The Spatial Structure of Sites in Ransom Kidnappings in El Salvador, 2000–2005

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Author(s)
Ponce, C
Andresen, MA
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2019
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We investigate ransom kidnapping in El Salvador, 2000–2005, considering the geospatial patterns of abduction, captivity, and release sites. Both captivity and release sites tend to be at similar distances from abduction locations, and these distances were, on average, longer than the distance between the places where the victims were held captive and set free. This indicates that the choices of abduction locations are circumscribed by victims’ routine movement patterns and, once abducted, victims are transported to locations where kidnappers feel they have some level of control and will not attract the attention of neighbors ...
View more >We investigate ransom kidnapping in El Salvador, 2000–2005, considering the geospatial patterns of abduction, captivity, and release sites. Both captivity and release sites tend to be at similar distances from abduction locations, and these distances were, on average, longer than the distance between the places where the victims were held captive and set free. This indicates that the choices of abduction locations are circumscribed by victims’ routine movement patterns and, once abducted, victims are transported to locations where kidnappers feel they have some level of control and will not attract the attention of neighbors or authorities. Lastly, longer distances between captivity and release sites were associated positively and significantly with the ransom measures in the analysis.
View less >
View more >We investigate ransom kidnapping in El Salvador, 2000–2005, considering the geospatial patterns of abduction, captivity, and release sites. Both captivity and release sites tend to be at similar distances from abduction locations, and these distances were, on average, longer than the distance between the places where the victims were held captive and set free. This indicates that the choices of abduction locations are circumscribed by victims’ routine movement patterns and, once abducted, victims are transported to locations where kidnappers feel they have some level of control and will not attract the attention of neighbors or authorities. Lastly, longer distances between captivity and release sites were associated positively and significantly with the ransom measures in the analysis.
View less >
Journal Title
Security Journal
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Palgrave Macmillan. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Security Journal. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Security Journal pp 1–22|, 2019 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-019-00179-5
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This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version
Subject
Criminology