Who is to blame? Youth crime and attribution of responsibility in urban Mexico

Abstract

Crime and violence threaten people's safety and overall well-being around the globe. Youths represent a large fraction of the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. Understanding how youths make judgments about criminal acts and attribute blame has important implications, as these patterns are associated with perceptions of the acceptability of criminal behavior. Drawing on standard theories of blame attribution, we investigate the causal attributions of responsibility for criminal behavior among youths in urban Mexico, distinguishing between internal blame (attributed to the perpetrator) and external blame (attributed to the government and society). Using a novel, face-to-face survey experiment with nearly 3000 Mexicans aged 16–29 and seven focus groups, we examine how the perpetrator's socioeconomic background, role within a gang, victim type, and crime severity influence assessments of blame attribution. Our results provide compelling evidence that the socioeconomic status of the perpetrator and the type of gang involvement significantly influence assessments of internal and external blame. We also find that blame allocation differs based on respondents' characteristics and community environment. These findings shed light on how youths rationalize criminal behavior and have clear implications for policy-relevant research concerning crime and violence among youths.