Silencing Citizens
How Criminal Groups Create Vacuums of Justice

This book explains how criminal groups constrain cooperation with police, and what can be done about it.

Andrew Cesare Miller (Author)

9781009354493, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 May 2024

332 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.8 cm, 0.49 kg

'Silencing Citizens is a deep dive into two criminal worlds. Miller combines the best of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore themes of state legitimacy, victimization, and the code of silence. This groundbreaking book offers solutions to help citizens and society uproot gangs, mafias, and violent entrenched criminal organizations.' Peter Moskos, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Criminal groups, like mafias and gangs, often get away with murder. States are responsible for providing justice but struggle to end this impunity, in part because these groups prevent witnesses from coming forward with information. Silencing Citizens explains how criminal groups constrain cooperation with the police not just by threatening retaliation but also by shaping citizens' perceptions of community support for cooperation. The book details a social psychological process through which criminal group violence makes community support for cooperation appear weaker than it is and thus reduces witnesses' willingness to share information with the police. The book draws on a wealth of data including original surveys in two contrasting cities - Baltimore, Maryland in the Global North and Lagos, Nigeria in the Global South. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Why Police-Citizen Cooperation Matters: 1. Study motivation: vacuums of justice
2. Research design and definitions
Part II. How Criminal Groups Prevent Cooperation: 3. Theory: cycles of silence
4. Evidence: silencing citizens in Baltimore
5. Evidence: silencing citizens in Lagos
Part III. Interventions for Promoting Cooperation: 6. Theory: reversing the cycles
7. Evidence: quiet cooperation in Baltimore
8. Evidence: quiet cooperation in Lagos
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB]