Abstract

HEREDIA GONZALEZ, José Manuel. Deterrence and injuries on armed crimes in Mexico. Estud. sociol [online]. 2018, vol.36, n.107, pp.361-391. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2018v36n107.1596.

It is usual to think that firearms cause more damage to people in a crime; however, studies and empirical evidence confirming this are scarce. To answer the question “what weapon causes more social damage?”, we explore three levels of damage to victims: physical injuries, economic losses and, finally, psychological consequences (sense of security and trust in authority). We compare the damage to victims in each of these three levels. Results show that, while physical damage is significantly lower when the crime is committed with a knife in relation to a firearm, the economic and psychological damages increase significantly. This has important implications for public policymaking.

Keywords : public security; firearms; impunity; security policies; trust in authority.