Edward S. Shihadeh

Segregation and Crime The Relationship between Black Centralization and Urban Black Homicide

Among the handful of studies that examine the influence of segregation on crime, there is a heavy reliance on the idea that segregation is a structured form of inequality that generates high crime rates in ways similar to that of other forms of inequality. The authors attempt to sharpen the link between Black segregation and Black crime by considering whether the centralization of urban Blacks to inner-city areas is associated with high rates of Black violence in the United States. Using racially disaggregated U.S. census and Uniform Crime Report data for 1990, the authors estimate sequential ordinary least squares models that examine the link between segregation and Black violence. A positive relationship between the city rates of Black homicide and the geographic centralization of Blacks relative to Whites is found. The evidence suggests that the structural impediments unique to the inner city are strongly related to the rates of Black homicide in those areas.

Latino Employment and Black Violence: The Unintended Consequence of U.S. Immigration Policy

U.S. immigration policies after 1965 fueled a rise in the Latino population and, thus, increased the competition for low-skill jobs. We examine whether Latino immigration and Latino dominance of low-skill industries increases black urban violence. Using city-level data for the year 2000, we find that (1. Latino immigration is positively linked to urban black violence, (2. the link is most prevalent where blacks lost ground to Latinos in low-skill markets, (3. not all low-skill sectors operate in unison; black violence rises only when jobs in agriculture, manufacturing and construction are in short supply and, (4. Latino immigration raises black violence by first increasing black unemployment. We discuss the implications of these findings.

Latino Immigration, Economic Deprivation, and Violence: Regional Differences in the Effect of Linguistic Isolation

One of the many contributions of Land, McCall, and Cohen’s landmark study was the confirmation of a long-held view in criminology—that deprivation raises homicide. Yet recent literature finds that although Latino immigrant communities are often poor, paradoxically they have low levels of crime. Unfortunately, this seemingly contradictory evidence is based on studies of long-established, well-organized, traditional immigrant communities where Spanish is a modal form of communication. However, recent Latino migrants opted for new destinations that are unprotected by a shell of common culture and language, making Latinos in these areas more vulnerable to serious violence. In acknowledging these critical differences between old and new Latino communities, we observe four interrelated findings: (a) The widely held view that Latinos generally live in safe places is true only for those in traditional destinations; (b) Latinos in new destinations are murdered at an exceedingly high rate; (c) This elevated risk is linked to English nonfluency among Latinos in new destinations only; and (d) In these areas, linguistic isolation increases homicide not just directly but indirectly as well by first increasing Latino economic deprivation. Thus, once differences in place are considered, there is no “paradox” about Latino immigration and crime. Our results uphold the benchmark assessment of Land, McCall and Cohen, that deprivation is linked to homicide—even in Latino communities.

Serious Crime in Urban Neighborhoods: Is There a Race Effect?

Most studies of the relationship between race and crime employ data aggregated at the city or SMSA level to show that high proportions of Blacks indicate high levels of crime. However, theoretical accounts of underlying criminogenic processes do not imply an effect for race, but rather involve explicit or implicit reference to the neighborhood as the unit of analysis. We combine 1990 census data with arrest records for 1989–1991 to generate complete block group information (n = 276) for a medium size southern city. Contrary to studies showing a relationship between racial composition and crime, we show that structural factors account for this effect completely. This finding challenges accounts of crime based on subculture and is consistent with accounts based on the social and economic structure of communities.

Cohort Size and Arrest Rates Over the Life Course: The Easterlin Hypothesis Reconsidered

Easterlins cohort-size hypothesis suggests that crime rates fluctuate according to the relative size of the birth cohort. We examine the hypothesis using arrest statistics from the Uniform Crime Reports for the years 1953 through 1989. This paper extends an earlier ASR article (Steffensmeier et al. 1987) and tests three hypotheses derived from the Easterlin framework: (1) whether cohort size is positively related to age-period-specific crime rates, net of age and period effects; (2) whether the effect of cohort size is stronger for property crimes than for violent crimes; and (3) whether the effect of cohort size is stronger for young adults than for older adults or is consistently additive across the life course. Results using two different procedures to assess the cohort-size effect generally contradict the hypotheses, leading us to question the usefulness of cohort size as an explanation of periodicity in crime rates and possibly in other social phenomena as well. (abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1992. Copyright

The Imperative of Place: Homicide and the New Latino Migration

Prior research finds that Latino immigration reduced violence. We argue that this is because they settled in traditional immigrant areas. But recent migrants settled in new destinations where the immigration–violence link is more complex. Contrary to previous findings, we observe that (1) Latino homicide victimization is higher in new destinations; (2) Latino immigration increases victimization rates, but only in new destinations and only for Latinos entering after 1990, when they fanned out to new destinations; and (3) Latino deprivation increases victimization only in new destinations because, we speculate, these new areas lack the protective social control umbrella of traditional destinations. Thus, the “Latino paradox” may be less useful than time-honored sociological frameworks for understanding the link between Latino immigration and violence.

ALCOHOL AVAILABILITY AND VIOLENT CRIME RATES: A SPATIAL ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the relationship between alcohol availability in urban areas (block groups) and arrest rates for violent crime. The research examines the influence alcohol outlet density (measured both as the density of package-only sources and of taverns) has on the level of robbery and assault. Previous research has found alcohol availability to be predictive of violence, but ecological studies have had methodological limitations, particularly the problem of spatial autocorrelation. We avoid this problem by utilizing the Maximum Likelihood Estimation technique. The results indicate, net of the effects of control variables and of the effects of spatial autocorrelation, that the density of package-only outlets significantly increases the rate of arrest for both crimes. However, the density of taverns has no such effect. A control/routine-activities interpretation of the findings is offered.

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF THE ETHNIC ENCLAVE: RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY AND VIOLENCE IN LATINO COMMUNITIES

Early Chicago school thinkers linked crime to the disorganizing influx of Eastern European immigrants and black migrants from the South. Extending this to contemporary concerns, we use Census and Vital Statistics data to examine whether migration to ethnic enclaves among Latinos and blacks raises violence. It appears that when Latinos settle in their ethnic enclaves, violence in their communities declines. Contrary to Chicago school assertions, this improves economic conditions and strengthens group ties as the community mobilizes to receive newcomers. In contrast, such migration does not dampen violence in black communities. We discuss the implications of this for ecological theorizing.

Race, Class, and Crime: Reconsidering the Spatial Effects of Social Isolation on Rates of Urban Offending

I examine two views on the social isolation–crime link. The first is rooted in the outmigration of nonpoor blacks from black central cities, creating a black class isolation. The second identifies the pathologies of racial isolation, where blacks are separated from whites. These different interpretations of social isolation are compared across 278 neighborhoods in a midsized U.S. City. Findings show that black class isolation increases violent crime whereas racial isolation does not. Also, characteristics of populations outside the focal neighborhood are more important than those inside, suggesting that extant neighborhood studies are misspecified and underestimate the structural effects on neighborhood crime.

THE FEMA TRAILER PARKS: NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF AVOIDANCE

In recent years, negative media attention has fostered the impression that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) parks are social wastelands filled with criminal elements and other undesirables. FEMA parks have subsequently come to be viewed by some as a major threat to the safety and quality of life of the local communities in which they are situated. This analysis addresses attitudes toward FEMA trailer parks in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina among Baton Rouge residents. Drawing on the Locally Undesirable Land Use/Not in My Backyard (LULU/NIMBY) literature, the contact hypothesis, and a broad paradigm of social status and social control, we hypothesize that spatial proximity, contact, and social status will influence negative perceptions of the parks, while these same factors along with the negative perceptions will influence avoidance behaviors. The results indicate that living near a FEMA park is associated with less negative perceptions, while actually seeing trailer park residents is associated with more negative perceptions and a greater odds of avoidance, particularly changing driving routes. Whites are particularly concerned about crime associated with the parks, but interracial trust reduces negative perceptions of the parks and the likelihood of avoidance. Those who are likely to end up in a FEMA park if they were in the same situation are more friendly toward the parks and less likely to use avoidance techniques, and negative perceptions themselves are strong predictors of avoidance behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of directions for future research.