The unequal spatial distribution of crime is an enduring feature of cities. While research suggests that spatial diffusion processes heighten this concentration, the actual mechanisms of diffusion are not well understood as research rarely measures the ways in which people, groups, and behaviors connect neighborhoods. This study considers how a particular behavior, criminal co-offending, creates direct and indirect pathways between neighborhoods. Analyzing administrative records and survey data, the authors find that individual acts of co-offending link together to create a “network of neighborhoods,” facilitating the diffusion of crime over time and across space and, in so doing, create pathways between all Chicago neighborhoods. Statistical analyses demonstrate that these neighborhood networks are (1) stable over time; (2) generated by important structural characteristics, social processes, and endogenous network properties; and (3) a better predictor of the geographic distribution of crime than traditional spatial models.

中文翻译：

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犯罪中的关联：邻里网络对暴力空间格局的持久影响

犯罪空间分布不均是城市的一个持久特征。虽然研究表明空间扩散过程会提高这种集中度，但扩散的实际机制尚不清楚，因为研究很少衡量人、群体和行为连接社区的方式。本研究考虑了特定行为（共同犯罪）如何在社区之间建立直接和间接途径。通过分析行政记录和调查数据，作者发现个人共同犯罪行为相互关联，形成了“社区网络”，促进了犯罪随时间和空间的扩散，从而在芝加哥所有社区之间建立了通道. 统计分析表明，这些邻域网络 (1) 随着时间的推移是稳定的；(2) 由重要的结构特征、社会过程和内生网络属性产生；(3) 比传统的空间模型更好地预测犯罪的地理分布。