Scott Akins

Immigration, Economic Disadvantage, and Homicide: A Community-Level Analysis of Austin, Texas

In this article, the effect of recent immigration on homicide rates across city of Austin, Texas census tracts is examined. Since 1980, Austins recent immigrant population increased by more than 580% across the metropolitan area and it is now considered a “pre-emerging” immigrant gateway city to the United States. Therefore the changing population dynamics in Austin provide an excellent opportunity to study the effect of recent immigration on homicide. After controlling for structural predictors of homicide and correcting for spatial autocorrelation, our findings indicate that recent immigration is not associated with homicide.

Racial segregation and property crime: Examining the mediating effect of police strength

Research has not yet considered the relationship between property crime and segregation and the influence of police strength on the association of segregation and crime. To address these issues, this article examines the association of racial segregation with burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft for 1990. The results reveal that segregation is significantly and positively associated with all three measures of property crime. When data on police strength are introduced into the models, segregation-crime coefficients are significantly attenuated, and two are rendered nonsignificant, providing evidence that the segregation-property crime association is at least partly mediated through police strength.

THE EFFECT OF ACCULTURATION ON PATTERNS OF HISPANIC SUBSTANCE USE IN WASHINGTON STATE

A growing body of research on Hispanic substance use in the United States has found acculturation to result in increased drug use. This study contributes to this research by analyzing the effect of acculturation on Hispanic substance use in Washington State, a state with a rural and dispersed Hispanic population. Findings reveal acculturation to have a strong positive effect on levels of illicit drug use, hard drug use, binge drinking and bender drinking among Hispanics.

Patterns and Correlates of Substance Use among American Indians in Washington State

While there is fairly extensive literature examining the patterns and correlates of substance use across minority youth populations with a particular focus on comparisons between Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, there has been comparatively little attention devoted to adults. Drawing on data derived from a household sample of close to 7,000 adults in Washington State, this paper provides multivariate analyses of the correlates of substance use across five racial/ethnic groups with a specific emphasis on American Indians. The analyses reveal that while American Indians have generally higher levels of substance use and abuse than those from other racial/ethnic groups, the differences are attenuated when socio-demographic and individual level/risk protective factors are taken into account.

Law Enforcement Response to “Frequent Fliers”: An Examination of High-Frequency Contacts Between Police and Justice-Involved Persons With Mental Illness

This article examines a subset of justice-involved persons with mental illness who have repeated contacts with law enforcement officers. Previous work has alluded to this sub-population—often termed “frequent fliers”—but little research has empirically examined its size and nature. This study proposes a method of identifying frequent fliers that is based on the amount of time elapsed between multiple mental-health-related contacts with police. Using more or less stringent thresholds, the analysis defines several groups of frequent fliers, including rapid cyclers, those having very frequent contacts with police. In considering policy responses to the problem of justice-involved persons with mental illness, addressing the needs of the frequent flier population proves to be a way of targeting limited resources for the most impact.

Patterns and Correlates of Adult American Indian Substance Use

There is substantial literature on the patterns and correlates of substance use across minority youth populations, but comparatively little attention has been directed to substance use among adults. This is particularly the case for adult American Indians, generally due to sampling challenges. This article provides multivariate analyses of the correlates of substance use across five racial/ethnic groups and highlights analyses focused on American Indian adults. In addition to marijuana use and binge drinking, our analyses consider hard drug use, which remains understudied in the literature, and include a first consideration of “bender drinking,” a form of alcohol consumption that is most likely to lead to health, social, and legal problems. Our results indicate that although American Indians report higher levels of substance use and abuse than do those from other racial/ethnic groups, these differences are attenuated when sociodemographic and individual-level/risk protective factors are taken into account.

Assessing the Effects of Recent Immigration on Serious Property Crime in Austin, Texas

In this article the authors examine the impact of recent immigration on rates of serious property crime across communities in Austin, Texas. The greater Austin foreign-born population has increased by more than 580 percent since 1980, and Austin is considered a “preemerging” immigrant gateway city to the United States. The changing population dynamics in Austin provide an excellent opportunity to study the effect of recent immigration on crime in a target destination for recent immigrants. Although interest in the relationship between violent crime and immigration to new locales is evidenced by recent studies that show less favorable outcomes for Latinos in new destinations, little attention has been directed to the relationship of recent immigration with serious property crime in new destinations. Negative binomial regression models with corrections for spatial autocorrelation indicate that recent immigration is not associated with an increased rate of burglary, larceny, or motor vehicle theft once important structural predictors of crime are controlled for.

Racial Segregation, Concentrated Disadvantage, and Violent Crime

Existing studies have identified an association between racial segregation and crime but analyses of segregation and crime have occurred solely at the city level of analysis. Measurement of segregation at the neighborhood level is necessary because the larger the unit of analysis is geographically, the more likely variation in segregation is to be concealed within the aggregate unit. This study provides analyses of segregation and crime at the neighborhood level and empirically examines the process by which segregation produces crime. Results indicate that segregation is positively and significantly associated with aggravated assault at the neighborhood level and that the effect of segregation on assault is fully mediated through economic disadvantage. These findings suggest that segregation is an important predictor of violent crime and that efforts to control urban violence should address the many sources of disadvantage caused and exacerbated by segregation.

Examining the Relationship of Substance Use and Sexual Orientation

In this article we examine the effects of self-reported sexual orientation on substance abuse. Using data on a random sample of 6,713 individuals in Washington State, this study examines causes and correlates of substance use by sexual minorities, an at-risk and treatment underserved population. Logistic regression results indicate homosexual orientation is a significant positive predictor of past year marijuana use, past year hard drug use, past year binge drinking, and lifetime alcohol addiction. Bisexual orientation is a significant predictor of past year marijuana use, past year hard drug use, and past year binge drinking. Potential causal mechanisms for these elevated patterns of substance use are discussed.

University Researcher and Law Enforcement Collaboration Lessons From a Study of Justice-Involved Persons With Suspected Mental Illness

In 2012, heads of local law enforcement agencies in Benton County, Oregon, contacted researchers at Oregon State University to discuss a problem: a sharp rise in the number of contacts between police and suspects displaying symptoms of mental illness. This initial inquiry led to an ongoing collaborative examination of the nature, causes, and consequences of the rise in police contacts. In this article, the authors describe this collaboration between researchers and law enforcement officials from the perspective of both parties, situating it within the context of mental illness in the U.S. criminal justice system. The collaborators draw on firsthand experiences and prior collaborations to discuss the benefits of, challenges in, and recommendations for university–police research collaborations. Although such collaborations may pose challenges (related to relationship definition, data collection and analysis, outputs, and relationship maintenance), the potential benefits—for researchers and law enforcement agencies—are substantial.