Re-examining the relationship between Latino immigration and racial/ethnic violence

Whether immigration increases crime has long been a source of political debate and scholarly interest. Despite widespread public opinion to the contrary, the weight of evidence suggests the most recent wave of U.S. immigration has not increased crime, and may have actually helped reduce criminal violence. However, with recent shifts in immigrant settlement patterns away from traditional receiving destinations, a series of contemporary studies suggests a more complicated immigration-crime relationship, whereby Latino immigration is said to increase violence in newer immigrant destinations (but not in established destinations) and has varied effects for different racial/ethnic groups. With few exceptions, these more recent studies rely on cross-sectional analyses, thus limiting their ability to examine the longitudinal nexus between Latino immigration and violent crime. This study brings to bear the first longitudinal data set to test the relationship between immigration and racial/ethnic homicide in U.S. metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2010. Results from bivariate longitudinal associations and multivariate fixed effects models are contrary to recent findings – Latino immigration is generally associated with decreases in homicide victimization for whites, blacks, and Hispanics in both established and non-established immigrant destinations, though these associations are not significant in all cases.     

From ‘What the F#@% is a Facebook?’ to ‘Who Doesn’t Use Facebook?’: The role of criminal lifestyles in the adoption and use of the Internet

Concerns about a digital divide persist and recent calls have been made for understanding how lifestyles influence Internet adoption and use. Online criminal behaviors have drawn attention from law enforcement, but diffusion of innovation theory suggests higher propensities for crime, particularly street crime, reduces the likelihood of Internet use. Drawing from this theory and research on the role of street criminal lifestyles on technology adoption, this study examined patterns of Internet use among a sample of 585 individuals at-risk for and involved in street crime. Results from our logistic and negative binomial regression analyses lead to two general conclusions: (1) compared to research on the general population, similar predictors and lower rates of Internet participation and usage are observed, and (2) mixed evidence suggests participation in criminal lifestyles contributes to digital inequality. The results support a theory of technological diffusion to marginalized populations. We conclude by discussing the expansion of technology, digital inequality, and crime.     

恶意透支型信用卡诈骗罪研究

自最高人民法院和最高人民检察院《关于妨害信用卡管理刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》出台以来,司法实务界一直致力于准确理解其规定并加以适用。理论界需要正视信用卡产业自身的迅猛、粗放型发展过程中内含的机制性瑕疵和司法实务界对恶意透支型信用卡诈骗罪的一种简单化处理的倾向。对恶意透支型信用卡诈骗罪在司法实践中遇到的一些争议性项目需要加以界定、探讨,如“恶意透支与善意透支”、“银行催收要求”、“持卡人认定”等问题,努力达到一种既符合金融信贷业发展规律又与刑法精神相契合的解读,并提出一种民事与刑事法律法规合力互动的“民刑应对机制”的设想。     

论"严打"与人权保障的关系——兼论刑事诉讼法的目的

惩罚犯罪与保障人权相结合是刑事诉讼法的目的所在。一方面 ,刑诉法为惩罚犯罪提供了重要工具 ;另一方面 ,刑诉法又是人权保障的重要法宝。在“严打”斗争中 ,只有打保并重 ,不忽视和偏重任何一面 ,就能实现刑诉法的目的 ,取得最好的“严打”效果     

The typification of Hispanics as criminals and support for punitive crime control policies

The Hispanic population is now the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States, so it is not surprising that ethnic threat linked to Hispanics has been associated with harsher crime control. While minority threat research has found that individuals who associate blacks with crime are more likely to support harsh criminal policies, the possibility that this relationship exists for those who typify Hispanics as criminal has yet to be examined. Using a national random sample, this study is the first to use HLM to find that perceptions of Hispanics as criminals do increase support for punitive crime control measures, controlling for various individual and state influences. Moderated and contextual analyses indicate this relationship is most applicable for individuals who are less apt to typify criminals as black, less prejudiced, less fearful of victimization, politically liberal or moderate, not parents, and living in states with relatively fewer Latin American immigrants.     

对赃物犯罪典型形态的重新认识--从海峡两岸刑法比较研究的角度

从《中华人民共和国刑法》配置的法定刑来看,赃物犯罪是一类性质较轻的犯罪,但其存在却足以严重妨碍司法活动的正常进行,所以应引起人们足够的重视。虽然刑法典对该类罪行专立条文予以规制,但在对一些基本问题的认识上,学术界以及实务部门均有争议。从海峡两岸刑法比较研究的立场,对赃物犯罪的典型形态的本质特征、构成要件诸方面等重新认识,可以更好地为我们解惑,从而利于刑事立法工作的顺利开展。     

Disentangling the reciprocal relationship between change in crime and racial/ethnic change

Prior research has found that racial/ethnic change and residential instability are positively related to neighborhood crime. However, the process of racial/ethnic change differentially influences crime above and beyond residential instability. While both processes affect crime through the disruption of existing social ties, racial/ethnic change has additional consequences for crime by heightening racial/ethnic tensions and undercutting cross-group interactions. This means racial/ethnic change is a different process than residential instability, and suggests that neighborhoods experiencing high rates of instability and high rates of racial/ethnic change may be particularly susceptible to crime. Therefore, we examine the influence of racial/ethnic compositional change on change in crime across different levels of residential instability. Further, we argue that demographic change and crime may be influencing each other simultaneously: increases in the crime rate and racial/ethnic compositional change impact each other at the same time. To capture this process, we employ a structural equation model (SEM) that accounts for the reciprocal and simultaneous relationship between racial/ethnic change and violent and property crime rates in Los Angeles, California between 1990 and 2000. We also account for the influence of change in spatially proximate communities. Results show robust evidence that increases in racial/ethnic change contributes to greater violent and property crime rates, but the reciprocal influence of crime on racial/ethnic change is contingent upon the degree to which a neighborhood is experiencing residential instability and crime type.     

Growing pains or appreciable gains? Latent classes of neighborhood change,and consequences for crime in Southern California neighborhoods

This study explored the dynamic nature of neighborhoods using a relatively novel approach and data source. By using a nonparametric holistic approach of neighborhood change based on latent class analysis (LCA), we have explored how changes in the socio-demographic characteristics of residents, as well as home improvement and refinance activity by residents, are related to changes in neighborhood crime over a decade. Utilizing annual home mortgage loan data in the city of Los Angeles from the years 2000–2010, we 1) conducted principle components factor analyses using measures of residential in-migration and home investment activities; 2) estimated LCA models to identify classes of neighborhoods that shared common patterns of change over the decade; 3) described these 11 classes; 4) estimated change-score regression models to assess the relationship of these classes with changing crime rates. The analyses detected six broad types of neighborhood change: 1) stability; 2) urban investors; 3) higher-income home buyers; 4) in-mover oscillating; 5) oscillating refinance; 6) mixed-trait. The study describes the characteristics of each of these classes, and how they are related to changes in crime rates over the decade.     

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.     

反思与重构:对结合犯概念的再思考

对结合犯概念的揭示应注意以下几个方面:不能脱离结合犯的初始意义,应反映结合犯的本质内涵和立法目的,不能脱离法律的实证规定,不能混淆规范刑法学与本体刑法学的界限,不能脱离犯罪成立的理论体系.所谓结合犯是指立法者基于特定立法目的的考虑,将两个具有内在联系性的犯罪(构成要件)规定为独立犯罪(构成要件)的情况.     

Globalization, labor market transformation, and metropolitan earnings inequality

Numerous studies have noted the increasing levels of inequality in American society, but relatively few have linked this inequality to the dynamics of the global economy. In this study, we examine the impact of five measures of globalization (global capital, foreign direct investment, exports, foreign born non-citizens, and foreign born citizens) and six measures of labor market transformation (deindustrialization, corporate restructuring, bureaucratic burden, casualization, bad jobs, and multiple job holding) on metropolitan-level earnings inequality of full-time, full-year workers 16 years and older. Our study makes several major contributions to the literature. First, we update and extend the long line of studies on metropolitan earnings inequality. Second, we show that these various dimensions of globalization and labor market transformation exert independent and mainly polarizing effects on the earnings distributions of metropolitan areas, net of controls for labor market structure and sociodemographic variables. Third, we demonstrate the benefits of looking at the causes of inequality in the upper and lower tails of the earnings distribution. Finally, we develop a procedure to estimate counterfactual values of earnings inequality for all major metropolitan areas in the US in 2000. In the process, the paper provides a comprehensive accounting of the impact of globalization and labor market transformation on metropolitan earnings inequality.     

网络犯罪的理论与立法问题研究

网络犯罪在刑法上属于特殊类型的犯罪。随着计算机信息网络的进一步发展,在理论上对网络犯罪问题的研究也日益受到关注。在理论和立法上,概括了网络犯罪概念的各种学说并进行了分析,提出了界定网络犯罪的见解;在犯罪构成上,论述了网络犯罪客体的复杂性、行为方式的独特性、犯罪主体的智能型和主观罪过的预见性,提出了完善立法的意见;在刑事处罚上,提出了我国刑法对网络犯罪的处罚规定存在的缺陷以及立法建议。     

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.     

Residential segregation in metropolitan established immigrant gateways and new destinations, 1990-2000

In the 1990s, many immigrants bypassed established gateways like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami to create new immigrant destinations across the US. In this paper, we examine how segregation and spatial assimilation might differ between established gateways and new destinations among the 150 largest metropolitan areas. Using data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses, we calculate levels of dissimilarity for Hispanics and Asians by nativity for these two gateway types. Our findings show that segregation levels are consistently lower in new destinations. However, Hispanics in new destinations experienced significant increases segregation during the 1990s, suggesting a convergence in residential patterns by destination type. Nevertheless, in both destinations the native-born are less segregated than the foreign born—consistent with immigrant spatial incorporation. Finally, socioeconomic indicators are generally consistent with predictions of spatial assimilation.     

The social organization of criminal justice processing: An event history analysis

Crimes are social events that involve citizens and control agents interacting over time. Prior work neglects the dynamic and interactive qualities of these criminal events. Drawing from the work of Hawley and others, it is suggested that the processing of criminal events is a routine activity socially organized in time and space. Dynamic modeling techniques developed by N. Tuma are applied to longitudinal data collected on over 10,000 criminal events in California cities and used to model rates of transition from arrest to case disposition resulting from police release, prosecutor denial of complaint, or going to court. As the work of Hawley predicts, city size has much to do with the way criminal events are processed. For example, in larger cities it is demonstrated that crime specialists are processed more slowly than nonspecialists, and that each successive police processing of crime specialists results in slower rates of transition relative to nonspecialists; in smaller cities, it is demonstrated that black suspects are processed more quickly than whites, and that each successive police processing of black suspects results in faster rates of transition relative to whites. The former findings are explained in terms of rationalized intelligence gathering, the latter in terms of stereotyping and the harassment of minorities. The systematic form of the observed temporal changes, notwithstanding a large number of legal and extralegal variables taken into account, leads us to believe that we have identified important patterns of police activity. These and other findings convince us that the social organization of criminal justice processing deserves further study.     

以计算机为手段的财产犯罪的既遂认定

以计算机为手段实施的财产犯罪成为现代社会一种新的财产犯罪形式,由于这种犯罪形式的特殊性,在判断该罪既遂与未遂的问题上,刑法理论上产生了激烈的争议.基于对外国立法的比较,以及对我国刑法理论上争议的考察,我国刑法应当以行为人修改数据的行为实施为该罪的着手时间,依据行为人对于其所虚增的财产数据所代表的财产是否实现了事实上的控制或者支配为既遂的认定标准,严厉打击以计算机为工具实施的财产犯罪的未遂行为.     

Disparate vantage points: Race,gender, county context,and attitudes about harsh punishments in the US

In this paper, I use data from the General Social Survey, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, and other sources to consider differences in attitudes about punishment among four groups—Black men, Black women, White men, and White women—as well as how these differences vary according to county crime rates. Centering my expectations about group-specific attitudes within conflict theory and prior empirical findings, I am guided by the presumption that race and gender are cultural categories that shape attitudes about punishment by influencing our interactions with the criminal justice system, and that the meaning of these cultural categories varies by context. Analyses provide some evidence that race, gender, and context interact to shape attitudes about punishment. Overall, this research improves our understanding of group differences in punitive attitudes and of the cultural context in which the US system of incarceration operates.     

论信息域的聚众性犯罪形态

信息域的聚众性犯罪由于发生在信息域这一特定领域中,其在构成要件和基本属性等方面具有不同于传统聚众犯的鲜明特征:因而从信息域聚众犯的定义入手,围绕信息聚众犯的基本特征和倡议犯的法律定位等两个问题,深入地探讨信息聚众犯罪的复杂性、特殊性以及它与传统刑法关于共同犯罪的某些规定的内在冲突性具有重要意义.     

公司资本犯罪刑法规制的有限性及其抗制——兼论刑法与公司法关系之协调

我国刑事立法规定的公司资本犯罪及其刑事责任在实践中的规制作用极其有限。原因之一就是刑法因缺乏与公司法的衔接与配合而产生的立法疏漏,并进而导致司法适用上的困难和不当。而我国公司立法的不完善,构成了我国公司资本犯罪刑事立法方面的重大缺陷。这一缺陷直接影响到了刑法对公司资本犯罪行为定罪量刑的准确性、严谨性和科学性。因此,应协调刑法与民法、公司法的关系,加强刑法与公司法交流与配合,以充分发挥刑法的作用。     

The link between unemployment and crime rate fluctuations: An analysis at the county, state, and national levels

Cantor and Land (1985) developed a theoretical model that proposed two pathways through which economic activity - as indexed by the aggregate unemployment rate - could affect the rate of criminal activity. The first is by increasing levels of criminal motivation within the population as deteriorating economic conditions affect social strain and social control; the second is by influencing the availability and vulnerability of criminal targets and thus the number of criminal opportunities. Although much empirical research has applied this theoretical model, few analyses have done so at disaggregated units of analysis. We present the most comprehensive analysis to date by empirically evaluating this model with data on 400 of the largest US counties - and examine the effects of aggregation on results as these county data are combined to the state and national levels - for the years 1978-2005. For seven Index crimes at each of the three levels of analysis, and with or without controls for structural covariates at each level, the directional effects hypothesized by Cantor and Land are found for 78 out of 84 estimated relationships. Even after taking into account the lack of statistical independence of these estimates by drawing on recently developed statistical theory, this is a very unlikely outcome. In accordance with expectations based on theory and prior research, (a) some of these relationships are weak and not statistically significant, and (b) the strongest and most consistent patterns of relationships for both the crime opportunity and crime motivation effects are found for three property crimes: burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. Suggestions for further research on this topic are given.