Immigration and violence: The offsetting effects of immigrant concentration on Latino violence

Despite longstanding interest in the effects of immigration on American society, there are few studies that examine the relationship between immigration and crime. Drawing from social disorganization theory and community resource/social capital perspectives, this study examines the effects of Latino immigration on Latino violence. Data on violence (i.e., homicide, robbery, and Violent Index) and the structural conditions of Latino populations are drawn from the California Arrest Data (CAL), New York State Arrest Data (NYSAD), and U.S. Census data for approximately 400 census places during the 1999–2001 period. Findings suggest that immigrant concentration has no direct effect on Latino homicide or Violent Index rates but may reduce Latino robbery. Immigration also appears to have multiple, offsetting indirect effects on Latino violence that work through social disorganization and community resource measures. These results suggest that (1) immigrant concentration does not contribute to Latino violence and may even reduce some forms of violence, (2) immigration simultaneously stabilizes and destabilizes structural conditions in Latino populations, and (3) it is useful to examine both the direct and indirect effects of immigration on crime.     

Underage drinking, alcohol sales and collective efficacy: Informal control and opportunity in the study of alcohol use

Underage drinking among American youth is a growing public concern. However, while extensive research has identified individual level predictors of this phenomenon, few studies have theorized and tested the effect of structural social forces on children’s and youths’ alcohol consumption. In an attempt to address this gap, we study the effects of residential environments on children’s and youths’ underage drinking (while accounting for personality and familial processes). Integrating informal social control and opportunity explanations of deviance, we first suggest that while neighborhood collective efficacy prevents adolescents’ underage drinking, individuals’ access to local alcohol retail shops encourages such behavior. Focusing on the interactive effects of communal opportunities and controls, we then suggest that high presence of alcohol outlets and sales in the neighborhood is likely to increase youths’ probability of alcohol consumption in the absence of communal mechanisms of informal social control. We test our theoretical model using the unprecedented data design available in the PHDCN. Results from a series of multilevel logit models with robust standard errors reveal partial support for our hypotheses; specifically, we find that alcohol sales in a given neighborhood increase adolescents’ alcohol use. In addition, while the direct effect of collective efficacy is insignificantly related to children’s and youths’ alcohol consumption, our models suggest that it significantly attenuates the effect of local alcohol retailers and sales on underage drinking.     

Foreclosures and crime: A city-level analysis in Southern California of a dynamic process

Although a growing body of research has examined and found a positive relationship between neighborhood crime and home foreclosures, some research suggests this relationship may not hold in all cities. This study uses city-level data to assess the relationship between foreclosures and crime by estimating longitudinal models with lags for monthly foreclosure and crime data in 128 cities from 1996 to 2011 in Southern California. We test whether these effects are stronger in cities with a combination of high economic inequality and high economic segregation; and whether they are stronger in cities with high racial/ethnic heterogeneity and high racial segregation. One month, and cumulative three month, six month, and 12-month lags of foreclosures are found to increase city level crime for all crimes except motor vehicle theft. The effect of foreclosures on these crime types is stronger in cities with simultaneously high levels of inequality but low levels of economic segregation. The effect of foreclosures on aggravated assault, robbery, and burglary is stronger in cities with simultaneously high levels of racial heterogeneity and low levels of racial segregation. On the other hand, foreclosures had a stronger effect on larceny and motor vehicle theft when they occurred in a city with simultaneously high levels of racial heterogeneity and high levels of racial segregation. There is evidence that the foreclosure crisis had large scale impacts on cities, leading to higher crime rates in cities hit harder by foreclosures. Nonetheless, the economic and racial characteristics of the city altered this effect.     

Studying neighborhood crime across different macro spatial scales: The case of robbery in 4 cities

Whereas there is a burgeoning literature focusing on the spatial distribution of crime events across neighborhoods or micro-geographic units in a specific city, the present study expands this line of research by selecting four cities that vary across two macro-spatial dimensions: population in the micro-environment, and population in the broader macro-environment. We assess the relationship between measures constructed at different spatial scales and robbery rates in blocks in four cities: 1) San Francisco (high in micro- and macro-environment population); 2) Honolulu (high in micro- but low in macro-environment population); 3) Los Angeles (low in micro- but high in macro-environment population); 4) Sacramento (low in micro- and macro-environment population). Whereas the socio-demographic characteristics of residents further than ½ mile away do not impact robbery rates, the number of people up to 2.5 miles away are related to robbery rates, especially in the two cities with smaller micro-environment population, implying a larger spatial scale than is often considered. The results show that coefficient estimates differ somewhat more between cities differing in micro-environment population compared to those differing based on macro-environment population. It is therefore necessary to consider the broader macro-environment even when focusing on the level of crime across neighborhoods or micro-geographic units within an area.     

The contemporary foreclosure crisis and US crime rates

Foreclosure rates in America reached unprecedented levels during the last half of the 2000s, and many observers have speculated that elevated crime rates were one of the probable negative collateral consequences of this trend. We examine this issue with a comprehensive county-level analysis of the role of foreclosure in shaping contemporary crime patterns, highlighting the possibility of theoretically informed non-linear and conditional relationships. Multivariate regression models that account for the well-documented spatial autocorrelation of crime rates and the possible endogeneity of foreclosure reveal a positive association between rates of foreclosure and property crime that accelerates significantly once foreclosure rates attain historically high levels. Multiplicative models indicate that this pattern holds for burglary across diverse county conditions, but the observed non-linear effect of foreclosure on robbery rates is limited primarily to areas that also exhibit relatively high levels of resource deprivation and limited new housing construction.     

“失盗又遭官”的逻辑从“讳盗”现象看清代地方司法

从消弭盗贼，维护社会治安出发，清代建立了一整套预防和治理体系，但最后却似乎背道而驰．出现了“失盗又遭官”的局面。从“治盗”到“讳盗”，从“讳盗”到“诲盗”，从“失盗”到“遭官”，我们有必要梳理一下这一条线索。从而呈现清代地方司法状况以及背后的逻辑。     

Race, social class, and student engagement in middle school English classrooms

Student level data on participation in classroom discourse and student effort on assignments in 117 middle school English classrooms are used to investigate the social determinants of student engagement in classroom instruction. Social identity theories of race, social class, and attachment to school, and research in the social psychology of achievement motivation both suggest differential levels of student engagement among diverse student groups. Using multilevel models, the author investigates the relationship between classroom context and students’ levels of engagement. Levels of engagement among black and low SES students are mostly insensitive to classroom context, suggesting there is little collective action directed at fostering anti-school norms among these student groups. However, consistent with research in the social psychology of achievement motivation, students who begin class with weaker reading and writing skills are less likely to be engaged, setting the stage for a cycle of reduced achievement growth.     

The differential contributions of teen drinking homophily to new and existing friendships: An empirical assessment of assortative and proximity selection mechanisms

Alcohol use is pervasive in adolescence. Though most research is concerned with how friends influence drinking, alcohol is also important for connecting teens to one another. Prior studies have not distinguished between new friendship creation, and existing friendship durability, however. We argue that accounting for distinctions in creation–durability processes is critical for understanding the selection mechanisms drawing drinkers into homophilous friendships, and the social integration that results. In order to address these issues, we applied stochastic actor based models of network dynamics to National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data. Adolescents only modestly prefer new friendships with others who drinker similarly, but greatly prefer friends who indirectly connect them to homophilous drinkers. These indirect homophilous drinker relationships are shorter lived, however, and suggest that drinking is a social focus that connects adolescents via proximity, rather than assortativity. These findings suggest that drinking leads to more situational and superficial social integration.     

Qualitative variance,entropy, and correlation ratios for nominal dependent variables

In this paper we derive a measure of dispersion for a nominal variable having k ? 2 categories and compare it with ordinary quantitative variance and with entropy. We then develop two qualitative analogs to the R² statistic, one based on qualitative variance, the other on entropy. For concreteness, data from the study of The American Soldier by S. A. Stouffér, E. A. Suchman, L. C. Devinney, S. A. Star, and R. M. Williams, Jr. (1949, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J.) are used to illustrate the computations and compare these two correlation ratios for a variety of logit models. It is shown that both measures are reasonable measures of the proportion of variation of one or more qualitative dependent variables explainable by any mixture of qualitative and quantitative predictor variables. They can be used with logit, probit, dummy variable regression models, or probability models of some other type.     

抢夺转化为抢劫罪若干问题研究

抢夺罪与抢劫罪是一种严重侵犯公民人身权利、财产权利的犯罪其危害性较大,历来为我国刑法打击重点。本文着重对抢劫罪即抢夺转化为抢劫罪进行了比较和区分,从前提、主观、客观三个方面探讨了抢夺转化为抢劫罪的构成要件,针对抢夺转化为抢劫罪的立法问题提出了相关建议和措施,将前提“犯抢夺罪”修改为“实施抢夺行为”,把“毁灭罪证”改为“毁灭证据”并在法条中应明确规定抢夺的财物必须达到“数额较大”,才能适用刑法第二百六十九条;立法中应细化共犯的认定标准。     

Social support,stress, and maternal postpartum depression: A comparison of supportive relationships

A large body of literature documents the link between social support, stress, and women’s mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period; however, uncertainty remains as to whether a direct effect or stress mediating pathway best describes the relationship between these factors. Moreover, specific dimensions of social support that may be influential (family type, sources of support) have largely been neglected. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (N = 4150), we examine the pathway between social support, stress exposure, and postpartum depression in greater detail. Findings reveal that social support is a significant, protective factor for postpartum depression, and the variety of support providers in a woman’s social network is important, especially in the context of family type. Findings also reveal the importance of considering social support and stress exposure as part of a larger causal pathway to postpartum mental health.     

Immigrant generation, selective acculturation, and alcohol use among Latina/o adolescents

Do alcohol use and binge drinking among Latina/o adolescents increase in the second and third generation? This study explores generational differences in alcohol use behaviors for three Latina/o ethnic groups. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on 1504 Latina/o adolescents in secondary school, we found that the factors associated with alcohol use behaviors differed across the Latina/o groups. For Mexican and Cuban adolescents, but not Puerto Ricans, immigrant generation was associated with alcohol use. For Mexican, but not Cuban adolescents, acculturation mediated the effect of immigrant generation on alcohol use behaviors. Although generally social capital and a co-ethnic presence were protective factors against alcohol use behaviors, we found that some forms of social capital were actually risk factors for Cubans and Puerto Ricans. Our results provide support for segmented-assimilation theory.     

当前农村刑事犯罪的特点及成因

当前,农村中的刑事犯罪案件呈增长势头,其特点是投毒案件显著上升,抢劫案件明显突出,凶杀案件大幅增长,拐卖人口有所抬头.究其原因,一是农民文化素质低下,不学法,不懂法;二是社会上贪污腐化不正之风的直接影响;三是综合治理强度不够,打击不力.农村刑事犯罪活动,直接危害农村以致整个社会的稳定,因此,必须加大对农村州事犯罪的打防力度,把维护农村稳定置于更加突出的地位.     

Vocational education: A clean slate for disengaged students?

Students’ social psychological adjustment to school is an important determinant of achievement growth as well as school continuation and post-secondary educational attainment. Yet many students begin high school with low levels of efficacy and self-worth, and low levels of identification with and liking of school. In this study, we investigate the hypothesis that vocational education in high school provides disengaged students with an educational clean slate, leading to a recovery of engagement for at-risk students. Using propensity score models, we assess the relationship between vocational course taking and changes in effort, extracurricular participation, sense of belonging, interest in school, attitudes toward school and teachers, educational expectations, career aspirations, locus of control, and self-concept with the NELS:88 database.     

Coalitional affiliation as a missing link between ethnic polarization and well-being: An empirical test from the European Social Survey

Many studies converge in suggesting (a) that ethnic and racial minorities fare worse than host populations in reported well-being and objective measures of health and (b) that ethnic/racial diversity has a negative impact on various measures of social trust and well-being, including in the host or majority population. However, there is much uncertainty about the processes that connect diversity variables with personal outcomes. In this paper, we are particularly interested in different levels of coalitional affiliation, which refers to people’s social allegiances that guide their expectations of social support, in-group strength and cohesion. We operationalize coalitional affiliation as the extent to which people rely on a homogeneous social network, and we measure it with indicators of friendships across ethnic boundaries and frequency of contact with friends. Using multi-level models and data from the European Social Survey (Round 1, 2002–2003) for 19 countries, we demonstrate that coalitional affiliation provides an empirically reliable, as well as theoretically coherent, explanation for various effects of ethnic/racial diversity.     

From the general to the specific: How social trust motivates relational trust

When people form beliefs about the trustworthiness of others with respect to particular matters (i.e., when individuals trust), theory suggests that they rely on preexistent cognitive schemas regarding the general cooperativeness of individuals and organizations (i.e., social trust). In spite of prior work, the impact of social trust on relational trust—or what Russell Hardin (2002) calls trust as a three-part relation where actor A trusts actor B with reference to matter Y—is not well established. Four vignette experiments were administered to Amazon.com Mechanical Turk workers (N = 1388 and N = 1419) and to public university undergraduate students (N = 995 and N = 956) in order to investigate the relationship between social trust and relational trust. Measures of general social trust and particular social trust produced statistically equivalent effects that were positively associated with relational trust. Political trust, however, was statistically unrelated to relational trust. These results support the idea that people rely on schemas and stereotypes concerned with the general cooperativeness and helpfulness of others when forming beliefs about another person's trustworthiness with respect to a particular matter at hand.     

Social isolation,survey nonresponse,and nonresponse bias: An empirical evaluation using social network data within an organization

Survey researchers have long hypothesized that social isolation negatively affects the probability of survey participation and biases survey estimates. Previous research, however, has relied on proxy measures of isolation, such as being a marginalized group member within a population. We re-examine the relationship between social isolation and survey participation using direct measures of social isolation derived from social network data; specifically, instrumental research and expressive friendship connections among faculty within academic departments. Using a reconceptualization of social isolation, we find that social network isolation is negatively associated with unit response. Among women (a numerical minority group within the organization), we further find that social group isolation (i.e., lacking instrumental network connections to men, the majority group in the organization) is negatively associated with survey participation. Finally, we show that some survey estimates are systematically biased due to nonparticipation from socially isolated people.     

社会资本理论视阈下的我国农村治安问题分析

近年来,我国农村治安形势不容乐观,主要表现在农民上访事件和群体性事件呈上升趋势,偷盗抢劫等刑事案件发案率居高不下,非法宗教活动屡禁不止等。从根源上说,这是社会转型期难以避免的,传统的农村熟人社会下所形成的人们之间的普遍信任、村规民约及相互交往和组织参与在市场经济大潮的冲击下已经淡化,而这些恰恰是作为社会稳定基础的农村社会资本的重要部分。因此,改善农村治安状况关键在于重构传统农村社会资本并积极培育和发展符合社会主义市场经济的新型农村社会资本。     

Losing ground,losing sleep: Local economic conditions,economic vulnerability,and sleep

Medical research shows that healthy sleep has benefits for human wellbeing. We contribute to the emerging social-epidemiological literature on the social determinants of sleep by considering how living in an area with poor economic circumstances can result in sleep loss through financial worry, uncertainty and stress. We use multilevel regression models and nationally-representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (n = 9181) and find that individuals who live in areas with high unemployment rates or experience individual-level economic vulnerability sleep less than comparable individuals in areas with low unemployment rates, or who do not experience financial hardships. The negative association between local economic conditions and sleep duration is substantially stronger amongst economically vulnerable individuals. This highlights the importance of considering multiple levels in the analysis of health inequalities, as status and location can intersect to produce and reproduce disadvantage systems.     

The bright side of migration: Hedonic,psychological, and social well-being in immigrants in Spain

The aim of this study was to examine the multi-dimensional structure of well-being in immigrant population, as well as to explore the complexity of well-being disparities between immigrants and host nationals. We analyzed hedonic, psychological, and social well-being in a sample of 1250 immigrants from Bolivia, Colombia, Morocco, Romania and Sub-Saharan Africa, together with that of 500 matched host nationals from Spain. Participants were selected by means of probability sampling with stratification by age and sex. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the re-specified tripartite model of well-being, including hedonic, psychological, and social components of the individual’s functioning, was the best fitting model, as compared to alternative models. Importantly, after adjustment for perceived friendship and support, marital status, income, sex and age, immigrants presented higher levels of well-being than host nationals. Compared to host nationals, immigrants reported especially higher eudaimonic well-being: social contribution and actualization, personal growth, self-acceptance, and purpose in life, and lower levels of well-being only in terms of positive relations with others and negative affect. These results are discussed in the context of positive psychology.