Public Seminar: Unravelling the Crime-Development Nexus: An Empirical Perspective, featuring Professor Nathan Pino (Texas State University) and Dr Jarrett Blaustein (Monash University)
Unravelling the Crime-Development Nexus: An Empirical Perspective
Presenters: Professor Nathan Pino (Texas State University) and Dr Jarrett Blaustein (Monash University)
Date: Wednesday 26 June 2019 at 3.30pm
Location: Deakin Downtown, Tower 2, Level 12/727, Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3008
Abstract: Crime and corruption are now internationally recognised as sustainable development issues yet for the past few decades, criminologists have largely neglected the crime – socioeconomic development relationship. Likewise, the political construction of crime as a threat to sustainable development (the crime-development nexus) is grounded not in an established body of empirical research but rather, a neoliberal ideological agenda in which the rule of law and pacification are treated as preconditions for economic growth and prosperity. The United Nations has joined in this discourse, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address a number of criminological issues as a way of seeking ‘peaceful and inclusive societies.’ This renewed focus on crime within the context of sustainable development in addition to the limitations of previous studies necessitate updated empirical studies that can improve our understanding and assist development actors in achieving the SDGs. To that effect, utilizing longitudinal, country-level data from the World Bank, we engaged in linear dynamic panel data estimation using maximum likelihood and structural equation modeling to estimate structural predictors of homicide. Our findings include seemingly conflicting findings regarding the relationship between homicide and urbanisation. Implications of these findings will be discussed.