The Effects of Immigrant Concentration on Changes in Neighborhood Crime Rates

Objectives

This study investigated the extent to which immigrant concentration is associated with reductions in neighborhood crime rates in the City of Los Angeles.

Methods

A potential outcomes model using two-stage least squares regression was estimated, where immigrant concentration levels in 1990 were used as an instrumental variable to predict immigrant concentration levels in 2000. The instrumental variables design was used to reduce selection bias in estimating the effect of immigrant concentration on changes in official crime rates between 2000 and 2005 for census tracts in the City of Los Angeles, holding constant other demographic variables and area-level fixed effects. Non-parametric smoothers were also employed in a two-stage least squares regression model to control for the potential influence of heterogeneity in immigrant concentration on changes in crime rates.

Results

The results indicate that greater predicted concentrations of immigrants in neighborhoods are linked to significant reductions in crime. The results are robust to a number of different model specifications.

Conclusions

The findings challenge traditional ecological perspectives that link immigrant settlement to higher rates of crime. Immigration settlement patterns appear to be associated with reducing the social burden of crime. Study conclusions are limited by the potential for omitted variables that may bias the observed relationship between immigrant concentration and neighborhood crime rates, and the use of only official crime data which may under report crimes committed against immigrants. Understanding whether immigrant concentration is an important dynamic of changing neighborhood patterns of crime outside Los Angeles will require replication with data from other U.S. cities.     

An Examination of First and Second Generation Immigrant Offending Trajectories

The myth of the criminal immigrant has permeated public and political debate for much of this nation's history and persists despite growing evidence to the contrary. Crime concerns are increasingly aimed at the indirect impact of immigration on crime highlighting the criminal pursuits of the children of immigrants. Adding to extant knowledge on the immigration-crime nexus, this research asks whether immigrants are differentially involved in crime by examining immigrant offending histories (prevalence, frequency, seriousness, persistence, and desistance) from early adolescence to young adulthood. Particular attention is afforded to the influence of various sources of heterogeneity including: generational and nativity status, and crime type. Results suggest that the myth remains; trajectory analyses reveal that immigrants are no more crime-prone than the native-born. Foreign-born individuals exhibit remarkably low levels of involvement in crime across their life course. Moreover, it appears that by the second generation, immigrants have simply caught up to their native-born counterparts in respect to their offending. Implications of the findings for theory and future research are discussed.     

Exporting and importing criminality: Incarceration of the Foreign Born

Since previous studies have found that crime rates vary by immigrant group there is a need to dis‐aggregate immigrants by country of birth in order to obtain a more accurate representation of the relationship between migrants and crime. This study examines data from six countries (Australia, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the U.S.A.) on the country of birth of their inmate populations. The following observations are reasonable conclusions from the data available. First, the percentages of each home country's inmate population that is foreign‐born varies remarkably. Second, in general foreign‐born inmates tend to come from regions outside the region within which the host country was located, though in most cases from regions that were proximate. Third, given the small number of countries reporting, it is intriguing that just a small number of countries and regions can account for such a high proportion of a home country's inmate population if one includes the numbers of a country's citizens who are housed in foreign prisons as part of that original country's inmate population. The paper concludes with a discussion of a number of policy implications that flow from these findings.     

Criminal epidemiology and the immigrant paradox: Intergenerational discontinuity in violence and antisocial behavior among immigrants

Purpose

A growing number of studies have examined the immigrant paradox with respect to antisocial behavior and crime in the United States. However, there remains a need for a comprehensive examination of the intergenerational nature of violence and antisocial behavior among immigrants using population-based samples.

Methods

The present study, employing data from Wave I and II data of the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), sought to address these gaps by examining the prevalence of nonviolent criminal and violent antisocial behavior among first, second, and third-generation immigrants and compare these to the prevalence found among non-immigrants and each other in the United States.

Results

There is clear evidence of an intergenerational severity-based gradient in the relationship between immigrant status and antisocial behavior and crime. The protective effect of nativity is far-and-away strongest among first-generation immigrants, attenuates substantially among second-generation immigrants, and essentially disappears among third-generation immigrants. These patterns were also stable across gender.

Conclusion

The present study is among the first to examine the intergenerational nature of antisocial behavior and crime among immigrants using population-based samples. Results provide robust evidence that nativity as a protective factor for immigrants wanes with each successive generation.     

Unregistered residents and registered crime: an estimate for asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Norway

The purpose of our study has been to better estimate the number and types of crimes committed by asylum seekers and irregular migrants. While data on immigration status for non-residents are lacking in Norwegian crime statistics, we use indirect identifiers (lack of a national ID number, citizenship, residency) to arrive at an estimate for persons with a pending asylum claim and the related group of irregular migrants (i.e. non-EU citizens). A very small amount of the total crimes registered with a known offender are committed by this group. However, these groups are most likely overrepresented as offenders compared to the registered resident population, also when taking age and gender into consideration. Our method is recommended in a field otherwise dominated by political arguments and as an alternative to registering asylum status in crime registers.     

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS AS PERCEIVED CRIMINAL THREAT: A TEST OF THE MINORITY THREAT PERSPECTIVE*

The link between immigration and crime has garnered considerable attention from researchers. Although the weight of evidence suggests that immigration is not linked to crime, the public consistently views immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, as criminal and thus a threat to social order. However, little attention has been paid to why they are perceived this way. By drawing on the minority threat perspective, this article investigates the effects of objective and perceptual measures of community context on perceived criminal threat from undocumented immigrants. Analyses of data collected from four Southwest states and the U.S. Census show that the perceived size of the undocumented immigrant population, more so than the actual size of the immigrant population and economic conditions, is positively associated with perceptions of undocumented immigrants as a criminal threat. Additional analyses show that objective measures of community context do not affect native respondents’ perceptions of the size of the undocumented immigrant population. The study's findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

IMMIGRATION AND THE RECENT VIOLENT CRIME DROP IN THE UNITED STATES: A POOLED,CROSS‐SECTIONAL TIME‐SERIES ANALYSIS OF METROPOLITAN AREAS*

A good deal of research in recent years has revisited the relationship between immigration and violent crime. Various scholars have suggested that, contrary to the claims of the classic Chicago School, large immigrant populations might be associated with lower rather than higher rates of criminal violence. A limitation of the research in this area is that it has been based largely on cross‐sectional analyses for a restricted range of geographic areas. Using time‐series techniques and annual data for metropolitan areas over the 1994–2004 period, we assess the impact of changes in immigration on changes in violent crime rates. The findings of multivariate analyses indicate that violent crime rates tended to decrease as metropolitan areas experienced gains in their concentration of immigrants. This inverse relationship is especially robust for the offense of robbery. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that the broad reductions in violent crime during recent years are partially attributable to increases in immigration.     

REASSESSING THE BREADTH OF THE PROTECTIVE BENEFIT OF IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORHOODS: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF VIOLENCE RISK BY RACE,ETHNICITY, AND LABOR MARKET STRATIFICATION*

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.     

Ethnic and immigrant residential concentration, and crime rates

One of the main arguments of social disorganization theory is that ethnic heterogeneity, influenced by immigrant residential concentration, is highly disruptive for community organization, and therefore, highly criminogenic. The effect of immigrant residential concentration on crime rates is, however, generally masked by the general effect of the broader category of ethnic heterogeneity. Some recent studies even suggested a negative relationship between immigrant residential concentration and crime. The present study, conducted in the city of Haifa, Israel, used neighborhood level data to test the specific relationship between immigrant residential concentration and crime rates among recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The results showed that the decomposition of ethnic heterogeneity into its two main components—immigrant residential concentration and ethnic residential concentration—served to qualify the predicted effects of social disorganization theory.     

International Migration and the European Union, Trends and Consequences

Member States of the European Union (EU) have undoubtedly changed into de facto countries of immigration. Since the upswing in migration in the late 1980s, net migration for the 15 EU Member States together has not been below 500,000. This article first focuses on trends in international migration (such as migration from former colonies, recruitment of temporary workers, and East-West migration) and special groups of immigrants (such as ethnic Germans, asylum seekers, and clandestine migrants). The second part of the article pays attention to immigrant settlement and migration policies, especially focusing on the European Union (trafficking and smuggling of humans, and the integration of migrants on the labour market). Detailed comparison of international migration flows is seriously hindered by a complexity of different national registration systems, and different countries display differences with regard to type and history of migration, country of origin, size of migration flows and immigrant populations.     

IMMIGRATION AND CRIME IN AN ERA OF TRANSFORMATION: A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF HOMICIDES IN SAN DIEGO NEIGHBORHOODS, 1980–2000*

Emerging research associated with the “immigration revitalization” perspective suggests that immigration has been labeled inaccurately as a cause of crime in contemporary society. In fact, crime seems to be unexpectedly low in many communities that exhibit high levels of the following classic indicators of social disorganization: residential instability, ethnic heterogeneity, and immigration. But virtually all research conducted to date has been cross-sectional in nature and therefore unable to demonstrate how the relationship between immigration and crime might covary over time. This limitation is significant, especially because current versions of social disorganization theory posit a dynamic relationship between structural factors and crime that unfolds over time. The current study addresses this issue by exploring the effects of immigration on neighborhood-level homicide trends in the city of San Diego, California, using a combination of racially/ethnically disaggregated homicide victim data and community structural indicators collected for three decennial census periods. Consistent with the revitalization thesis, results show that the increased size of the foreign-born population reduces lethal violence over time. Specifically, we find that neighborhoods with a larger share of immigrants have fewer total, non-Latino White, and Latino homicide victims. More broadly, our findings suggest that social disorganization in heavily immigrant cities might be largely a function of economic deprivation rather than forms of “neighborhood” or “system” stability.     

Perceived risk of crime: A tale of two immigrant groups in Metro Detroit

A particular source of anxiety for many immigrants is personal safety. This study examines the levels and correlates of perceived risk of crime among two understudied immigrant groups, Arab and Chinese immigrants, who resided in an understudied geographic area, the Detroit metropolitan area. Results suggested several universal and immigrants-specific correlates that are significant predictors of Arab and/or Chinese immigrants' perceptions of crime, including self-defense ability, police effectiveness, neighborhood collective efficacy, language proficiency, expectation of U.S. crime condition prior to arrival, and perception of home society crime. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Examining Systematic Crime Reporting Bias Across Three Immigrant Generations: Prevalence,Trends, and Divergence in Self-Reported and Official Reported Arrests

Objective

Mounting evidence reveals that foreign-born, first generation immigrants have significantly lower levels of criminal involvement compared to their US-born, second and third-plus generation peers. This study investigates whether this finding is influenced by differential crime reporting practices by testing for systematic crime reporting bias across first, second, and third-plus generation immigrants.

Methods

This study draws on data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a longitudinal investigation of the transition from adolescence to young adulthood among a sample of serious adolescent offenders. Self-reported and official reports of arrest are compared longitudinally across ten waves of data spanning 7 years from adolescence into young adulthood for nearly 1300 adjudicated males and females.

Results

This study reveals a high degree of correspondence between self-reports of arrest and official reports of arrest when compared within groups distinguished by immigrant generation. Longitudinal patterns of divergence, disaggregated by under-reporting and over-reporting, in self- and official-reports of arrest indicated a very high degree of similarity regardless of immigrant generation. We found no evidence of systematic crime reporting bias among foreign-born, first generation immigrants compared to their US-born peers.

Conclusions

First generation immigrants are characterized by lower levels of offending that are not attributable to a differential tendency to under-report their involvement in crime.

     

Immigration and crime: a time-trend analysis of self-reported crime in Sweden, 1999–2017

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the direction and rate of change in self-reported crime over time, based on immigrant status and region of origin. The study is based on eight nationally representive school surveys conducted by the National Council for Crime Prevention between 1999 and 2017, with a sample of 50,657 adolescents. Results in this study showed a decreasing trend in self-reported offending among both first and second generation immigrant youth, and also among immigrant youths from different regions of origin. The results also show that offending has declined at a faster rate among first generation immigrants by comparison with native Swedes.     

Domestic violence among immigrants from India: What we need to know — and what we should do

Little research has been reported on domestic violence among Indian immigrant families in the United States. While one national survey suggests that this is not a major problem, several smaller scale studies that focus specifically on South Asian immigrants suggest there is a substantial hidden problem warranting attention. In order to assist future research, this paper presents an integrated theoretical model to explain domestic violence in Indian immigrant communities. The model draws on feminist theory, family violence research, acculturation theory and victimological and crime opportunity theories. The model also provides a framework for thinking about possible intervention strategies. Those likely to provide more immediate benefits are discussed.     

The Adaptation of Migrants in Russia

This issue of Russian Politics and Law addresses the topic of migration from the point of view of the host country, examining the tensions inherent in accepting large numbers of migrants, and the government policies aimed at immigrant integration at both the national and local levels. The articles in this issue demonstrate that government efforts to push immigrants to integrate into their host communities by learning the Russian language, abandoning traditional customs, and encouraging their children to assimilate have had limited success.     

Different than the Sum of Its Parts: Examining the Unique Impacts of Immigrant Groups on Neighborhood Crime Rates

Objectives

Examining the immigration-crime nexus across neighborhoods in the Southern California metropolitan region, this study builds on existing literature by unpacking immigration and accounting for the rich diversity that exists between immigrant groups.

Methods

Using data from a variety of sources, we capture this diversity with three different approaches, operationalizing immigrant groups by similar racial/ethnic categories, areas or regions of the world that immigrants emigrate from, and where immigrants co-locate once they settle in the U.S. We also account for the heterogeneity of immigrant populations by constructing measures of immigrant heterogeneity based on each of these classifications. We compare these novel approaches with the standard approach, which combines immigrants together through a single measure of percent foreign born.

Results

The results reveal that considerable insights are gained by distinguishing between diverse groups of immigrants. In particular, we find that all three strategies explained neighborhood crime levels better than the traditional approach.

Conclusion

The findings underscore the necessity of disaggregating immigrant groups when exploring the immigration-crime relationship.

     

The hegemonic narrative and the social construction of deviance: the case of the Black Hand

This essay examines Black Hand crime in the city of Chicago from 1892 to 1931. The Black Hand was a crude method of crime in which Italian immigrants and others were extorted for money. This research argues that much of what we know about Black Hand crime is a media construction. The method of analysis used to conduct this investigation involved the content analysis of 280 newspaper accounts of Black Hand crime. This essay also examines the institutional legacy of the Black Hand phenomenon and argues that the inappropriate linking of Black Hand crime to the Sicilian Mafia led to the development of the alien conspiracy theory, forever linking organized crime in American society to the Italian immigrant. This essay concludes that the media play an important role in defining the societal construction of crime. The findings also support the social constructionist argument that definitions of deviance are subjectively determined.     

Fear of crime among Chinese immigrants in Metro-Detroit

Although a great deal of research has been conducted on fear of crime among the general public, much less is known about such fear among immigrants. Intensified fear may have detrimental consequences on immigrants’ lifestyles, acculturation process, and responses to law enforcement. Based on survey data collected from 148 Chinese immigrants in Metro-Detroit, this study assesses the effects of a variety of general and immigrant-specific explanatory factors on Chinese immigrants’ fear of crime. Results show that Chinese immigrants who had greater perceived risks of victimization, stronger perceptions of crime problems in home city, and lower English proficiency tended to have higher levels of fear of crime. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.