Citation

Cook S, Bruno T, Erickson PG, Butters JE, Harrison L. Int. J. Comp. Appl. Crim. Justice 2022; 46(2): 103-118.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, American Society of Criminology's Division of International Criminology, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis)

DOI

10.1080/01924036.2020.1844249

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines the patterns of harmful weapon behavior and the protective influence of perceived collective efficacy on harmful weapon behavior among a cross-national sample of youth detainees in Toronto and Philadelphia. Despite different firearms policies, detained youth in both cities reveal considerable knowledge of where to get a gun. Multivariate analyses reveal that participating in gang fights, non-violent delinquency, and neighborhood gun markets are significantly related to harmful gun behavior in both cities. Only one collective efficacy subscale, perceived social cohesion, exerted a protective influence on harmful gun behavior among youth in both cities. These results suggest that in the absence of "strong ties," reflected in family and residential stability, there may be added value in the "weak ties" provided by the community, making social cohesion an important protective characteristic for this high-risk group of youthful detainees. The significance of the findings, limitations, and potential policy implications are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

collective efficacy; cross-national comparison; gun carrying; harmful gun behaviour; Youth detainees