Violence, worry and trust in the emergence of weapon-carrying

Brennan, Iain R.

Abstract

This paper identifies longitudinal predictors of weapon-carrying in a sample of 10–25 year olds in England and Wales. It conceptualises weapon-carrying as anticipation of an adverse event and proposes hypotheses about the origins of weapon-carrying derived from the field of risk analysis. Specifically, it tests if worry about victimisation and experience of violence predict later weapon-carrying and assesses the moderating influence of trust in the police. The results indicate that worry about victimisation does not predict weapon-carrying, but experience of violence does. Distrust of police and peer criminality were also identified as important precursors to weapon-carrying. The study provides further evidence that, at least over longer periods, weapon-carrying is a product of experience of violence and criminogenic factors rather than a response to concern about victimisation.

Citation

Brennan, I. R. (2021). Violence, worry and trust in the emergence of weapon-carrying. European Journal of Criminology, https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708211046193

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 5, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 29, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: European Journal of Criminology
• Print ISSN: 1477-3708
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2609
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708211046193
• Keywords: Weapon; Violence; Trust in the police; Fear of crime
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3813188