Revisiting the Relationship Between Racial Heterogeneity and Neighborhood Crime: Do Spatial Scale and Functional Form matter?

This study examines the relationships between racial heterogeneity and crime across blocks (N = 103,168) located in the greater Southern California region. We estimate negative binomial regression models that test for the effects of racial heterogeneity in conjunction with different functional form...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kim, Young-An (Author)
Contributors: Wo, James C.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2022, Volume: 68, Issue: 11, Pages: 1977-2007
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
contact theory
Crime
racial heterogeneity
Social Disorganization Theory
Description
Summary:This study examines the relationships between racial heterogeneity and crime across blocks (N = 103,168) located in the greater Southern California region. We estimate negative binomial regression models that test for the effects of racial heterogeneity in conjunction with different functional form and spatial scaling considerations. Racial diversity in the block has a crime-reducing effect, whereas racial diversity in the area surrounding the block generally has crime-producing capabilities, although at very high levels of diversity, the effect reverses and becomes crime-reducing. We also illustrate an interaction effect between racial heterogeneity in the block and racial heterogeneity in the surrounding area. The pattern of results provides a nuanced understanding of how the racial composition of an area has consequences for crime.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/00111287221074969