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

Abstract

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.

Crime in Greater Los Angeles: Experiences and Perceptions of Local Urban Residents

“…They found in their research that when community residents in urban areas do not have adequate social networks built on trust and reciprocity that both violent and property crimes are higher than they otherwise would be. This finding fits well with what other researchers have found regarding social capital and social control, urban crime and routine activities, rail transit, and cultural assimilation (Browning, Calder, Boettner, & Smith, 2017;Burchfield & Silver, 2013;MacDonald, Hipp, & Gill, 2012;Ridgeway & MacDonald, 2016). Burchfield and Silver (2013) found in their research on Latino Los Angeles residents that the more social disorganization there is in the community the more likely they are to be victimized and the higher overall crime rates are.…”

“…It is widely believed in the general population that the higher the immigration rates the higher the crime rates, but many studies have not found this to be the case. It is not immigration per se that is associated with crime, it has more to do with matters pertaining to poverty, social capital, routines activities, the transitional nature of communities, social disorganization, and so forth (Browning et al, 2017;Burchfield & Silver, 2013;Chang & Lau, 2016;Ridgeway & MacDonald, 2016). Macdonald et al (2013) found that the higher the levels of assimilation among immigrants the lower the crime rates are in any given area.…”

“…Some individuals are at increased risk of being victimized due to their positions in the social structure, their lifestyles, their social status, their living situations, etc. (Burchfield & Silver, 2013;Kelly et al, 2010;Ridgeway & MacDonald, 2016;Rosenfeld, Vogel, & McCuddy, 2018 …”

“…They, along with other researchers, also found that it allows for a more transient population, which has been shown to be associated with increases in certain types of criminal activities (e.g., robberies, theft, etc. ; Burchfield & Silver, 2013;Moore & Recker, 2017;Ridgeway & MacDonald, 2016). Browning et al (2017) used fitted…”

City of Little Rock Neighborhood Alert Centers: An Assessment Report

“…Fear of crime can stimulate and accelerate neighborhood decline by encouraging residents to withdraw physically and psychologically from community life, resulting in a commensurate decline in a neighborhood's social capital (Skogan, 1986). On the other hand, as social capital in these neighborhoods increases, violent crime is likely to decrease in these neighborhoods (Burchfield & Silver, 2013).…”