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On immigration and crime
Abstract
The connection between immigration and crime is one of the most
contentious topics in contemporary society. These discussions are not
new, as debates on the issue date back more than 100 years. A general
point on which both pro- and anti-immigration writers agree is that,
as we enter the new millennium, the latest wave of immigration is
likely to have a more important impact on society than any other
social issue. In this essay, we survey the vast body of theoretical and
empirical works on the relationship between immigration and crime
in 20th-century America. Throughout, we include new writings as
well as older, sometimes neglected works. We discuss three major
theoretical perspectives that have guided explanations of the immigration/
crime link: opportunity structure, cultural approaches, and
social disorganization. We also examine empirical studies of immigrant
involvement in crime. We conclude with a review of public
opinion about immigrants, especially as it relates to immigrants and
crime, and then provide original data on the connection between public
opinion and immigrant crime.
There are important reasons to believe that immigrants should be
involved in crime to a greater degree than native-born Americans. For
example, immigrants face acculturation and assimilation problems
that most natives do not, and immigrants tend to settle in disorganized neighborhoods characterized by structural characteristics often associated with crime, such as widespread poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and a preponderance of young males. However, despite claims by pundits and writers that
high levels of “immigrant crime” are an unavoidable product of immigration, scholars rarely produce any systematic evidence of this recently reemerging social problem.
Although a host of reasons exists to expect that immigrants are high-crime
prone, the bulk of empirical studies conducted over the past century have
found that immigrants are typically underrepresented in criminal statistics.
There are some partial exceptions to this finding, but these appear to be
linked more to differences in structural conditions across urban areas where
immigrants settle rather than to the cultural traditions of the immigrant
groups. Local context is a central influence shaping the criminal involvement
of both immigrants and natives, but in many cases, compared with
native groups, immigrants seem better able to withstand crime-facilitating
conditions than native groups. In conclusion, this review suggests that native
groups would profit from a better understanding of how immigrant groups
faced with adverse social conditions maintain low rates of crime.
... For instance, scholars from the social disorganization tradition have highlighted how residential mobility and concentrated disadvantage hinder effective family and community processes which can increase delinquent and criminal behavior (Wang et al., 2020;Wright et al., 2014). On the other hand, other contextual factors such as immigrant concentration can be protective of offending through the community's stabilizing influence on family and social institutions (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Sampson et al., 2005). Thus, as one's neighborhood context can have distinct consequences for a youth's delinquent behavior, it is worth considering how these factors also influence the youth's exposure to PCE. ...
... Further, Desmond and Kubrin (2009) reported that communities with higher immigrant concentrations exhibited less violence compared to other communities with lower concentrations of immigrant populations (see Sampson et al., 2005 for similar results). These findings support the immigrant revitalization perspective which argues having a high immigrant concentration serves to stabilize what might otherwise be a disadvantaged, high-crime community through the strengthening of family, economic, and social institutions (Martinez & Lee, 2000). 1 For instance, immigrant families are more likely to have two-parent households and are less likely to experience divorce (Kubrin & Ishizawa, 2012). Taken as a whole, empirical evidence suggests immigrant concentration may serve to promote protective factors, thereby improving the outcomes for the families residing in these communities. ...
... However, few have investigated potential correlates of PCEs. This is unfortunate as the literature has demonstrated not only that neighborhood contextual factors such as concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and immigrant concentration are linked to antisocial behavior, but they are also related to key protective factors such as social ties and family structure (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Wang et al., 2020). The current study sought to address this gap and examined how social disorganization and immigrant concentration impacted PCE accumulation, beyond individual-level characteristics, among a sample of juvenile justice-involved youth. ...
Alongside the research on the impact of cumulative trauma on later outcomes, scholars have started to investigate how an accumulation of protective factors may buffer adverse outcomes. However, these studies have failed to consider how one's social context, in particular the levels of social disorganization and immigrant concentration present, may be associated with the accumulation of protective factors. Using data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the current study examines how both youth-and neighborhood-level factors predict cumulative positive childhood experiences (PCEs) among justice-involved youth. The results indicated that while immigrant concentration is unassociated with PCE accumulation,
... This is important as general public sentiment often connects immigrant groups to notions of resentment and criminality [38,39]. Yet, extant literature shows that foreign-born individuals are less likely to offend than native-born individuals (see [29,[40][41][42][43][44]). This suggests that there may be important differences between the immigrant and native-born experience, particularly as it relates to criminal activity. ...
... They found that first-generation, or foreign-born, immigrants were less likely to be arrested than individuals in latter generations. This is consistent with past literature regarding immigrants and offending (e.g., [40,44]). Secondly, they found that marriage predicted desistance among second-and third-plus generation immigrants, but not among firstgeneration individuals. ...
... While prior work has separately considered the effects of relationships and immigrant status on offending [14,15,20,40,43,44], only a handful of scholars have examined how immigrant status may condition the effect of romantic relationship on offending [41,49]. The current study sought to further this line of inquiry by investigating how three relationship characteristics may reduce offending across different immigrant status among a sample of serious, adjudicated delinquents. ...
Purpose
Though prior research has established the separate effects of romantic relationships and immigrant status on offending, few studies have combined these areas to assess how immigrant status may condition the effect of romantic relationships on crime. Further, fewer studies strive to uncover the potential mechanisms of the relationship effect.
Methods
Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, this study examined the effects of relational quality, monitoring, and tolerance of deviance on later offending and if these effects differed among first-generation, second-generation, and native-born youth.
Results
While tolerance of deviance and monitoring were found to predict decreased offending among the second-generation and native-born youth, only tolerance of deviance predicted decreased offending for the first-generation youth.
Conclusions
Although there were no meaningful differences between the second-generation and native-born youth with respect to desistance mechanisms, relational monitoring was not associated with desistance among the first-generation youth. Relational quality was not associated with desistance for any subgroup. These findings have important implications for social control theories and suggest individual differences such as immigrant status may condition the effects of social bonds on offending. Potential cultural differences such as “familismo” may help explain these effects and are worthy of further consideration.
... After nearly half a century of restrictive immigration policies (e.g. Emergency Quota Act of 1921), the USA underwent a dramatic and unprecedented shift in its foreignborn population following the passage of the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Reid, Weiss, Adelman, & Jaret, 2005). From 1970 to 2016, the immigrant population grew from 10 to nearly 44 million residents (Radford & Budiman, 2018). ...
... From 1970 to 2016, the immigrant population grew from 10 to nearly 44 million residents (Radford & Budiman, 2018). Additionally, not only did the size of the foreign-born population change, so did the demographic profile of these new immigrants (Graif & Sampson, 2009;Hagan & Palloni, 1999;Martinez & Lee, 2000). For instance, in 1960, immigrants born in Europe or Canada accounted for 84% of the foreign-born population in the USA. ...
... This issue is important to consider given the dramatic growth of the immigrant population over the last 50 years and public opinion suggesting that immigrants account for a disproportionate share of crime (Desmond & Kubrin, 2009;Feldmeyer et al., 2015;Feldmeyer & Steffensmeier, 2009;MacDonald & Sampson, 2012). Yet, this viewpoint does not align with the available scientific evidence (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Rumbaut & Ewing, 2007;Salas-Wright, Vaughn, Schwartz, & Cordova, 2016). ...
Empirical research shows that immigrants have lower rates of offending, arrest, and incarceration than the native-born. However, previous work has not examined whether this relationship extends to recidivism. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by comparing recidivism outcomes of 192,556 formerly incarcerated native- and foreign-born individuals released from Florida prisons. Using multiple analytic methods, including logistic regression, propensity score matching, and survival analysis, we find that immigrants are less likely to reoffend than their native-born peers. We conclude with a discussion of our study’s findings for future research and policy and practice.
... To some degree, these negative images and anti-immigrant rhetoric have a basis in social theory. Sociological and criminological theories have long emphasized a strong connection between immigration and crime (Martinez and Lee 2000). Although the mechanisms linking the two vary considerably, several explanations maintain that increased immigration to an area will result in heightened crime rates. ...
... Although the mechanisms linking the two vary considerably, several explanations maintain that increased immigration to an area will result in heightened crime rates. These theories have been discussed at length elsewhere (Kubrin 2013;Martinez and Lee 2000). Given space limitations, we briefly discuss three of the most popular and widely cited explanations: social disorganization theory, local labor market theory, and cultural theory. ...
... Because immigrants, like ethnic minorities, are more likely than native-born whites to reside in areas where "structural conditions have altered the status systems away from idealized middle-class norms and toward a culture of opposition" (Lee, Martinez, and Rosenfeld 2001, 562), cultural theories suggest that immigrant communities should experience high crime rates (Mears 2002, 284;Reid et al. 2005, 760). Indeed, many immigrant communities are segregated from mainstream society and have high rates of poverty, joblessness, and other disadvantages (MacDonald and Saunders 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19CO 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40S 41N 2012, 126;Martinez and Lee 2000;Velez 2009) and as such do not represent "communities of choice" but rather "ghettos of last resort" for immigrants (Glaser, Parker, and Li 2003, 526). As immigrants navigate these disadvantaged communities, they may adopt the tough, aggressive stances common when negotiating the streets (Anderson 1999;Bourgois 2003;Martinez, Lee, and Nielsen 2004;Tonry 1997, 21-22). ...
This chapter examines the divergence between political rhetoric and public policy in the United States that demonizes immigrants for their "criminality" and the empirical reality of low crime rates in U.S. immigrant communities. Through a case study that examines a political debate on the propriety of using local police officers to help remove undocumented individuals, we argue that one path toward the tolerance of immigrants as non-harmful and legitimate members of the community is when immigrant groups become, de facto, an acknowledged part of that community and are no longer seen to represent a foreign threat to others. In such a situation, the wholesale rejection of immigrants, including the undocumented, becomes politically costly and undesirable, leading to more nuanced political discourse about the presence of immigrants and local policies related to them. In this chapter, we first examine this divergence. We then present findings from our case study in a Southern California community. Finally, in the conclusion, we argue that recent developments in criminological theory that more accurately account for the empirical reality of the immigration-crime relationship represent a productive step toward delineating those social-ecological factors that help reduce crime rates in immigrant communities and constitute an important part of the national narrative on immigration and crime.
... Hagan & Palloni, 1999, p. 629;MacDonald & Saunders, 2012;Martinez & Lee, 2000;McCord, 1995;Olson, Laurikkala, Huff-Corzine, & Corzine, 2009;Sampson, Morenoff & Raudenbush, 2005;Tonry, 1997). In fact, in an extensive review of the literature, Martinez and Lee (2000) conclude that: "the major finding of a century of research on immigration and crime is that immigrants. ...
... Assimilation into this path is largely affected by the nature of the current labor market structure: [w]hereas earlier European immigrants entered American cities at a time when manufacturing jobs were plentiful and provided a means of upward mobility, new immigrants must confront an "hourglass economy" that bifurcates opportunities for employment between menial low-wage jobs at the bottom and high-skill professional and technical jobs at the top and provides very limited opportunities for immigrants to advance beyond the bottom rung of the economic ladder without substantial investments in human capital and acquisition of requisite social networks. ( Morenoff & Astor, 2006, p. 38) Combined with weak family and community ties, assimilation into this context may lead children of immigrants to adopt deviant inner-city values and pro-crime norms of native-born minorities such as the devaluation of education, drug use, and gangs ( MacDonald & Saunders, 2012, p. 126;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Morenoff & Astor, 2006, p. 49;Portes & Rumbaut, 2001;Portes & Zhou, 1993;Velez, 2009). The path of downward assimilation, it is argued, can lead immigrants to face experiences and obstacles similar to native-born African Americans or Latinos. ...
... .. cultural theories imply that immigrant communities should exhibit high rates of crime" ( Lee et al., 2001, p. 562;see also Mears, 2002, p. 284;Reid et al., 2005, p. 760). Indeed, many areas of high immigrant concentration are segregated from mainstream society and experience poverty, joblessness, and other disadvantages ( MacDonald & Saunders, 2012, p. 126;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Velez, 2009). As Glaser, Parker, and Li (2003) argue, these neighborhoods do not represent "communities of choice" but rather "ghettos of last resort" for immigrants and other residents (p. ...
... The distinction in age and gender between documented and undocumented immigrants is relevant to the present study because criminological research consistently shows that being young and male are some of the strongest predictors of crime and recidivism (Hagan & Palloni, 1999;Kubrin & Stewart, 2006). As such, undocumented immigrants should have an elevated risk for reoffending because they represent a more "recidivism-prone" group (Feldmeyer, 2009;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Ousey & Kubrin, 2009). ...
... The notion that immigrants contribute to higher rates of crime is a widely held perception among the general public (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Rumbuat & Ewing, 2007). Yet, research shows that immigrants are less criminally active than their native-born peers when comparing rates of general offending, arrest, incarceration, and recidivism (Bersani, 2014;Jennings et al., 2013;Ramos & Wenger, 2020;Rumbaut & Ewing, 2007). ...
Research shows that immigrants are less criminally involved than their native-born peers when examining a host of justice-related outcomes. Yet, this knowledge tells us little about whether the immigration-crime relationship varies when disaggregating the foreign-born into more distinct groups such as legal status. Using data from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), we address this gap in the literature by examining whether documented and undocumented ex-inmates differ in their probability to recidivate. We also consider whether these immigrant groups reoffend at a lower, higher, or similar level when compared to the native-born. Our findings reveal that there are no differences in reoffending between documented and undocumented ex-inmates, while both groups display a significantly lower probability to recidivate relative to natives.
... Our findings support this hypothesis, even though the data we used in this study cannot discern the suggested mechanisms. The argument is plausible when integrating our evidence of lower victimization risk among the foreign born with other research findings that show this group is less involved in alcohol/drug use, antisocial conduct, and crime offending behaviors (e.g., Salas-Wright et al., 2018;Vaughn et al., 2014;Bersani & Piquero, 2017) and more likely to reside in communities with a wide range of family, social, and economic capitals as community revitalization theory suggests (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Sampson, 2008). These explanations remain tentative until direct and comprehensive tests of the proposed mechanisms are conducted. ...
... Our study adds new evidence to discussions about this important issue. By showing that the majority of immigrants (i.e., naturalized citizens and known noncitizens) are protected from victimization by their foreign-born status, we join a long line of research that challenges claims that crime is more prevalent among immigrants and within immigrant communities (e.g., Bersani & Piquero, 2017;Butcher & Piehl, 1998;Desmond & Kubrin, 2009;Eggers & Jennings, 2014;MacDonald, Hipp, & Gill, 2013;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Miller & Peguero, 2018;Ousey & Kubrin, 2018;Xie & Baumer, 2018;Zatz & Smith, 2012). This body of accumulated knowledge, coupled with empirical evidence showing the ineffectiveness of the government's main immigration control measures such as 287(g), Secure Communities, border security, and the detention and deportation of immigrants (e.g., Forrester & Nowrasteh, 2018;Kubrin, 2014;Miles & Cox, 2014;Treyger, Chalfin, & Loeffler, 2014), suggests that the intent to use immigration control as a method for reducing crime is likely to be impractical and may bring unintended consequences. ...
Until recently, national‐level data on criminal victimization in the United States did not include information on immigrant or citizenship status of respondents. This data‐infrastructure limitation has hindered scientific understanding of whether immigrants are more or less likely than native‐born Americans to be criminally victimized and how victimization may vary among immigrants of different statuses. We address these issues in the present study by using new data from the 2017–2018 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to explore the association between citizenship status and victimization risk in a nationally representative sample of households and persons aged 12 years and older. The research is guided by a theoretical framing that integrates insights from studies of citizenship with the literature on immigration and crime, as well as with theories of victimization. We find that a person's foreign‐born status (but not their acquired U.S. citizenship) confers protection against victimization. We also find that the protective benefit associated with being foreign born does not extend to those with ambiguous citizenship status, who in our data exhibit attributes similar to the known characteristics of undocumented immigrants. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings and the potential ways to extend the research.
... While criminological scholarship has suggested several reasons why migrants could be more likely to conduct crimes, empirical evidence of the relationship between the number of homicides and migrants is inconclusive (Martinez and Lee 2000). Additionally, studies focus more on the problem of crime among migrants rather than supporting the popular belief according to which liberal immigration policies will increase violence and crime. ...
... A country cannot be indifferent towards refugees that are escaping war, and drowning into the Mediterranean Sea in the process, if it respects life and this causes its citizens not to commit violent crimes. By focusing on the reflection of the dominant culture in asylum policies and its effect on crime, this study will reveal why the relationship between migration and crime has received so many explanations that suggest that motives of and opportunities for crime lead to criminality, while still empirical evidence of the association between crime and migration is mixed (Martinez and Lee 2000;Bell et al. 2013). The reason for this is that investigation of the relationship has neglected a focus on the dominant culture, and it has falsely assumed that migration is an independent rather than a logical proxy of the dependent variable in the explanation of the relationship. ...
In the study of migrants and violence, the focus is often on the likely opportunities and motives of migrants to commit violence, and the effect of this on the level of crime. This article reconstructs the causal path differently. It considers the variation of the number of refugees as a logical proxy of a humane culture and studies the variation in the occurrence of homicides as causally conditioned by this culture. This article compares European and North American countries during the 2015–17 refugee crisis. It uses the number of accepted refugees per population, per Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and per area as proxies of valuation of life among host populations. Regardless of the type of burden a country will accept to rescue refugees, this willingness is associated with lower levels of homicide. Thus, in developed countries, security from violent crime cannot be an argument against humane refugee policies.
... More recently, evidence increasingly suggests that in urban settings, diversity operates as an amenity rather than a liability (Florida 2002)-reducing prejudice and increasing tolerance (Wilson 1985), preventing conflicts (Varshney 2002) and violence (Graif and Sampson 2009;Martinez and Lee 2000), and leaving organizational involvement unencumbered (Sampson and Graif 2009;Tran et al. 2013). Population diversity has been shown to be positively associated with American-born workers' employment and wages at the city level (Ottaviano and Perri 2005). ...
... Mostly focused on delinquency and crime, the social disorganization arguments suggest that racial/ethnic heterogeneity, together with its socioeconomic disadvantage and residential instability, weaken a neighborhood's institutional base and bring about miscommunication problems and intergroup tensions, which disrupt the normative structure and the levels of formal and informal social control that could keep crime in check (Park et al. 1925:107;Shaw and McKay 1942). Building on these insights, more recent arguments suggest that as immigrants search for affordable housing and move to poor neighborhoods, they may be more likely to adapt to the local "underclass" norms of conduct, becoming alienated from both ethnic and mainstream cultures (Portes and Zhou 1993), and perhaps even joining gangs to protect themselves against local tensions (Martinez and Lee 2000). Other evidence links heterogeneity to weakened social control, mistrust, and culture clashes (Putnam 2007;Smelser and Alexander 1999), which would presumably deter residents and organizations from settling into diverse neighborhoods, if they have other choices. ...
... By consequence, the present study investigates how health-seeking behaviour is influenced by gender interactions in slum areas. Urban slums in India differ from other communities because of their complex socio-cultural structure, due to cultural heterogeneity and acculturation [11]. Being migrants, the lifestyle of the people itself changes a lot once they step into the slums, requiring them to make adjustments at every stage and compromise with every situation, resulting into the emergence of an acculturation in perception, attitude and psychological behaviour different from their native place. ...
... If absolutely necessary, they try to seek formal care that is inexpensive. This finding supports other studies that have shown poor and disadvantageous women are less likely to utilise formal health care services compared to affluent women [11] because of convenience, affordability and socio-cultural compatibility [60,61]. ...
Background:
Empirical evidence shows that the relationship between health-seeking behaviour and diverse gender elements, such as gendered social status, social control, ideology, gender process, marital status and procreative status, changes across settings. Given the high relevance of social settings, this paper intends to explore how gender elements interact with health-seeking practices among men and women residing in an Indian urban slum, in consideration of the unique socio-cultural context that characterises India's slums.
Methods:
The study was conducted in Sahid Smriti Colony, a peri-urban slum of Kolkata, India. The referral technique was used for selecting participants, as people in the study area were not very comfortable in discussing their health issues and health-seeking behaviours. The final sample included 66 participants, 34 men and 32 women. Data was collected through individual face-to-face in-depth interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire.
Results:
The data analysis shows six categories of reasons underlying women's preferences for informal healers, which are presented in the form of the following themes: cultural competency of care, easy communication, gender-induced affordability, avoidance of social stigma and labelling, living with the burden of cultural expectations and geographical and cognitive distance of formal health care. In case of men ease of access, quality of treatment and expected outcome of therapies are the three themes that emerged as the reasons behind their preferences for formal care.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that both men and women utilise formal and informal care, but with different motives and expectations, leading to contrasting health-seeking outcomes. These gender-induced contrasts relate to a preference for socio-cultural (women) versus technological (men) therapies and long (women) versus fast (men) treatment, and are linked to their different societal and familial roles. The role of women in following and maintaining socio-cultural norms leads them to focus on care that involves long discussions mixed with socio-cultural traits that help avoid economic and social sanctions, while the role of men as bread earners requires them to look for care that ensures a fast and complete recovery so as to avoid financial pressures.
... The link between immigration and crime has a long history in the social science literature (Martinez and Lee 2000). From the time of Shaw and McKay (1942) and earlier (e.g., Thomas and Znaniecki 1918), scholars emphasized that high rates of crime in immigrant communities were attributed to the poor structural conditions of the places in which they lived, not the individual characteristics of foreign-born residents themselves. ...
Objectives: Prior contextual-level studies suggest that individuals who reside in areas with higher concentrations of foreign-born residents engage in less crime and delinquency. Yet, this work has relied on either cross-sectional models or longitudinal data with only baseline measurements of immigration, which tells us little about whether temporal changes in immigrant concentration affect changes in individual-level offending. We addressed this shortcoming by conducting a contextual-level study that uses a within-individual research design. Methods: Using public and restricted data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and U.S. Census data, we employed Bayesian random-effects models to examine the within-individual associations between the percentage of the population that is foreign-born in respondents’ county of residence and two indicators of criminal offending during adolescence and early adulthood. Results: Findings indicated that percent foreign-born was associated with subsequent reductions in criminal arrest but not self-reported offending. Moreover, we found that these effects were similar regardless of whether respondents moved or remained in place over time. Finally, for self-reported offending, the effects of percent foreign-born were stronger for first-generation immigrants, but for arrest, they were similar across generation. Conclusions: Immigrant concentration is a time-varying phenomenon that has the potential to reduce individual-level offending.
... Parental attachment has been found previously to partially mediate the relationship between immigration and victimization among Latinos (Eggers & Jennings, 2013;Feldmeyer & Steffensmeier, 2009;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Tonry, 1997). What remains unknown is whether specific forms of parental attachments are relevant. ...
Studies of Latino/a/x crime and victimization have proliferated in recent years confirming three main empirical realities: race and ethnicity remain consistently linked to criminological outcomes, the foreign-born are significantly less likely to report either crime or victimization, and nativity status (i.e., foreign-born or native-born) is associated with crime and victimization, even after controlling for germane covariates. The current study attempts to expand on this literature by examining the mediating and moderating effects of social bonds on nativity status in predicting violent victimization. Using data from the Add Health study, we estimate a series of regression and SEM models to assess if social bonds mediate or moderate the effect of nativity on self-reported victimization. Results indicate that native-born Latinos were significantly more likely to be victimized compared to their foreign-born counterparts, though the effect of nativity was reduced to marginal significance after inclusion of the mediating and moderating variables in the full models. Contrary to expectations, native-born and foreign-born Latinos did not differ significantly in terms of social bonds with parents (attachment and time spent with parents) but the foreign-born were significantly more likely to be closely monitored by their parents which partially mediated the association between nativity and violent victimization.
... Rather, they are part of a larger, traditional anti-immigrant sentiment. Spurred by politicians, recent waves of immigrants have stimulated the perception that immigrants are a threat that contributes to national, economic, and cultural insecurity (Martinez & Lee, 2000;Stacey, Carbone-Lopez, & Rosenfeld, 2011). Since the spring months of 2020, the spreading of COVID-19 in the United States and around the globe, coupled with some politicians' racist and xenophobic labels of the virus, has resulted in a surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans (Cabanatuan, 2020;Gover et al., 2020;Jeung, 2020). ...
Using 1992–2014 data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the present study examines the nature and characteristics of hate crimes against Asian Americans by comparing them with those of hate crimes against African Americans and Hispanics. Minority-general and minority-specific models are proposed to guide the analysis. The findings are mixed. The analyses of all victim-related and most offender-related variables show similarities of hate crimes against Asian Americans to those against African Americans and Hispanics. These findings provide support for the minority-general model. Offenders’ race and all incident-related variables of hate crimes against Asian Americans, however, differ significantly from those of hate crimes against African Americans and Hispanics. These significant differences provide support for the minority-specific model.
... In fact, only Alaska records Latinx data in the criminal justice system that is publicly accessible (Eppler-Epstein, 2016), and no public access to this information for juveniles in the justice system is available. Categorizations and definitions vary for Latinxs and other immigrants which create issues for explaining within-group variations (Martinez & Lee, 2000). If there is greater variability in behavior within an ethnic group than there is between different ethnic groups, then the later differences are less important. ...
This study examines Latinx boys in the juvenile justice system and addresses acculturation theory to assess whether or not adjudicated foreign-born Latinx boys are more delinquent than others before adjudication, and whether or not these boys are a bigger burden on the juvenile justice system than others. The present study addresses data and methodological issues that plague the current research using the Ocean Tides Database containing multi-year (1975–2019) cross sectional data for 1,083 adjudicated boys. Multivariate analyses confirm that Latinx immigrant youth who are delinquent pose no greater threats to the American public either before or after adjudication than US-born citizens or other immigrants do. There is minimal support for acculturation theory in explaining behavioral differences between first and second-generation Latinx immigrants.
... • Immigrants might come from cultures of origin where crime is comparatively accept able (Mears, 2001). This contention may be framed as a variant of cultural deficit theo ry 4 when discussed generally (Patel, 2016), or as culture conflict theory in discussion of specific crime types and categories of immigrants, such as the perceived higher partic ipation rates of Muslim immigrants in terrorist activity (Erez, 2000;Freilich, Newman, Shoham, & Addad, 2018;Martinez & Lee, 2000;Sampson, 2008;Wortley, 2009). ...
The gap between public perception of immigrant criminality and the research consensus on immigrants’ actual rates of criminal participation is persistent and cross-cultural. While the available evidence shows that immigrants worldwide tend to participate in criminal activity at rates slightly lower than the native-born, media and political discourse portraying immigrants as uniquely crime-prone remains a pervasive global phenomenon. This apparent disconnect is rooted in the dynamics of othering, or the tendency to dehumanize and criminalize identifiable out-groups. Given that most migration decisions are motivated by economic factors, othering is commonly used to justify subjecting immigrants to exploitative labor practices, with criminalization often serving as the rationale for excluding immigrants from full participation in the social contract. When considered in the context of social harm, immigrants’ relationship to crime and criminality becomes more complex, especially where migration decisions are forced or made under coercive circumstances involving ethnic cleansing, genocide, or other state crimes; many recent examples of these dynamics have rendered large numbers of migrants effectively stateless. Experiencing the direct or collateral effects of state crimes can, in turn, affect immigrants’ participation in a wide range of crime types, from status crimes such as prostitution or survival theft to terrorism and organized criminal activity such as drug trafficking or human trafficking. While there is no available research evidence indicating that immigrants participate in any given crime type at higher rates than the native-born, the dynamics of transnational criminal activity—reliant on multinational social networks, multilingual communication, and transportation across borders—favor immigrant participation, though such crimes are often facilitated by multinational corporations.
... A number of empirical studies conducted to relate ethnicity and immigration with crime suggested that sufficient evidence is lacking to conclude that higher crime rate is resulted due to higher number of immigration [5][6][7][8] . However, most of these studies are based on different case studies on specific ethnic groups of immigrants in specific locations and also, have not been based on comprehensive data to cover a large location or population. ...
The most disturbing development in the 21 st Century Assam (India) is the population explosion, which has been more intensified by large scale influx of illegal immigrants to Assam and has created an explosive situation upsetting the demographic balance in Assam as well as aggression of security threat. In the present context, it has been ongoing claim that illegal International immigration taking place especially from the neighbouring country Bangladesh fetch more criminals to Assam and thereby increasing crime rate in the region. Mass media, public opinion, political opinion of many parties and academicians strongly support this claim. The link between the increased International immigration to India and crime rates has been subjected to debates in Indian contemporary society. The present study has been conducted keeping in view to examine the relationship between population growth rate, illegal migration and rise of crime rate; to develop effective policies in response to the ongoing political debates on the link between illegal migrants and rise of crime rate and to provide recommendations to combat with the situation observed in the light of present study. In this present study, there is sincere hope to present a vivid, realistic and analytical discussion of essential facts related to illegal migrants, their aggression and rise of crime rate in all districts of Assam along with average rate of population and density growth-in a lucid manner; to avoid a priori theorizing and ponderous, sterile abstract ideas and to provide a logical and systematic treatment of the present problem.
... leta pokazali, da je delež kaznivih dejanj, ki jih storijo mladi priseljenci, tem višji, čim dlje živijo v Nemčiji. V skladu z rezultati mednarodne raziskave (Martinez in Lee, 2000) to kaže, da so lahko procesi akulturacije v nemško družbo povezani z dodatnim stresom za mladostnike in njihove družine. Pri nekaterih mladih priseljencih je zaznati notranji kulturni konflikt, saj se morajo po eni strani prilagoditi pričakovanjem družbe gostiteljice in svojih vrstnikov, po drugi strani pa so v svojem domačem okolju soočeni s tradicionalnimi normami lastne etnične skupine (Albrecht, 1997, s. 67). ...
The article presents research on ethnic minorities' involvement in juvenile crime. It is based on the results of a self-report delinquency study in Germany in 2000. The sample consists of 11,071 15-year old students. The juveniles of different ethnic backgrounds are compared according to their involvement in property and violent offences. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the study analyses the impact of socio-economic status, parental unemployment, level of schooling, parental maltreatment, and specifically violence legitimizing norms of masculinity to explain ethnic differences in juvenile violent and property crime. Significant correlations between violent behaviour and violence legitimizing norms of masculinity can be explained with the culture of honour that varies between ethnic groups. Violence can also be explained by parental maltreatment of migrant youngsters and with their unprivileged social position in their host country.
... 326-332). In fact, a firmly established finding in the literature is that immigrants are, on average, less crime prone than their native-born counterparts (Bersani, 2014;Bersani et al., 2018;Butcher & Piehl, 1998a, p. 654;Hagan & Palloni, 1999, p. 629;Jennings, Zgoba, Piquero, & Reingle, 2013;MacDonald & Saunders, 2012;Martinez, 2002;Martinez & Lee, 2000;McCord, 1995;Piquero, Bersani, Loughran, & Fagan, 2016;Sampson, Morenoff, & Raudenbush, 2005;Tonry, 1997). ...
In 2017, California officially became a sanctuary state following the passage of Senate Bill 54, which limits state and local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Following the passage of SB54, critics worried that crime rates would rise. What impact did this policy have on crime in California? The current study, the first of its kind, addresses this question. Using a state-level panel containing violent and property offenses from 1970 through 2018, we employ a synthetic control group design to approximate California’s crime rates had SB54 not been enacted. We interpret the gap between California’s 2018 crime rate and its synthetic counterfactual as SB54’s impact. Results show that SB54’s impact on violent and property crime is neither robust nor sufficiently large to rule out a null effect. Sensitivity analyses buttress this finding. We discuss the implications of the findings for crime policy in the U.S.
... Specifically, there were 600,000 fewer unauthorized Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2016 than in 2010 (Warren, 2016). As for the ascription of criminality to unauthorized immigrants (Rumbaut & Ewing, 2007), Martinez and Lee (2000) found that over the last century, the majority of studies have indicated that immigrants are usually underrepresented in crime statistics. Furthermore, research demonstrates that the incarceration rates of young men in the United States are the lowest for immigrants, especially among unauthorized Mexicans (Rumbaut & Ewing, 2007). ...
Effective multiculturally competent treatment of economically disadvantaged clients requires an awareness of the stereotypes and biases that these clients and their families face in contemporary culture—stereotypes that are so pervasive that they can subtly influence counselors’ thinking about poor and working‐class individuals. In this article, the authors apply an intersectional perspective to profile current stereotypes and biases that exist regarding low‐income groups at the intersections of race, religion, and immigration status. Implications for educators and counselors are suggested.
Un tratamiento efectivo y multiculturalmente competente de clientes e conómicamente desfavorecidos requiere una conciencia de los estereotipos y prejuicios que estos clientes y sus familias enfrentan en la cultura contemporánea; estereotipos tan arraigados que pueden influir sutilmente en la forma de pensar de los consejeros sobre las personas pobres y de clase trabajadora. En este artículo, los autores aplican una perspectiva interseccional para perfilar estereotipos y prejuicios actuales que existen acerca de grupos de bajo nivel económico en las intersecciones entre raza, religión y estatus migratorio. Se sugieren implicaciones para educadores y consejeros.
... Growing pluralism contributed to cultural insecurities, which were easily manifest in nativism and the othering of Mexicans and other dark-skinned Latino immigrants who came from a different culture, and who spoke a different language (De Genova 2004;Massey 1995). The othering of new groups through criminalization is not novel in the US or elsewhere (Costelloe 2008;Martinez and Lee 2000;Martinez and Valenzuela 2006;Preston and Perez 2006), and by linking immigration with crime and drugs, a moral panic about criminal aliens was a perfect avenue for such othering. ...
The “aggravated felony” is an oft-overlooked legal distinction that provides the basis for the removal of thousands of immigrants each year. This category’s broad expansion and definitive results draw from a punitive turn in crime, drug, and immigration policy, which occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. The concept of “moral panic” is a useful tool for those who seek to understand the development of punitive responses to perceived social problems. This article revisits the original formulations of moral panic theory in order to highlight the importance of societal context in determining the symbolic salience and punitive outcomes of moral panics. The goal of the article is to evaluate the thesis that a moral panic about immigrant criminality played an important role in the development of the aggravated felony category.
... Violent crime, one of the serious social ills, is generally comparable between immigrant and native offenders in many Western cities [1][2][3][4]. There is no consensus as to whether immigrants are more prone to the commission of violence, because it depends on the origin of country, ethnicity, generation, or location [5][6][7]. ...
Immigrants and natives are generally comparable in committing violent crimes in many Western cities. However, little is known about spatial differences between internal migrant offenders and native offenders in committing violence in contemporary urban China. To address this gap, this research aims to explore spatial variation in violent crimes committed by migrant and native offenders, and examine different effects of ambient population, crime attractors, crime generators, and offender anchor points on these crimes. Offender data, mobile phone data, and points-of-interest (POI) data are combined to explain the crime patterns of these offenders who committed offenses and were arrested from 2012 to 2016 in a large Chinese city by using box maps and negative binomial regression models. It is demonstrated that migrant and native violent crimes vary enormously across space. Ambient population is only positively related to migrant violent crimes. Crime attractors and generators have more significant and stronger correlations with migrant violent crimes, while offender anchor points have a stronger association with native violent crimes. The results reveal that migrant offenders tend to be attracted by larger amounts of people and more affected by crime attractors and generators than native offenders.
... Most dealt with preventing anti-social behavior; some aimed to reintegrate school dropouts, and others still looked to fully rehabilitate juvenile delinquents (Frederick 1999;Frederick and Roy 2003;Hiew and MacDonald 1986;Mulvey 2011;NCJ 1990;Tolan, Perry, and Jones 1987). Many programs were developed in order to reduce juvenile delinquency, but little thought was given to special programs for immigrant delinquent youth (Chamberlain 1998;Edelstein 2000;2014;Freilich et al. 2002;Hiew and MacDonald 1986;Hovav, Mell, and Golan 2008;Lukin 1981;Martinez, Jr. and Lee 2000;Martinez, Jr. and Valenzuela, Jr. 2006;Mulvey 2011;NCJ 1990;. ...
... That immigrants are less likely than the native-born to be criminals is reflected in the fact that disproportionately fewer prisoners in the United States are immigrants. This disparity in incarceration rates has existed for decades, as evidenced by data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000decennial censuses (Butcher and Piehl, 2007. In each of those years, the incarceration rates of the native-born were anywhere from 2 to 5 times higher than that of immigrants. ...
Historically in the United States, periods of large-scale immigration have been accompanied by perceptions of threat and stereotypes of the feared criminality of immigrants. A century ago major commissions investigated the connection of immigration to crime; each found lower levels of criminal involvement among the foreign-born. The present period echoes that past. Over the past quarter century, alarms have been raised about large-scale immigration, and especially about undocumented immigrants from Latin America. But over the same period, violent crime and property crime rates have been cut in half; the decline in crime has been more pronounced in cities with larger shares of immigrants; and foreign-born young men are much less likely to be incarcerated than natives. The evidence demonstrating lower levels of criminal involvement among immigrants is supported by a growing number of contemporary studies. At the same time the period has been marked by the criminalization of immigration itself, and by the confluence of immigration and criminal law and enforcement apparatuses. A series of critical events succeeded by moral panics influenced the passage of hyper-restrictive laws and a massive injection of institutional resources that has built the "crimmigration" enforcement apparatus into the "formidable machinery" underpinning mass deportation today. He was awarded the CSU Board of Trustees Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, an accolade given to one student from each CSU campus annually. He is a member of Project Rebound, a university support program by and for formerly incarcerated students, and plans to attend law school upon graduation.
... A key observation from the literature is that the individual-level link between immigrants and crime appears to wane across generations. That is, while research reveals that immigrants are less crime-prone than their native-born counterparts (Bersani 2014;Butcher and Piehl 1998:654;Hagan and Palloni 1999:629;MacDonald and Saunders 2012;Martinez and Lee 2000;Martinez 2002;McCord 1995;Olson et al. 2009;Sampson, Morenoff, and Raudenbush 2005;Tonry 1997), studies also report that the children of immigrants who are born in the United States exhibit higher crime rates than their parents ( Lopez and Miller 2011;Morenoff and Astor 2006:36;Rumbaut et al. 2006:72;Sampson, Morenoff, and Raudenbush 2005;Taft 1933) and that assimilated immigrants have higher rates of criminal invol- vement compared to unassimilated immigrants ( Alvarez-Rivera, Nobles, and Lersch 2014;Bersani, Loughran, and Piquero 2014;Morenoff and Astor 2006:47;Zhou and Bankston 2006:124). These findings have led scholars to describe an "assimilation paradox" (Rumbaut and Ewing 2007:2) where the crime problem reflects "not the foreign born but their children" (Tonry 1997:20). ...
Objectives
A growing body of research finds that immigration has a null or negative association with neighborhood crime rates. We build on this important literature by investigating the extent to which one theory, institutional completeness theory, may help explain lower crime rates in immigrant communities across the Southern California region. Specifically, we test whether two key measures of institutional completeness—the presence of immigrant/ethnic voluntary organizations in the community and the presence and diversity of immigrant/ethnic businesses in the community—account for lower crime rates in some immigrant communities.
Method
Compiling a tract-level data set utilizing various data sources, we estimate negative binomial regression models predicting violent and property crime levels that include measures of institutional completeness while controlling for a range of neighborhood correlates of crime. We also account for possible endogeneity by estimating instrumental variable models.
Results
The results reveal very limited support for institutional completeness theory.
Conclusions
Several possible explanations for these findings are discussed.
... Research on the nexus between migration and crime often looks at the association between internal migration and increased crime in urban areas or analyses of crime and immigration in host countries (Berry Cullen and Levitt 1999;Kinman and Lee 1966;Martinez and Lee 2006;Ousey and Kubrin 2018;Sampson and Wooldredge 1986). Perhaps counterintuitively, research suggests that for Mexican migrants, returning home is linked with lowered rates of violence in sending communities (Bucheli et al. 2019). ...
Getting the refugees and immigrants economically empowered and effectively integrated into societies is, though a formidable task, not an act of charity but an act of human justice. Refugees are confronted with multiple obstacles to finding and keeping decent productive empowerment and acceptance. With a low level of education, limited capabilities, and an insecure immigration status, they are often in a befogged state of affairs in the absence of guided directions and assistance to seize possible productive opportunities. The prevailing public services, workforce development, and education facilities often do not adequately respond to their needs, partly because of the challenges of legal status and of issues of cultural conflicts and a general lack of knowledge of emerging opportunities that can offer sustainable sources of livelihoods in terms of income and employment generation. With enhanced adaptive capabilities and skills to use modern technologies and devices and to commercialize new knowledge, refugees and immigrants can contribute to productive activities and productivity growth, as well as emerge as promising entrepreneurs. As evidenced by the country experiences furnished in the article, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is at it through proper sensitization of pertinent issues and options and effective empowerment of refugees in its interventions within the framework of its mandate to foster inclusive sustainable industrial development.
... This melding of criminal and immigration law, a merger often referred to as crimmigration, aligns with a longstanding perception that immigrants are more crime prone than native-born Americans. There is little research to actually support this assumption (Martinez and Lee, 2000;Ousey and Kubrin, 2009), yet the rhetoric remains powerful, as illustrated by several of President Trump's comments about immigrants during the months preceding the 2016 election. 1 Perhaps not coincidentally, the President's rhetoric resonated with a large swath of the American electorate during a year in which the 30 largest cities in the United States experienced double-digit increases in their homicide rates. ...
This research describes and explains changes in non-citizen deportations from the United States between 1908 and 1986. Using data from historical immigration yearbooks, we first document and quantify the primary reasons given for removing immigrants from U.S. soil. A key finding is that perceived dispositional defects and threatening behavior (e.g., criminal behavior, mental or physical defects) accounted for a large proportion of deportations in the early 20th century, but these gave way to administrative rationales (e.g., improper documentation) as immigration law and the enforcement bureaucracy expanded. Results of time-series analyses further suggest that the homicide rate is correlated with deportations for administrative reasons and with deportations based on perceived dispositional defects and threatening behavior. Implications and relevance for understanding current immigration debates are discussed
... Asian immigrants have been underrepresented in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Although many Asian immigrants face unfavorable living and social conditions, they still maintain lower crime rates than their U.S.-born counterparts (Martinez & Lee, 2000). In addition, the rate of delinquency is also lowest among Asian Americans (Eadie & Morley, 2003). ...
... Immigration has been linked to community crime levels through a variety of mechanisms, including its impact on population composition (e.g., age structure, family structure, and criminal propensity), economic conditions, and levels of formal and informal social control (Kubrin and Ishizawa, 2012;Martinez and Lee, 2000b;Shihadeh and Barranco, 2010a). In classic theoretical discussions, the possible adverse impacts of immigrant concentration on crime through these community attributes were emphasized (Shaw and McKay, 1942). ...
Researchers in the United States have increasingly recognized that immigration reduces crime, but it remains unresolved whether this applies to people of different racial–ethnic and economic backgrounds. By using the 2008–2012 area-identified National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), we evaluate the effect of neighborhood immigrant concentration on individual violence risk across race/ethnicity and labor market stratification factors in areas with different histories of immigration. The results of our analysis reveal three key patterns. First, we find a consistent protective role of immigrant concentration that is not weakened by low education, low income, unemployment, or labor market competition. Therefore, even economically disadvantaged people enjoy the crime-reduction benefit of immigration. Second, we find support for threshold models that predict a nonlinear, stronger protective role of immigrant concentration on violence at higher levels of immigrant concentration. The protective function of immigration also is higher in areas of longer histories of immigration. Third, compared with Blacks and Whites, Latinos receive a greater violence-reduction benefit of immigrant concentration possibly because they live in closer proximity with immigrants and share common sociocultural features. Nevertheless, immigrant concentration yields a diminishing return in reducing Latino victimization as immigrants approach a near-majority of neighborhood residents. The implications of these results are discussed.
... Studies indicated Latino immigrants do not cause disorder or reduce social cohesion, but create new economic opportunities in disadvantaged neighborhoods, improve the quality of social network, and build additional community-level institutions (Nielsen & Martinez, 2009;Sampson, 2008;Shihadeh & Winters, 2010;Stowell & Martinez, 2009;Velez, 2009). Martinez and Lee (2000) stated Latino immigrants appear to be less influenced by criminogenic conditions in their neighborhoods compared with nonimmigrant residents. Furthermore, studies showed strong social capital among Latino immigrants worked in a way that helped each other to better integrate into the mainstream society, which in turn decreased the violent crime rates (Portes & Rumbaut, 2006;Portes & Zhou, 1993;Ramey, 2013;Waters & Jiménez, 2005). ...
The Latino paradox is defined as “Latinos do[ing] much better on various social indicators, including violence, than blacks and apparently even whites, given relatively high levels of disadvantage.” We do not know, however, if the Latino paradox is masquerading what is known as criminal social capital. This study defined geographic drug markets with drug sales crime data in Philadelphia. Multilevel negative binomial models showed census block group street violence levels varied significantly across drug markets. Although each additional 100 native-born Latinos was associated with expected street violent crime counts 8% lower, each additional 100 foreign-born Latinos was associated with expected street violent crime counts 28% lower, controlling for nearby street violence and structural predictors.
An increasing body of research has highlighted the significance of coll aboration between criminal justice practitioners and residents to enhance the quality of life in communities. As an innovative practice model, this collaborative concept maximizes the effectiveness of three core factors of community justice (community policing, community courts, and community corrections) by maintaining community order and enhancing neighbourhood quality of life. However, as many cities and municipalities have invested time and resources into developing positive relationships with immigrants, little research has been focused on the nexus between immigrant communities within the community justice movement model. Using data collected from Chinese immigrants in the US, the current study is the first pilot investigation on perceptions of the new pattern of Chinese immigrants toward their communities and their collaboration with the criminal justice system. This study suggests positive attitudes of immigrants toward community justice, but criminal justice agencies must tailor their interaction to the unique characteristics of each immigrant community. What constitutes good community justice practices in one community may not be effective in another.
This paper examines empirically the interaction between immigration and house prices in U.S. I employ panel VECM techniques to use a large annual dataset on U.S over the period 2000-2019. The VECM approach allows to address the cointegration between variables in VAR. Our results provide evidence of migration contribution to the increase of house price in U.S. (positive impact on GDP and negative impact on aggregate unemployment). We also find that migration is influenced by house price in U.S. (migration responds positively to host GDP and negatively to host total unemployment rate and house price).
This chapter reviews theories on the immigration–crime link, some macro-level, some micro-level, including those that pose a positive relationship between immigration and crime as well as those that pose a negative relationship between immigration and crime.
Public and political discourse has routinely suggested that immigration is linked to higher community levels of violence and drug problems. In contrast to these claims, research has consistently shown that immigration is not associated with greater violence at the macro level. However, few studies have examined the links between immigration flows and community drug problems. The current study seeks to address this gap in research by providing a county‐level longitudinal analysis of immigration and drug overdose deaths both overall and by substance type for the 2000 to 2015 period and provides an analysis of homicide for comparison with prior immigration–crime research. In addition, this analysis compares immigration–overdose relationships across immigrant destination types. The current project relies on overdose and homicide data drawn from the Centers for Disease Control's Restricted Access Multiple Cause of Death Mortality files combined with data on county social, economic, health, and legal contexts drawn from multiple macro‐level data sources. Findings reveal that immigration is not associated with higher levels of overdose or homicide deaths, and when effects are significant, immigration is linked to lower levels of overdose mortality across multiple substances and destination types.
The aim of the study was to examine psychological adaptation levels (distress and wellbeing) and their association to acculturation strategies among 1.5 generation immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union (FSU), three decades after large waves of immigrants from these countries came to Israel. Three‐hundred and forty‐one participants, 176 from Ethiopia and 165 from FSU completed survey questionnaires assessing their acculturation attitudes and the levels of their wellbeing and stress. Personal wellbeing and distress were found to be moderate among all participants. In addition, while no ethnic group differences were found for integration, separation and marginalization, FSU immigrants reported higher levels of using assimilation strategies than those who came from Ethiopia. Regression findings show that personal wellbeing was significantly explained by the acculturation strategies of integration and marginalization, such that a greater use of integration and a lower use of marginalization were associated with higher personal wellbeing. The adaptation process in which immigrant groups adapt to a host society is dynamic, takes many years and the acculturation strategies change over time. The change is related to attitudes toward the destination culture and to the culture of origin, both among the immigrants and the host society. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The purpose of this study is to examine differences in patterns of criminal arrests between US citizens and foreign citizens among a sample of individuals incarcerated for homicide in Texas. Data for this project come from administrative records of inmates incarcerated in Texas for homicide. Drawing from the criminal careers literature, official arrest records are assessed to compare differences in criminal histories with growth curve models for the examination of criminal careers of non-Texas born US citizens and foreign citizens. Notable findings are that the age-crime curves are remarkably similar between the two groups, but the curves differ in degree, with those of US citizens peaking significantly higher across all crime types examined.
This article provides a theological reading of Acts 6–7, combining biblical and social-scientific insights to support constructive Christian engagement with the phenomena of twenty-first century migration. It responds broadly to US-American migratory phenomena, while drawing on insights from the Bible, migration studies, and the author’s own work with Colombian victims of forced migration. The article begins with an exegetical examination of the dispute between Hebrews and Hellenists in Acts 6 and Stephen’s speech in Acts 7, arguing that migratory issues underlie both the conflicts in these texts and the theological arguments Stephen adduces in his own defense. These biblical-theological reflections are then supplemented with an introduction to two social-scientific concepts that have been influential in migration studies, specifically, the notions of identity hybridity and migrant integration (as opposed to assimilation). The article demonstrates how the book of Acts reflects the benefits of healthy forms of identity hybridity and migrant integration and commends similar approaches for contemporary migrants and Christian communities in the Americas (both the United States and Colombia).
Este artículo fusiona la exégesis crítica con la reflexión sociopolítica para mostrar cómo una tensión desafiante en las Escrituras puede nutrir respuestas matizadas a crisis sociales. Al comenzar con un estudio intertextual, se identifica que Lc 17,27-28 hace alusión y subvierte a Jr 29,5-7. Se nota que las actividades que Jr 29 encomienda a los exiliados en Babilonia (plantar, edificar, casar y dar en casamiento) son las mismas actividades criticadas por Lc 17, y que hay otras similitudes entre Lc 17 y Jr 32 y 35, todo lo cual revela que Lucas pretende contrastar la situación de su audiencia con la de los exiliados en Babilonia, y propone así una ética distinta para los discípulos de su época. Aunque el profeta animó a sus lectores exiliados a entregarse al desarrollo económico y familiar en Babilonia, el evangelista advierte en contra de preocupaciones mundanas que estorban su compromiso con el Reino. Se propone que esta tensión intracanónica facilita un acercamiento diferenciado a dos crisis migratorias actuales, aplicando la perspectiva de Jeremías para animar a las víctimas del desplazamiento forzoso en Colombia a echar raíces en sus sitios de llegada, y recurriendo a Lc 17 para criticar la deportación estadounidense de los migrantes indocumentados. Se justifica este acercamiento hermenéutico diferenciado por medio de un estudio de la actividad redaccional de Lucas (transformando las enseñanzas de Mt 24 y Mc 13 sobre el evento de la parusía a exhortaciones sobre cómo vivir de manera ética antes de la parusía) y de la polifonía ética de Jeremías (la cual se nota en los divergentes estilos de vida afirmados por Jr 16,2-4; 29,6; 35,6-7). Se argumenta que esta moralidad multifacética cuadra con una visión neotestamentaria equilibrada que caracteriza a los cristianos como exiliados y a la vez ciudadanos (Hb 11,13-14; 1P 2,1).
Migration from Central American countries to the United States has been driven to the forefront of the American political discourse. Historically, regional migration to the United States has been characterized in large part by cyclical and permanent labor migration as well as forced displacement, either due to state violence or general insecurity. More recently, attention has shifted to the role that transnational gangs play in spurring migration, specifically in the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. This analysis uses survey data collected by the Latin American Public Opinion Project from the biennial AmericasBarometer survey of the Northern Triangle countries from 2006 to 2016 to explore the relationship between the intent to migrate and different forms of violence and insecurity. We focus on the role of personal victimization and public perception of gangs as they relate to expressed intention to emigrate from the Northern Triangle. The investigation then examines the association between migration decisions, household victimization, and responses to community violence.
This paper is part of a project begun at Portland State University that examines political polarization through metaphor analysis ( Ritchie, Feliciano, & Sparks, 2018 ). The current study looks at two sources of discourse on immigration in the United States, each exemplifying opposing sides of the larger immigration debate. The first source is a speech by then presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally, and the second is Senator Kamala Harris’s maiden speech delivered on the Senate floor. The goal of this analysis is to investigate the way metaphors may be used in political discourse to demonstrate or create polarization between opposing sides of the debate.
Social challenges with the economic background result from social stratification not only within one society, but especially between societies. The division between wealthy north (with the visible trend of growing standards of life) and poor south (where the tendency is reverse due to high unemployment rates, overpopulation, housing and health problems as well as water and food shortages) is being more and more visible. Economic
migrations have become a commonplace and also a source of further and more complicated political issues. They are pushing multicultural approaches forward on the one hand, but on the other aggravate ethnic conflicts, stimulate xenophobic and nationalist movements. Assimilation problems resulting from reluctance of indigenous societies and resistance of the migrants because of traditions, habits, values and religious beliefs
only deepen dissimilarities in perception of how the coexistence should look like. This in turn imposes certain legislative and normative problems on governments and local societies and their administration. Aging of societies, which is mainly the problem of the most developed European countries, which are host countries for economic migrants at the same time, does not make this problem easier. This article will focus on most urging social problems in Europe which have confl ict-enerating potential, i.e. overpopulation on the one hand and aging of societies on the other, poverty and social stratifi cation, migrations and resulting assimilation problems.
Immigrant ethnicity remains a largely understudied aspect of the immigration–crime nexus. Instead, most research to date relies on a single measure of immigrant concentration—most commonly the percent foreign born, the percent recently arrived or the percent Latino/Hispanic. In doing so, studies fail to account for the potential heterogeneity within the immigrant population. This study provides a comprehensive examination of immigrant ethnicity by disaggregating the immigrant population by language and religious affiliation. Drawing on three waves of census data and 9 years of official recorded crime data, this study explores the impact of both immigrant concentration and diversity on violent crime across 882 neighborhoods located in two Australian cities. The results demonstrate that growth in the immigrant population—regardless of the language or religion group under consideration—does not lead to more violent crime within a neighborhood. Further, no language or religion group concentration is associated with more violent crime once the sociostructural and environmental features of neighborhoods are considered. Indeed, the growth and concentration of some ethnic groups are linked to less violent crime. However, both linguistically and religiously diverse neighborhoods encounter more violent crime.
‘Identity, Migration and Crime: Conceptual Underpinnings and Select Evidence from India’ in Revista Degli Studi Orientali, Supplemento 2, Special Issue on De-Centring Dominant Narratives In India: Alternative Perceptions of History and Development (edited By Sanjukta Das Gupta And Amit Prakash), 2018.
The so-called refugee crisis is, not only in Germany but also in Europe, a very actual issue. Especially after the incidents in Cologne on New Year’s Eve 2015/2016, the debate about criminal refugees and how to deal with them is one of the most discussed topics in Germany. Although the phenomenon of migration is not a new issue, only limited data are available, particularly in the Police Crime Statistics and in the prison statistics. Based on the Police Crime Statistics, correctional statistics, as well as an actual research project, this paper presents some data on non-German offenders and prisoners. Doubtless, an increase in this population is accompanied by more criminality and an increase of prisoners, which the correctional system has to handle. Several problems appear, above all the communication and language problems but also the risk of radicalization and the dealing with traumatization. Most prisons have reacted to these problems, and some selected approaches are presented.
Examining the “cities of refuge” in Numbers 35:9–28 and other key passages in the Torah, this essay argues that the social ethics in these passages point towards mercy and sanctuary for immigrants and refugees facing deportation. Ethical injunctions in the Hebrew Bible to welcome the resident alien and modern sanctuary movements are analyzed in relation to contemporary immigration issues. Like the wilderness generation of Numbers, immigrants and citizens wrestle with legal and ethical dilemmas that highlight the relevance of pivotal biblical texts for communities and churches.
Immigration and gentrification are two sources of population change that occur in geographic communities. Classic criminological perspectives, such as Social Disorganization Theory, suggest that these population changes are likely to result in increased crime rates. More recent perspectives proffer an opposing viewpoint; that immigration and gentrification may lower crime rates. Some research suggests that these opposing arguments may each draw empirical support, but under differing social conditions or circumstances. Study design variations also appear to impact findings on immigration-crime, with longitudinal studies more consistently reporting the immigration works to reduce, rather than increase, crime. With respect to gentrification, scholars suggest that its effects on crime are likely to hinge on factors such as the racial composition of the place, the timing or stage at which the gentrification process is observed, or the degree to which gentrifying neighborhoods are surrounded by poor non-gentrifying neighborhoods or by other communities that have already progressed through the gentrification process.
Although immigrants tend to be less involved in crime than the native-born, less is known about whether immigration is protective regarding family violence and, if so, why. This is especially problematic given that some cultural features of immigrants, such as machismo, may increase family violence. Using a random sample of adults in El Paso County, Texas, the present study finds that family violence is substantially lower among first generation Mexican immigrants compared to 1.5 generation immigrants, second generation Americans and third generation or higher Americans. Higher levels of acculturation to Mexico among first generation immigrants partially mediated, or explained, this finding. However, familism and machismo were not higher among first generation Mexican immigrants; and, while lower among first generation immigrants, acculturation to the US was not associated with higher levels of family violence. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Objective. Although Latinos are fast becoming the largest ethnic minority group, they remain an underresearched population. In this paper we contribute to the nascent field of Latino violence research by conducting an examination of Latino homicides in two U.S. cities. Methods. Direct access to homicide investigations unit files on over 1,800 homicide cases in two predominantly Latino cities (El Paso, Texas, and Miami, Florida) allowed us to collect a unique data set for our analysis of Latino homicide victim and event characteristics. Results. Similarities and differences in homicide patterns relevant to important policy and theoretical debates are discussed. For example, in both cities, homicides were overwhelmingly intra-group, and males comprised the majority of victims in four out of five types of homicide (intimate homicide victims were almost exclusively Latina). Despite similar employment, poverty, and family-structure characteristics for Latinos in both cities, important differences emerged (e.g., Miami's homicide rate was almost three times that of El Paso). Conclusions. The intraethnic variations in patterns of homicide we report challenge existing theories of criminal violence and demonstrate the value of using group-disaggregated data to examine both cultural and structural forces affecting violence.
Presents a summary of results from a representative survey of Cuban refugees who arrived in the United States during the Mariel exodus and resettled in the Miami Metropolitan Area. The survey took place in fall 1983 and spring 1984 and encompassed 514 cases. Areas covered in this report include individual background characteristics; early resettlement experiences; education, knowledge of English, and media exposure; employment and income; and attitudes and perceptions. For comparison, results from an earlier cohort of Cuban refugees (followed during the 1970s) are also presented. Similarities and differences between both samples are analyzed, and theoretical and practical implications of results as they bear on prospects for successful adaptation of Mariel refugees are discussed. -Authors
Objective. This article presents a brief history of the Cuban mass migration in spring 1980. It describes the moral epidemic directed against the Cubans and the specific programs and procedures that facilitated their institutionalization in the United States. It documents the impact of these programs and policies on the risk of institutionalization of the immigrants. Methods. The research uses logistic regression to analyze information on 50,958 people of Cuban origin in the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 1990 U.S. Census. Results. Marielitos have higher rates of institutionalization than other Cubans. This effect persists even after statistically controlling for other important determinants of institutionalization. Moreover, identification with the Mariel boatlift has important effects on the other predictors of institutionalization included in the analysis. The nationwide moral epidemic created important liabilities for all Mariel immigrants irrespective of social and demographic statuses that otherwise would have protected them against detection and institutionalization.
Arguably few social phenomena are likely to impact the future character of American culture and society as much as the ongoing wave of "new immigration". This cross-disciplinary collection brings together 12 essays by scholars of the Mexican immigration to the United States. "Crossings" theorizes aspects of recent Mexican immigration that are new and that demarcate this wave of immigration from earlier experiences of the 20th century.
We contribute to the field of immigration and crime research by conducting one of the first contemporary examinations of Afro-Caribbean homicides. Despite the growth of immigration across urban America, social scientists lack an understanding of both the extent and severity of immigrant violent crime. Several important findings emerge from our unique data set on Haitian, Jamaican and Mariel Cuban homicides in the city of Miami. Most notably, Miami's homicide rate led the country at various points throughout the 1980s, but immigrant group-specific rates rarely exceeded the city total. By 1990, immigrant Caribbean victim and violator rates had declined to a level and rate far below the city average. Compared to other cities, Miami has a more diverse population and a greater potential for intergroup contact, yet most killings were between ethnic group members. In addition, while the "criminal alien problem" is a prominent image fueling contemporary attempts to restrict immigration, our findings undermine this conventional wisdom. We conclude with suggestions for future elaboration on the causes and consequences of immigration and homicide.
‘Second‐generation decline’ questions the current American faith in the myth of nearly automatic immigrant success. In discussing economic scenarios, positive and negative, for the future of the children of the post‐1965 immigrants, the possibility is proposed that a significant number of the children of poor immigrants, especially dark‐skinned ones, might not obtain jobs in the mainstream economy. Neither will they be willing ‐ or even able ‐ to take low‐wage, long‐hour ‘immigrant’ jobs, as their parents did. As a result, they (and young males among them particularly) may join blacks and Hispanics among those already excluded, apparently permanently, from the mainstream economy. The article also deals with the relations between ethnicity and economic conditions in the USA and with the continued relevance of the assimilation and acculturation processes described by ‘straight‐line theory’. This issue, as well as most others discussed, may also be salient for European countries experiencing immigration, especially those countries with troubled economies.
This essay tests key components of the mismatch hypothesis with a sample of inner-city men that includes four ethnic or racial groupings - whites. Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican immigrants. The findings provide limited support to mismatch. Key components of mismatch, such as human capital attributes and access to automobile commuting, do appear to influence employment likelihoods among native disadvantaged minorities, but have little effect on immigrants. The latter consistently exhibit high employment rates. The interpretation offered rests on two factors. First, the data support the idea that immigrants' social networks largely underlie their impressive work records. In addition, the data provide limited support to the explanation, strongly indicated in the literature, that immigrants are favored by employers for their exploitability and that such preferences are expressed via hiring techniques that utilize the immigrants' social networks.
Contrary to the image attributed to American society—that it loves and welcomes immigrants—public opinion polls over the past 50-plus years show that the current cohort of immigrants, whoever they may be, is viewed with suspicion and distrust. Most Americans, even those of relatively recent immigrant origins, do not favor allowing more immigrants to enter, and a large plurality favor admitting fewer than the law permits. Historical analysis of the print media, political party platforms, and the Quota Acts beginning in the 1920s also reveals the United States' ambivalence about immigrants seeking admission at any time since the 1880s. In retrospect, those who came earlier are viewed as making important and positive contributions to our society and culture, but those who seek entry now, whenever “now” happens to be, are viewed, at best, with ambivalence and, more likely, with distrust and hostility.
The Area Project program is based on studies of the epidemiology of delinquency and of the social experience of children growing up in city neighborhoods with high rates of delinquents. Preventive effort is concentrated in such delin quency areas. The structure of the local society is regarded as deficient in its ability to reduce the normal alienation of the male adolescent and to restore and maintain adult controls. In most instances delinquency in this situation is viewed as a product of social learning. Procedures of the Area Project are based on the assumption that young people are responsive principally to the expectations of their intimate groups: family, peers, and neighbors. The major activity of the Area Project program is the development of youth welfare organizations among residents of delinquency areas and, within the structure of these groupings, direct work with predelinquent and delin quent individuals and groups. Neighborhood groups are en couraged to employ qualified local residents to carry on the work. Variation in the procedures in the organization of local groups and in the content of their programs reflects variety in patterns of integration of local social institutions. Area Project experience indicates that residents of delinquency areas are capable of action in relation to youth welfare problems. Such action has probably reduced delinquency in the program areas.
In “Toward a Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality,” Sampson and Wilson (1995) argued that racial disparities in violent crime are attributable in large part to the persistent structural disadvantages that are disproportionately concentrated in African American communities. They also argued that the ultimate causes of crime were similar for both Whites and Blacks, leading to what has been labeled the thesis of “racial invariance.” In light of the large scale social changes of the past two decades and the renewed political salience of race and crime in the United States, this paper reassesses and updates evidence evaluating the theory. In so doing, we clarify key concepts from the original thesis, delineate the proper context of validation, and address new challenges. Overall, we find that the accumulated empirical evidence provides broad but qualified support for the theoretical claims. We conclude by charting a dual path forward: an agenda for future research on the linkages between race and crime, and policy recommendations that align with the theory’s emphasis on neighborhood level structural forces but with causal space for cultural factors.
This study examined the relationship between violence and immigration. The importance of neighborhood context, including alcohol availability, was also investigated. Using data from block groups, these relationships were examined in three California communities with significant immigrant populations. Data on socioeconomic characteristics were combined with police data concerning youth and data on alcohol availability. These data were geocoded in a block group, and population-based rates were calculated. A specialized regression package was used to examine these relationships. Results indicated that immigration and youth violence were not related, but that violence was predicted by alcohol availability. Contextual factors such as family breakdown and professional role models were also found to be significant predictors of youth violence. Furthermore, the context of violence is important in understanding why violence varies within communities. Violence prevention efforts may benefit from regulatory efforts to reduce the high concentrations of alcohol outlets that exist in Latino neighborhoods.
The current study analyzes violence by and against the Mariel immigrants. Using homicide as a proxy for violence, the following analysis compares and contrasts the experiences of the Mariel Cubans to pre-1980 Cubans already in the United States. Overall, the results in this study demonstrate that the Mariels were rarely the high-rate killers portrayed by the media. Indeed, relative to their group size, the Mariels were victimized at a proportion greater than their population size. This simple but unnoticed figure suggests that the Mariels were in far greater danger in Miami than Cubans who had been residing in the area for a longer period of time.
This book provides a portrait of city life as observed by the author in an urban area encompassing two communities--one black, low income, and very poor (with an extremely high infant mortality rate) and the other racially mixed but becoming increasingly middle-to-upper income and white. It explores the dilemma of both Blacks and Whites, the ghetto poor and the middle class, who are caught up in the new struggle not only for common ground--prime real estate in a racially changing neighborhood--but for a shared moral community. The author shows that by living in the area, diverse residents often become increasingly familiar with one another, wise to the ways of the streets, and more adept at maneuvering in the urban environment. Specific areas examined include the impact of drugs within the community, sex codes and family life among the youth, street etiquette and wisdom, and the unique difficulties and attitudes associated with and towards the black male. An appendix provides some demographic variables from the urban community including housing, family income, and educational trends. Contains more than 150 references and an index. (GLR)
This study was designed to see the relationship between the modes of acculturation and delinquent behavior among Korean American youths in the United States. A self‐reported survey was administered to a total of 400 elementary to high school students with Korean ethnicity at 20 randomly drawn Korean churches nationwide. A total of 129 questionnaires were returned and subjected for further statistical analysis. A cluster analysis suggested three modes of acculturation; separation, assimilation, and marginalization. Although the results of ANOVA between delinquent behavior and acculturation modes indicated the absence of any statistically significant difference, Duncan test showed that the assimilated was most likely while the marginalized was least likely to engage in delinquency. Among five mediating factors, only delinquent friend was significantly correlated with delinquency for the separated mode while delinquent friend, attachment to parents, and educational aspiration correlated with the assimilated mode. Both attitudes toward law violation and perceived racial discrimination were significantly correlated with delinquency for the marginalized mode.
3 distinctive kinds of delinquent subcultures arise in lower-class areas of large urban centers as exemplified by the following groupings: (a) the "criminal gang"—devoted to theft, extortion, and other illegal means of securing an income; (b) the "conflict gang"—in which participation in acts of violence becomes an important means of securing status; and (c) the "retreatist gang"—which stresses the consumption of drugs and is marked by addiction. Major changes in the existing social setting of delinquency will have to be made before elimination or even control of the problem can be considered. Should the pressures within society which produce delinquent behavior remain the same, we cannot hope to stem the tide toward retreatism and violence among alolescents. An explanation of delinquency linking the thinking of Durkheim and Merton with that of Shaw, McKay, and Sutherland, which the authors call the theory of differential opportunity systems, is presented. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1JO20C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This book presents the results of 20 years of ecological research into the nature of the relationship between the distribution of delinquency and the pattern of physical structure and social organization of 21 American cities. Uniform findings in every city confirm the hypothesis that the physical deterioration of residential areas accompanied by social disorganization is greatest in a central zone in the business district, intermediate in a middle zone, and lowest in the other zones, and that there is a progressive decline in the incidence of delinquency from the innermost zone where it is most concentrated to the peripheral areas. Delinquency is found to be highly correlated with changes in population, inadequate housing, poverty, presence of Negroes and foreign-born, tuberculosis, mental disorders, and adult criminality. The common basic factor is social disorganization or the absence of community effort to cope with these conditions. Causation of juvenile delinquency is to be sought more in terms of the community than of the individual. 107 maps pertaining to the cities studied and 118 tables relating to population and delinquency rates are included as well as a chapter describing the Chicago Area Project as a demonstration of the effective mobilization of community forces to combat delinquency and crime. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The volume's 19 chapters and 2 appendices summarize the author's research in his sociological analysis of criminal homicide in which he used Philadelphia as a community case study. "Analysis has been made of 588 criminal homicides listed by the police in this city between January 1, 1948, and December 31, 1952. A critical review of the important homicide literature in this country is provided, and whenever feasible, comparison is made of criminal homicides in Philadelphia with research elsewhere." Consideration is given to such problems as alcohol, motivation, temporal and spatial patterns. 4 chapters discuss the relationship between the victim and the offender. This sociological work is held to be of major interest for the criminologist and the police administrator. 20-page references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
After a period of decline in the discipline, the social disorganization model of Shaw and McKay is again beginning to appear in the literature. This paper examines five criticisms of the perspective and discusses recent attempts to address those issues and problems that are still in need of resolution.
Structural theories in criminology generally assume that the effects of structural conditions on homicide are the same for all race-groups. However, previous homicide research testing this assumption contains methodological shortcomings and has produced inconsistent findings. Therefore, the validity of the “racial invariance assumption” remains highly questionable. Using 1990 data for 125 U.S. cities, this study addresses some of the limitations of previous research in an effort to provide a more definitive examination of race differences in the effects of important structural factors on homicide rates. Contrary to the expectations of the structural perspective, the results from this study reveal substantial and statistically significant race differences. Specifically, the associations between homicide and several measures of socio-economic deprivation (e.g., poverty, unemployment, income inequality, female-headed households, deprivation index) are found to be stronger among whites than blacks. A primary implication of these results is that the current versions of many structural theories need revision in order to account for observed race differences in the effects of structural factors and to explain fully the black-white gap in homicide rates.
Changes in American immigration law in 1965 led to an enormous increase in the number of immigrants arriving in the United States and to a shift in the countries of origin of American immigrants from Europe to Central and South America and Asia. The children of this new wave of immigrants have been labeled “the new second generation.” At the same time that these children have grown to adolescence and young adulthood, violent youth gangs have become a prominent aspect of American life. While the children of immigrants are not the only participants in gang activity, many gangs have appeared in neighborhoods where immigrants have settled, and these gangs are often based on the ethnic identities of post-1965 immigrant groups. This essay discusses general theoretical trends in the literature relating to youth gangs in the post-1965 immigrant ethnic groups. It suggests that these trends may be classified as opportunity structure approaches, cultural approaches, and social disorganization approaches. The essay points out some of the major questions this literature raises or fails to address, and it suggests directions for the conceptualization of new ethnic gangs and for empirical research in this area.
This paper examines the relationships among unemployment, crime, and family disruption in the black "underclass." The main hypothesis tested is that the effect of black adult male joblessness on black crime is mediated largely through its effects on family disruption. The study examines race-specific rates of robbery and homicide by juveniles and adults in over 150 U.S. cities in 1980. The results show that the scarcity of employed black men increases the prevalence of families headed by females in black communities. In turn, black family disruption substantially increases the rates of black murder and robbery, especially by juveniles. These effects are independent of income, region, race and age composition, density, city size, and welfare benefits and are similar to the effects of white family disruption on white violence. The paper concludes that there is nothing inherent in black culture that is conducive to crime. Rather, persistently high rates of black crime appear to stem from the structural linkages among underemployment, economic deprivation, and family disruption in urban black communities. Sociology
Although racial discrimination emerges some of the time at some stages of criminal justice processing-such as juvenile justice-there is little evidence that racial disparities result from systematic, overt bias. Discrimination appears to be indirect, stemming from the amplification of initial disadvantages over time, along with the social construction of "moral panics" and associated political responses. The "drug war" of the 1980s and 1990s exacerbated the disproportionate representation of blacks in state and federal prisons. Race and ethnic disparities in violent offending and victimization are pronounced and long-standing. Blacks, and to a lesser extent Hispanics, suffer much higher rates of robbery and homicide victimization than do whites. Homicide is the leading cause of death among young black males and females. These differences result in part from social forces that ecologically concentrate race with poverty and other social dislocations. Useful research would emphasize multilevel (contextual) designs, the idea of "cumulative disadvantage" over the life course, the need for multiracial conceptualizations, and comparative, cross-national designs. Sociology
"This study attempts to explain similarities and differences in the mortality experience of three population groups: Puerto Ricans on the island commonwealth, Puerto Rican born persons in New York City and Puerto Rican born persons in the rest of mainland United States. Mortality is much higher among Puerto Ricans in New York City than among those residing elsewhere. Much of the difference is due to excess mortality caused by cirrhosis of the liver and homicide. Puerto Rican born persons living on the mainland but outside New York City generally have low mortality, even when compared with U.S. whites."
Immigration and crime
- G Abbott
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The case against immigration
- Roy W W Beck
- Norton
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Recent statistics on crime and the foreign born
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Chinese subculture and criminality: Non-traditional crime groups in America
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The dream shattered: Vietnamese gangs in America
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Dade's crime rate is highest in U.S., Florida is 1st among States
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Immigration and public opinion
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