Urban Poverty and Neighborhood Effects on Crime: Incorporating Spatial and Network Perspectives

Research on neighborhoods and crime is on a remarkable growth trajectory. In this article, we survey important recent developments in the scholarship on neighborhood effects and the spatial stratification of poverty and urban crime. We advance the case that, in understanding the impact of neighborhoods and poverty on crime, sociological and criminological research would benefit from expanding the analytical focus from residential neighborhoods to the network of neighborhoods that individuals are exposed to during their daily routine activities. This perspective is supported by re‐emerging scholarship on activity spaces and macro‐level research on inter‐neighborhood connections. We highlight work indicating that non‐residential contexts add variation in criminogenic exposure, which in turn influence offending behavior and victimization risk. Also, we draw on recent insights from research on gang violence, social and institutional connections, and spatial mismatch and call for advancements in the scholarship on urban poverty that investigates the salience of inter‐neighborhood connections in evaluating the spatial stratification of criminogenic risk for individuals and communities.     

Americans’ Approval of the 2010 Affordable Care Act: Self‐interest and Symbolic Politics*

Public opinion data show substantial variation in attitudes toward the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Utilizing a 2013 Gallup survey of U.S. adults, we examine the effects of self‐interest and symbolic politics measures on several dimensions of ACA approval. Supporting symbolic politics, we find liberal political ideology, democratic party affiliation, and positive evaluations of President Obama are consistently associated with greater approval of the ACA generally, as well as the belief that the ACA will improve the healthcare situation of the United States and one's family specifically. In contrast, self‐interest variables produce less consistent results. Self‐reported familiarity with the law and being uninsured due to one's employer not offering health insurance are associated with greater belief the ACA will improve the healthcare situation of one's family specifically, but not the U.S. healthcare situation generally. Together these findings suggest that political values and symbols—in particular perceptions of President Obama—may be more important in shaping attitudes toward the ACA than self‐interest variables, especially in contexts assessing more generalized support for the legislation.     

Marriage and Offending: Examining the Significance of Marriage among the Children of Immigrants

Although research shows that involvement in crime varies across immigrant generations, less is known about why this is so. Using 13 waves of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data, we examine the influence of marriage—a key correlate of desistance from crime—to understand more fully patterns of offending across immigrant generations during the transition to adulthood. Results indicate a lower prevalence of offending among first‐generation immigrants compared with their second‐generation and third‐plus‐generation peers; however, among active offenders, rates of offending are similar across groups. Notably, marriage exerts a significantly stronger effect on offending for second‐generation immigrants, suggesting that, while assimilation may be associated with more offending, it is also associated with a greater potency of marriage in promoting desistance from crime.     

Overcoming the Neglect of Social Process in Cross‐National and Comparative Criminology

How and why crime rates vary across different societal and cultural contexts has been a perennial question within criminological research. Numerous studies have emerged in recent years responding to calls for criminology to examine the cross‐cultural relevance of contemporary theory. While many of these studies have made significant advances, a great deal of work remains to be done in the development of theory, measurement, and methods. The present article examines the state of cross‐national criminological research, including a discussion of challenges in examining key theoretical questions. Promising avenues for overcoming issues with data and developing key theoretical perspectives to better assess how social processes explain cross‐national variations of crime are discussed.     

The Gender Gap in Fear: Assessing the Interactive Effects of Gender and Perceived Risk on Fear of Crime

In this research we explore the interaction between gender and perceived risk of victimization on levels of fear of crime. Much of the previous research on the effects of gender on fear of crime assumes that crimes are not gendered and that the effects of gender would operate the same regardless of type of crime. Challenging this assumption, we examine crimes that disproportionately victimize women or men. We find that there is greater nuance in both fear of crime and perception of risk when explored in this way. In fact, men's fear of crime actually surpasses women's fear at high levels of perceived risk for those crimes in which men are more likely to be victimized. We offer explanations for this finding, concluding that gendered perceptions of crime and victimization may drive these differences. In sum, our study indicates that future research on fear of crime must be even further attuned to the gender gap in fear.     

Relational Victimization and Telomere Length in Adolescent Girls

An emerging body of research suggests that telomere length (TL)—a measure of cellular aging—is inversely associated with experiences of childhood stress. Given the salience of peer relationships in childhood and adolescence, we tested whether relational victimization is a unique and specific predictor of salivary TL in girls. Results examining 122 girls (ages 9–15) revealed that greater relational victimization was related to shorter TL but that similar associations were not evident for other measures of social relationships nor accounted for by factors related to depression, life stress, or 5‐HTTLPR genotype. The present findings suggest that relational victimization is uniquely associated with TL in adolescence, revealing a link between key aspects of social relationships and biological processes.     

Repeat and multiple victimizations: the role of individual and contextual factors

The present research uses hierarchical modeling to examine the relative contributions of factors about the person, factors about the context, and, most important the interaction of factors about the person and factors about the context in models of both repeat victimization (more than one of the same type of crime) and multiple victimization (two or more different types of crime). Using telephone survey data from a multistage sample of Seattle residents, we estimate separate hierarchical models for repeat property, repeat violent and multiple victimization. Results indicate that repeat victimization of both types varies substantially by neighborhood, whereas multiple victimization seems more determined by individual-level factors. Implications for social disorganization theory, routine activity/lifestyle exposure theory, and future work on repeat victimization are discussed.     

Opportunity theory and adolescent school-based victimization

While school-based adolescent victimization has received a great deal of public attention, there exist relatively few theoretically driven studies aimed at explaining this phenomenon. We address this paucity by providing a test of a criminal-opportunity model of school-based victimization using data on over 3,000 students from 40 different Kentucky middle and high schools. The effects of opportunity-related concepts are estimated for both violent and property victimization, and comparisons are made for each victimization type across middle- and high-school student subsamples. Findings suggest that criminal opportunity theory is relevant to the understanding of school-based victimization. In particular, indicators of exposure to crime and target antagonism appear to be robust predictors. Further, there appears to be substantial generalizability in the effects of opportunity-related variables across violent versus property victimization as well as across middle-school versus high-school contexts.     

Language Use and Violence: Assessing the Relationship Between Linguistic Context and Macrolevel Violence

Scholars have produced a sizable body of research assessing the macrolevel links between immigration and crime. However, researchers have given far less attention to related questions about the effects of language use on aggregate levels of violence. The current study addresses this gap in research by exploring the ways that patterns of language use—specifically, language heterogeneity and Spanish‐language concentration—are related to year 2010 serious violent crime rates for nearly 2,900 census places across the United States. Results of our analysis reveal that linguistic heterogeneity is associated with increased violence and that this relationship is stronger in disadvantaged contexts. In contrast, Spanish‐language concentration appears to be protective against violence and mitigates the violence‐generating effects of structural disadvantage, net of immigration and other macrostructural characteristics. Implications of these findings for research on immigration, communities and crime, and related theoretical perspectives on immigrant revitalization and macrostructural theories of crime are discussed.     

Dimensions of Community Attachment and Their Relationship to Well‐Being in the Amenity‐Rich Rural West*

Abstract This research had two primary objectives: 1) to broaden the sociological construct of community attachment to incorporate both social and natural environment dimensions of attachment, and 2) to examine how variations in attachment relate to two dimensions of well‐being in natural amenity‐rich rural communities. The specific dimensions of well‐being measured are two important factors identified in previous research—collective action and perceptions of open communication. Factor analysis of fourteen measures of attachment indicated social attachment and attachment to the natural environment are distinct dimensions of the broader concept of community attachment. Participation in collective action and perceptions of open communication within a respondent's community explained only a small portion of the variance in levels of both social and natural environment attachment. Religious affiliation and length of residence were strongly associated with social attachment, supporting findings from previous empirical work. However, length of residence and religious affiliation were not statistically associated with levels of attachment to the natural environment, further reinforcing the distinction between the two dimensions of attachment.     

Collective Efficacy and Crime in Los Angeles Neighborhoods: Implications for the Latino Paradox*

We use data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study (LAFANS) to examine the degree to which social ties and collective efficacy influence neighborhood levels of crime, net of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results indicate that residential instability and collective efficacy were each associated with lower log odds of robbery victimization, while social ties had a positive effect on robbery victimization. Further, collective efficacy mediated 77 percent of the association between concentrated disadvantage and robbery victimization, while social ties had no mediating effect. The mediation effect for concentrated disadvantage, however, was substantially weaker in the Latino neighborhoods (where it was 52%) than in the non‐Latino neighborhoods (where it was 82%), suggesting that a “Latino paradox” may be present in which crime rates in Latino neighborhoods appear to have less to do with local levels of collective efficacy than in non‐Latino neighborhoods. Implications for future research bearing on both the Latino paradox and the systemic model of social control are discussed.     

Popular Punitivism: Finding a Balance Between the Politics,Presentation, and Fear of Crime

This paper aims to take stock on what we know about popular punitivism and how it manifests across time and social atmosphere. To do this, the recent history and literature of popular punitivism is explored beginning with its tumultuous birth during the 1960s. Specific focus is then given to how debates regarding the punitive turn have become theories of popular punitivism. Recognizing popular punitivism as an important factor in many crime control policies, the paper explains how popular punitivism has acted as a catalyst to current justice practices, associated problems, and the study of crime. Additionally, emphasizing the adaptability of popular punitivism, the paper explains its influence in other contexts and cultures comparatively, especially in a post‐9/11 world. From such contexts I explain the widespread pattern of controlling minority groups in all places where popular punitivism is present. The paper concludes by mapping the areas of future research.     

An Overview of the Victims’ Rights Movement: Historical,Legislative, and Research Developments†

The Victims' Rights Movement has made considerable accomplishments since the 1960s, when an increasing crime rate, coupled with the underreporting of crime, inspired concerns regarding crime victims. In subsequent decades the Victims' Rights Movement evolved and gained considerable momentum. This paper examines the historical development of the Victims' Rights Movement, including the movement's focus on specific types of victimization and crimes. State and Federal responses to the movement are also presented, with attention to constitutional developments and debates. Finally, current issues are presented and future research is suggested.     

An investigation into causal links between victimization and offending in adolescents

There is a considerable body of evidence from earlier research to show that offending is associated with an increased risk of victimization, and being a victim with an increased risk of offending. There have been few earlier studies of the link. These have generally set out to test specific explanations, for example, the idea that the same lifestyles or routine activities may be associated with both victimization and offending. In a current study of a cohort of 4,300 adolescents in Edinburgh we have found a correlation of 0.421 between crime victimization and self-reported offending at the age of 15 when offending peaks. Variables chosen to test three broad types of theory - life-style and routine activities, weak social bonds, aspects of personality - are shown to be related both to victimization and to offending in adolescence. The present analysis uses latent class growth mixture models to track the dynamic relationships over time between adolescent victimization and offending both before and after controlling for these explanatory variables. In the short term, offending is strongly related to a later rise in victimization, but in the longer term to a fall that tends to cancel out the earlier rise. These findings remain the same after controlling for the ten explanatory variables. Victimization is associated with a later rise in offending in the longer term. The theoretical perspectives suggested by earlier researchers are fairly successful in explaining this linkage running from victimization to offending. Future research should focus on the role of peer influence in linking victimization and offending, and should push forward the analysis into the adult years. The implications for criminal justice policy could be far-reaching.     

Exploring bystander presence and intervention in nonfatal violent victimization: when does helping really help?

The current research explores two important issues related to the study of bystander intervention during nonfatal violent victimization. First, using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), conjunctive analysis of case configurations is conducted to identify the most dominant situational contexts in which a bystander is present during violent crime. Second, the prevalence of responses in which a bystander helps or hurts during these events is determined. Results and the analytical approach used in this investigation are discussed in terms of their implications for future research on the normative and deviant reactions to crime by third parties and its victims.     

A contingency approach to nonprofit governance

A number of contingency factors may be relevant for effective nonprofit organizations and their boards. Although all boards must fulfill certain critical roles and responsibilities, strategic choices can be made about adopting different governance configurations or patterns. These choices can be meaningfully informed by understanding organizational contingencies such as age, size, structure, and strategy—and, even more important, by external contingencies and environmental dimensions such as degree of stability and complexity. This article extends or layers contingency thinking beyond its traditional focus on an alignment between the external environment and the organization's structure to focus as well on the alignment of the organization's governance configuration with its structure and environment. Structural contingency theory in general, and specifically within nonprofits, is reviewed. Two cases are presented of organizations that used an approach based on contingency theory in an action research process to examine and change their governance configurations. The steps they followed may help other nonprofits adapt their governance structures and practices and fulfill their responsibilities for board assessment and reflection.     

Gender,fear, and victimization: A preliminary application of power‐control theory

The accumulated body of research on public fear of victimization has consistently demonstrated that gender is the most useful predictor of tearfulness. However, theoretical attempts to link variations in fear of crime to gender differences have been found wanting. In particular, these theoretical accounts have failed to provide an integrated framework within which it is possible to reconcile findings relevant to gender differences in both fear‐arousing crimes and fear itself. In this article the research on gender differences in fear and victimization is reviewed, and the methodological assumptions that underlie work in this area are critically assessed. The theoretical inadequacies of contemporary explanations of these differences are then made explicit. Borrowing from the work of Hagan, Gillis, and Simpson, it is suggested that insights derived from power‐control theory provide an alternative and potentially more valuable conceptualization of the interrelationships among crime, fear, and gender.     

Farming Systems and Rural Out‐Migration in Nang Rong,Thailand, and Chitwan Valley,Nepal

Using data from two postfrontier rural settings, Nang Rong, Thailand (N = 2,538), and Chitwan Valley, Nepal (N = 876), this article examines agricultural push factors determining the out‐migration of young people age 15 to 19. We focus on different dimensions of migration, including distance and duration. Our study examines a wide array of agricultural determinants, each with its own potential effect on migration. These determinants include land tenure, crop portfolios, animal husbandry activities, and use of farm inputs. We link these proximal causes to two underlying mechanisms: risk and amenities. We examine these determinants using separate models across settings. Our results indicate that agricultural factors are significant determinants of migration in both contexts. However, different factors operate in different settings, indicating the importance of contextual variation in explaining the manner in which risks and amenities influence agricultural determinants of migration.     

Self‐Esteem,the Fear of Crime,and the Decision to Protect Oneself From Victimization

This research extends prior work that examines self‐esteem as an outcome of protective behaviors against crime victimization by focusing instead on the moderating influence of self‐esteem on the relationship between the fear of crime and the decision to protect oneself from victimization. The fear of crime is conceptualized as two separate components (fear of victimization and perceived risk) in accordance with prior work. Self‐esteem is conceptualized as three separate components (worth, efficacy, and authenticity), and measured with a recently designed instrument for capturing each aspect of self‐esteem separately. Data are collected through surveys of a population at high risk for victimization (undergraduate college students). Logistic regression analyses demonstrate that self‐esteem does play a role for deciding whether to engage in protective behaviors, and that the specific components of self‐esteem moderate defensive behavioral outcomes differently. Specifically, the self‐worth, self‐efficacy, and authenticity components of self‐esteem influence the decision to carry protection, but not the decision to take a self‐defense class. Implications for both the fear of crime and self‐esteem literatures are addressed.