Abstract

HERNANDEZ-GUTIERREZ, José Carlos. The Happy Medium: On the Different Levels of Homicidal Violence in Mexico City’s Municipalities (2018). Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2021, vol.66, n.241, pp.127-154.  Epub Mar 19, 2021. ISSN 0185-1918.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2020.241.70631.

The aim of this paper is to understand the combination of circumstances that could explain why some municipalities in Mexico City (CDMX) displayed epidemic murder rates (higher than ten per 100,000 inhabitants) in 2018 while others did not. Using the sociological model proposed by Briceño (2007) as theoretical reference and applying the crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) method, the preliminary hypotheses are the following: 1) the presence of criminal organizations fighting against each other within the same municipality is a necessary condition for there to be an epidemic murder rate in that municipality; and 2) the combination of high population density and poverty is a sufficient condition for an epidemic murder rate to occur. Given the results of the csQCA processing, the first hypothesis is confirmed and the second is rejected, since population density and poverty, contrary to Briceño’s (2007) claims, is not a sufficient condition for high murder rates.

Keywords : organized crime; population density; homicide; Mexico; poverty.

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