NCJ Number
198280
Date Published
2001
Length
182 pages
Annotation
This report is part two of a research project on street violence between strangers in the Netherlands.
Abstract
This report is based on material contained in part one, plus the selection and analysis of 60 incidents of street violence from three contexts: traffic incidents, neighborhood incidents, and entertainment area incidents. The results indicate that there were two main reasons for street violence: asocial behavior and unintentional traffic violations (where the offender was unaware of committing the violation). The different roles of the participants in traffic incidents were outlined with four varieties of incidents being described: a genuine offender and a victim, characteristic of senseless violence; no clear distinction between offender and victim with both contributing equally to the situation but the winner becomes identified as the perpetrator; thirdly, where both sides eagerly become involved in an escalation to physical confrontation; and when both sides are equally involved at the beginning of the conflict, but one backs off and one becomes labeled as the aggressor. The different process elements were analyzed yielding six patterns or scenarios. These patterns are described in detail including both traffic, neighborhood, and entertainment area situations. In conclusion, it was found that as street violence is more strongly linked to a context, policy measures should be oriented more towards the context. However, in contrast, street violence linked more to personal characteristics should lead to development of measures designed to reduce risk and increase protection for the public.