The Political Consequences of Criminal Victimization Revisited

• In Event: Law and Politics in Contemporary Latin America

Abstract

What are the political consequences of crime? Recent scholarship overwhelmingly suggests personal victimization promotes political participation. However, in this paper, I argue that such work theoretically and empirically conflates a measurement of crime - self-reported victimization - with the preceding occurrence of criminal behavior. Experiencing potentially criminal behavior does not define self-identification as a victim of crime. Instead, a person must experience some behavior and then conjecture that said behavior was illicit. Measurements of crime, whether from victimization surveys or administrative crime data, capture only cases where individuals concluded a crime had occurred. If people's ability and willingness to recognize they have been victims of a crime are higher for the more politically engaged, then results linking victimization and political outcomes might be significantly overstated. I provide novel empirical evidence suggesting this is, in fact, the case. Using new geolocated data on crime in Mexico City, a rotating panel survey collected by the Mexican government, and an original survey of Mexican voters, I show that people who are more likely to participate in politics are also more prone to categorize behavior as criminal and to identify themselves as victims of crime than comparable individuals exposed to the same levels of criminal violence. Contrary to findings indicating that criminal victimization can foster political engagement, the results presented here suggest that the politically active and knowledgeable are more likely to take the mantle of crime victims than their neighbors. If active participation increases the chances of receiving government resources, then security policy responding to victims' demands might aggravate inequality instead of alleviating it. More broadly, the results challenge our conceptualization of crime and criminal victimization. What constitutes a "crime" and who is recognized as a "victim" is politically determined: delineated by the law, a function of social preferences and political interactions. Victimhood, thus, is by definition endogenous to politics.

Author

• Carolina Torreblanca, University of Pennsylvania