Violent Crime, Residential Instability and Mobility: Does the Relationship Differ in Minority Neighborhoods?

Abstract

This study examines the reciprocal relationship between violent crime and residential stability in neighborhoods. We test whether the form of stability matters by comparing two different measures of stability: a traditional index of residential stability and a novel approach focusing specifically on the stability of homeowners. We also examine whether the racial/ethnic composition of the neighborhood in which this stability occurs affects the instability-violent crime relationship. To test the simultaneous relationship between residential mobility and crime we estimate a dual multivariate latent curve model of the change in the violent crime rate and the change in the rate of home sales while controlling for neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic characteristics using data from Los Angeles between 1992 and 1997. Results indicate that the initial level of violent crime increases the trajectory of residential instability in subsequent years, whether the instability is measured as homeowner turnover specifically, or based on an index of all residents. However, the effect of instability on violent crime is only apparent when measuring instability based on an index of general residential turnover and not when including the presence of owners in this measure, or when measuring it based on homeowner turnover. We consistently find that stable highly Latino communities exhibit a protective effect against violence.

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

“…In the two high density cities the results were mixed, with a negative relationship in San Francisco but a positive relationship in Honolulu. These results imply that more theoretical consideration needs to be given to how residential stability might impact crime: whereas some research has suggested that it may operate in a multiplicative fashion with other structural neighborhood characteristics hypothesized by social disorganization theory (Warner and Pierce 1993;Warner and Rountree 1997), or that it is dependent on the mix or owners and renters (Boggess and Hipp 2010), the results here suggest that a useful theoretical consideration is how the macro environment might impact this relationship.…”

Violence in Urban Neighborhoods: A Longitudinal Study of Collective Efficacy and Violent Crime

“…Skogan's (1990) disorder and decline model posits that crime has a direct influence on residents' behavior (residents leave the area) and perceptions (residents feel less safe and retreat from social life). As Boggess and Hipp (2010) argue, crime encourages dissatisfaction with the neighborhood which in turn promotes an exodus of those residents with the means to relocate. That crime itself may 8 play a role in how neighborhoods change (Bursik, 1988;Felson 2002;Miethe and Meier 1994;Skogan 1990) suggests the possibility of a reciprocal relationship between crime, the sociostructural characteristics of the neighborhood and the neighborhood processes necessary for regulating unwanted behavior.…”

Do medical marijuana centers behave like locally undesirable land uses? Implications for the geography of health and environmental justice

“…9 Residential instability has long been linked to higher crime rates (e.g., Shaw and McKay, 1942) since population fluctuation can impact social networks and the ability of neighborhoods to maintain social control. Instability is also a key factor in the perpetuation of urban disadvantage in Black communities, according to Sampson and Wilson (1995) and Wilson (1987); as households with the financial means leave disadvantaged or high-crime neighborhoods, the community will be less likely to defend itself and fend off negative or undesirable businesses (see also Boggess and Hipp, 2010;Silverman and Segal, 1996). This process can further perpetuate the social isolation that predominantly minority neighborhoods face (Sampson and Wilson, 1995).…”