituals Randall Collins emphasised that social situations are both {\textquoteright}symbolic{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteright}material{\textquoteright}, the latter dimension is largely absent from Collins{\textquoteright} theory of violence(Collins 2004; 1993: 214). Compared with criminology{\textquoteright}s more recent situational studies of violence, it is noticeable that the analytical success of these studies is closely linked with understanding street violence as a spatial-situational phenomenon (Clarke 1997; Eck & Weisburd 1995; Bragand & Weisburd; 2010; Wikstr{\"o}m et al. 2012; Sampson et al. 1997). In light of evidence for the spatial concentration of street violence, this paper takes its point of departure in a large study of Street Violence among youth in Copenhagen, Denmark (combining quantitative data from filed police reports (N = 501), data from CCTV (N=100) and qualitative analysis of selected cases of street violence among youth (N= 150). We illuminate how the spatial, material and symbolic context of the situation is equally crucial to the outcome of the violent situation. Hence, we argue that the spatial characteristics of the violent situation constitute a fruitful continuation of Collin{\textquoteright}s micro-sociology and its analytical potential for explaining the spatiality of street violence.",

author = "Heinskou, {Marie Bruvik} and Liebst, {Lasse Suonper{\"a}}",

year = "2015",

language = "English",

note = "Annual Meeting - ASC - The American Society of Criminology ; Conference date: 18-11-2015 Through 21-11-2015",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - Violence in the Street, Violence of the Street

T2 - Annual Meeting - ASC - The American Society of Criminology

AU - Heinskou, Marie Bruvik

AU - Liebst, Lasse Suonperä

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - While in his early and general theory of interaction rituals Randall Collins emphasised that social situations are both ’symbolic’ and ’material’, the latter dimension is largely absent from Collins’ theory of violence(Collins 2004; 1993: 214). Compared with criminology’s more recent situational studies of violence, it is noticeable that the analytical success of these studies is closely linked with understanding street violence as a spatial-situational phenomenon (Clarke 1997; Eck & Weisburd 1995; Bragand & Weisburd; 2010; Wikström et al. 2012; Sampson et al. 1997). In light of evidence for the spatial concentration of street violence, this paper takes its point of departure in a large study of Street Violence among youth in Copenhagen, Denmark (combining quantitative data from filed police reports (N = 501), data from CCTV (N=100) and qualitative analysis of selected cases of street violence among youth (N= 150). We illuminate how the spatial, material and symbolic context of the situation is equally crucial to the outcome of the violent situation. Hence, we argue that the spatial characteristics of the violent situation constitute a fruitful continuation of Collin’s micro-sociology and its analytical potential for explaining the spatiality of street violence.

AB - While in his early and general theory of interaction rituals Randall Collins emphasised that social situations are both ’symbolic’ and ’material’, the latter dimension is largely absent from Collins’ theory of violence(Collins 2004; 1993: 214). Compared with criminology’s more recent situational studies of violence, it is noticeable that the analytical success of these studies is closely linked with understanding street violence as a spatial-situational phenomenon (Clarke 1997; Eck & Weisburd 1995; Bragand & Weisburd; 2010; Wikström et al. 2012; Sampson et al. 1997). In light of evidence for the spatial concentration of street violence, this paper takes its point of departure in a large study of Street Violence among youth in Copenhagen, Denmark (combining quantitative data from filed police reports (N = 501), data from CCTV (N=100) and qualitative analysis of selected cases of street violence among youth (N= 150). We illuminate how the spatial, material and symbolic context of the situation is equally crucial to the outcome of the violent situation. Hence, we argue that the spatial characteristics of the violent situation constitute a fruitful continuation of Collin’s micro-sociology and its analytical potential for explaining the spatiality of street violence.

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 18 November 2015 through 21 November 2015

ER -