Exploring the Determinants of Social Change on Crime in the Vulnerable Residential Neighbourhoods in Cities of the Global South-Port-Harcourt City, Nigeria.

Abstract

Recent research indicates that one of the significant problems to reduce crime in cities is not the difficulty in apprehending criminals but the vulnerability of our socio-cultural environment. Available national and city-scale impact reports indicate that the rate of city insecurity variables tends to be higher than the national average, which may imply that urban residents may be more vulnerable. This study explores the determinants of social change in crime in vulnerable cities. Using Port Harcourt city, Nigeria as the case study area, the research applies a methodical approach to explore the relationship between the determinants and crime, focusing on the key concepts in urban social structural theories. The philosophical assumption behind this study is pragmatism with a phenomenological strand, based on scientific inductive reasoning as the approach to theory development. The study is cross-sectional, and the research strategy is case study. The data collected from in-depth interview through a semi structured interview guide were analysed using thematic analysis, hence, it is a multi-method qualitative research. This research, however, had some limitations and implications. The broad study area is limited by sample size, language barrier, and wrong interpretation of direct translation. Nevertheless, the result of the research highlights the impacts and role of socio-demographic, physical and socioeconomic characteristics on crime, as well as the effect of poor social control and how it affects the vulnerability of our socio-cultural environment. This study builds on the existing social structural theories such as social disorganization, general strain, routine activity, and the broken window theories. It fills the current gap in the literature by finding the post-critical factors that motivate crime in cities of the Global South. This research explicitly highlights the most critical factors that influence or affect crime and how to balance the need to ensure safety and maintain inclusive and participatory processes.