Diversity and burglary: Do community differences matter?

Abstract

Diversity within a population has been linked to levels of both social cohesion and crime. Neighborhood crimes are the result of a complex set of factors, one of which is weak community cohesion. This article seeks to explore the impacts of diversity on burglary crime in a range of neighborhoods, using Leeds, UK as a case study. We propose a new approach to quantifying the correlates of burglary in urban areas through the use of diversity metrics. This approach is useful in unveiling the relationship between burglary and diversity in urban communities. Specifically, we employ stepwise multiple regression models to quantify the relationships between a number of neighborhood diversity variables and burglary crime rates. The results of the analyses show that the variables that represent diversity were more significant when regressed against burglary crime rates than standard socio‐demographic data traditionally used in crime studies, which do not generally use diversity variables. The findings of this study highlight the importance of neighborhood cohesion in the crime system, and the key place for diversity statistics in quantifying the relationships between neighborhood diversities and burglary. The study highlights the importance of policy planning aimed at encouraging community building in promoting neighborhood safety.

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“…The value of D ranges between 0 and 1 with 1 representing infinite diversity and 0, no diversity. The index has been commonly employed in the criminological literature to examine a range of topics ranging from the impacts of diversity on burglary crime (Gulma et al, 2019) to ethnic diversity in policing (Guajardo, 2016). Morris and Worrall (2014) also developed a gang composition index reflecting the diversity of prison gangs in their research examining the effect of prison architecture on inmate misconduct in prisons in Texas.…”