The effects of racial/ethnic segregation on Latino and Black homicide

Tell me who's your neighbour and I'll tell you how much time you've got: The spatiotemporal consequences of residential segregation

Relying on data from the United States Census and the American Time Use Survey (2010-2017), we examine how residential segregation influences per capita discretionary time availability in Los Angeles, New York City and Miami. We find a sizable disadvantage of being Latinx for discretionary time availability. Non-Latinx Whites have 182 extra hours of per capita discretionary time per year than do Latinx individuals. Both within-neighbourhood and adjacent-neighbourhood influences matter. In most neighbourhoods, segregation is correlated with having more discretionary time. Individuals in highly segregated areas have approximately 80 more hours of discretionary time per year than those living in diverse areas. This suggests that in addition to socioeconomic, cultural and well-being benefits, ethnic enclaves may also impart temporal advantages. However, we find that there may be diminishing marginal returns with increasing segregation in surrounding areas. Sociodemographic characteristics explain over one-quarter of the variance between segregation and discretionary time availability.

Do sanctuary policies increase crime? Contrary evidence from a county-level investigation in the United States

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has rolled out a series of programs that leverage local and state resources to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. There is little understanding, however, about the public safety consequences of mobilizing local police to enforce immigration law. I use ICE administrative records, Uniform Crime Reports, and American Community Survey population estimates to investigate whether and under what circumstances local immigration enforcement is associated with property crime and violent crime. Results show that crime trends in sanctuary and non-sanctuary counties were not significantly different in the first decade of the 2000s. However, after the proliferation of sanctuary practices around 2014, both property crime and violent crime decreased more in sanctuary counties than non-sanctuary counties, net of other predictors of crime. Further, a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2013-2016 data shows that sanctuary practices strengthen the inverse relationship between proportion foreign-born Latino and property crime, and reverse the positive relationship between proportion native-born Latino and property crime. I theorize that this occurs because sanctuary practices encourage immigrant political integration, have positive spillover effects to non-immigrant Latinx communities, and increase social harmony.

Predicting Spatial Crime Occurrences through an Efficient Ensemble-Learning Model

While the use of crime data has been widely advocated in the literature, its availability is often limited to large urban cities and isolated databases that tend not to allow for spatial comparisons. This paper presents an efficient machine learning framework capable of predicting spatial crime occurrences, without using past crime as a predictor, and at a relatively high resolution: the U.S. Census Block Group level. The proposed framework is based on an in-depth multidisciplinary literature review allowing the selection of 188 best-fit crime predictors from socio-economic, demographic, spatial, and environmental data. Such data are published periodically for the entire United States. The selection of the appropriate predictive model was made through a comparative study of different machine learning families of algorithms, including generalized linear models, deep learning, and ensemble learning. The gradient boosting model was found to yield the most accurate predictions for violent crimes, property crimes, motor vehicle thefts, vandalism, and the total count of crimes. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets of crimes reported in 11 U.S. cities demonstrated that the proposed framework achieves an accuracy of 73% and 77% when predicting property crimes and violent crimes, respectively.

Examining the Local Spatial Variability of Robberies in Saint Louis Using a Multi-Scale Methodology

The current study spatially examines the local variability of robbery rates in the City of Saint Louis, Missouri using both census tract and block group data disaggregated and standardized to the 250- and 500-m raster grid spatial scale. The Spatial Lag Model (SLM) indicated measures of race and stability as globally influencing robbery rates. To explore these relationships further, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to determine the local spatial variability. We found that the standardized census tract data appeared to be more powerful in the models, while standardized block group data were more precise. Similarly, the 250-m grid offered greater accuracy, while the 500-m grid was more robust. The GWR models explained the local varying spatial relationships between race and stability and robbery rates in St. Louis better than the global models. The local models indicated that social characteristics occurring at higher-order geographies may influence robbery rates in St. Louis.

Firearm Violence: A Global Priority for Nursing Science

PURPOSE

This purpose of this article is to frame firearm violence as a health and public health problem, to illustrate the magnitude of the problem, to examine factors that increase the risk to be injured by a firearm, or conversely, that confer protection, and to identify relevant priority areas for nursing science.

ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT

Firearm violence results in physical and psychological injuries and is a global health priority. Firearm violence is categorized as intentional (interpersonal and self-inflicted) and unintentional (interpersonal and self-inflicted) and accounts for an estimated 196,000 to 220,000 nonconflict deaths annually.

METHODS

We reviewed the theoretical and scientific literature to analyze the magnitude and geographic distribution of firearm violence, the factors associated with firearm injury, the consequences of firearm violence, and areas where nursing science can make an impact on prevention, outcomes, and recovery.

FINDINGS

Firearm violence is a significant public health problem that affects the health of individuals, families, and communities. The burdens and contributors to firearm violence vary worldwide, making it important to understand the local context of this global phenomenon. Relevant areas of inquiry span primary prevention focusing on individual and environmental risk factors; and focus on managing the physical and psychological consequences postinjury; and mitigating long-term consequences of firearm violence.

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing the global burden of firearm violence and improving the health and safety of individuals, families, and communities provide compelling reasons to integrate this area into nursing science.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The goals of nursing are to keep people healthy and safe and to help return those injured to their optimal levels of health and well-being. Understanding the factors that come together to injure people with a firearm in various physical, social, economic, and cultural environments positions nurses to both extend the dialogue beyond pro-gun versus anti-gun and to design and carry out rigorous studies to reduce firearm violence.

Violent Injury and Neighborhood Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Oakland, California

Racial and ethnic segregation has been linked to a number of deleterious health outcomes, including violence. Previous studies of segregation and violence have focused on segregation between African Americans and Whites, used homicide as a measure of violence, and employed segregation measures that fail to take into account neighborhood level processes. We examined the relationship between neighborhood diversity and violent injury in Oakland, California. Violent injuries from the Alameda County Medical Center Trauma Registry that occurred between 1998 and 2002 were geocoded. A local measure of diversity among African American, White, Hispanic, and Asian populations that captured interactions across census block group boundaries was calculated from 2000 U.S. Census data and a Geographic Information System. The relationship between violent injuries and neighborhood level of diversity, adjusted for covariates, was analyzed with zero-inflated negative binomial regression. There was a significant and inverse association between level of racial and ethnic diversity and rate of violent injury (IRR 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13-0.69). There was a similar relationship between diversity and violent injury for predominantly African American block groups (IRR 0.23; 95% CI: 0.08-0.62) and predominantly Hispanic block groups (IRR 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-0.76). Diversity was not significantly associated with violent injury in predominantly White or Asian block groups. Block group racial and ethnic diversity is associated with lower rates of violent injury, particularly for predominantly African American and Hispanic block groups.

Associations of neighborhood socioeconomic and racial/ethnic characteristics with changes in survey-based neighborhood quality, 2000-2011

We investigated the relationships between neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics (socioeconomic status [SES], percentage of Black residents, and percentage of Hispanic residents) and survey-based measures of the social environment (social cohesion, safety) and the physical environment (healthy food environment, walking environment) in six sites from 2000 through 2011. Neighborhood environments were patterned by area SES and racial/ethnic composition, such that higher SES and lower percentage minority neighborhoods had better physical and social environments. Increasing disparities over time were observed for some neighborhood environments. Further research should explore the role of neighborhood environments in maintaining or increasing social disparities in health.

Patterns of local segregation: Do they matter for neighborhood crime?

In this paper, we extend recent research on the spatial measurement of segregation and the spatial dynamics of urban crime by conceptualizing, measuring, and describing local segregation by race-ethnicity and economic status, and examining the linkages of these conditions with levels of neighborhood violent and property crime. The analyses are based on all 8895 census tracts within a sample of 86 large U.S. cities. We fit multilevel models of crime that incorporate measures of local segregation. The results reveal that, net of city-level and neighborhood characteristics, White-Black local segregation is associated with lower violent and property crime. In contrast, local segregation of low income from high income households is connected with higher crime, particularly neighborhood violence.

The Changing Urban Landscape: Interconnections Between Racial/Ethnic Segregation and Exposure in the Study of Race-Specific Violence Over Time

OBJECTIVES

We investigated how racial/ethnic shifts in the urban landscape influence race-specific violence by considering changes in the size of the Hispanic population, racial/ethnic contact, and racial segregation patterns.

METHODS

We used a time-series approach incorporating 4 decennial periods (1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010) to determine whether racial/ethnic demographic changes in 144 US cities influenced White and Black homicide rates. Sources included census and Uniform Crime Reports Supplemental Homicide Report data.

RESULTS

The growing diversity in the residential population of US cities contributed to the dramatic decline in homicide rates over time, but the effects differed by racial group. Exposure between Hispanics and Blacks and the growing presence of Hispanics led to a reduced Black homicide trend but had no impact on Whites, after adjustment for economic shifts and other important structural features in US cities.

CONCLUSIONS

Our research highlights the importance of paying closer attention to exposure and integration between immigrants and existing racial groups. Failure to consider racial/ethnic contact and the racial nature of urban violence may produce misleading results in studies of associations between Hispanic immigration and crime.

Enclaves of opportunity or "ghettos of last resort?" Assessing the effects of immigrant segregation on violent crime rates

A growing body of research indicates that immigration to the U.S. has crime-reducing effects on aggregate levels of violence, which researchers have often attributed to the protective and revitalizing effects of immigrants settling in spatially concentrated neighborhoods. However, recent scholarship suggests that growing shares of the foreign-born population are bypassing these segregated immigrant enclaves and are dispersing more widely to other urban neighborhoods. Moreover, some scholars suggest that spatially isolating immigrant populations may not always be protective, but could actually contribute to social problems like crime, particularly in disadvantaged contexts. The current study offers one of the first analyses exploring the way that segregation of immigrant populations (relative to the U.S.-born) is related to year 2000 violent crime rates for nearly 500 census places in California and New York. Results of our analysis reveal no direct link between immigrant segregation and macro-level violence, but instead show that these effects are highly contextualized and depend on the resources present in locales. Specifically, immigrant segregation contributes to violence in highly disadvantaged places but is linked to lower violence in areas with greater resources.

Business structure, ethnic shifts in labor markets, and violence: the link between company size, local labor markets, and non-Latino homicide

Combining several schools of thought, including the civic engagement thesis, we extend current research by linking three things at the county level; firm size, the ethnic composition of labor markets, and violent crime. Our results suggest that larger businesses (based on the average number of persons employed) are more likely to have an external orientation and long recruitment reach, and this is linked to ethnic shifts in labor markets toward Latino workers. Such shifts are in turn associated with high rates of homicide among non-Latinos. Through indirect effects modeling, we find that increases in Black homicide are linked to rises in concentrated poverty, while increases in White homicide are linked to changes in unemployment. We discuss the implications of our findings.

Racial/Ethnic Composition and Violence: Size-of-Place Variations in Percent Black and Percent Latino Effects on Violence Rates

According to racial invariance positions and mainstream sociological perspectives on race and crime, race differences in structural conditions should account for most if not all of the racial composition (or percent black) effect on aggregate-level violence rates. However, prior research (mostly conducted prior to 1990) generally provides mixed or contrary evidence for this position, showing instead that greater concentrations of blacks are linked to increased violence even after accounting for racial differences in socioeconomic conditions. The current study uses recent data and a novel unit of analysis to go beyond extant research in two ways. First, we include percent Latino in our examination of the extent to which both racial and ethnic composition effects on violent crime rates are mediated by racial/ethnic disparities in socioeconomic disadvantage. Second, we test whether racial/ethnic composition effects are conditioned by size of place, through the use census places as a uniquely varying unit of analysis. We find that both black and Latino composition effects are partly explained by controlling for structural conditions (especially structural disadvantage), but this characterizes smaller places much more than the largest, most urbanized places.

Teasing out the effects of macro-conditions on race-specific male homicide rates: Do distinct predictors vary by racial group and over time?

Researchers tend to capture the multiple disadvantages facing urban areas by using an all-encompassing disadvantage index, which combines poverty, joblessness and other economic predictors into a single index. While the use of this index is important for conceptual and methodological reasons, questions remain about whether these city characteristics differ in magnitude and significance when influencing race-specific homicide rates and whether or not there effects exhibit stability or vary over time? This article examines how discrete measures of disadvantage differ in their importance for race-specific groups over three critical time points: 1980, 1990, and 2000. After accounting for problems associated with statistical inferences, cross sectional, Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) analyses reveal that family disruption and poverty status were among the strongest predictors of race-specific homicide rates. Wald tests for the equality of coefficients confirmed significant differences in the influence of many discrete measures of disadvantage for white and black males, but the number of differences declined from 1980 and into the 2000s. That is, along with the crime drop, our research reveals increasing racial parity in structural predictors over time.

Racial/ethnic differences in alcohol-related suicide: a call for focus on unraveling paradoxes and understanding structural forces that shape alcohol-related health

A substantial proportion of injuries worldwide are attributable to alcohol consumption, and US estimates indicate that the drinking patterns of racial/ethnic groups vary considerably. The authors reviewed evidence from 19 publications regarding racial/ethnic differences in overall alcohol-attributable injury as well as percent blood alcohol content positivity for injury deaths in the United States. They found that Native Americans evidence higher rates of alcohol-attributable motor vehicle crash fatality, suicide, and falls compared with other racial/ethnic groups; conversely, Asians evidence lower rates of alcohol-attributable injury than other racial/ethnic groups. The rate of alcohol positivity and intoxication among Hispanics is disproportionately high relative to estimates of alcohol use. Black subgroups also evidence higher rates of alcohol positivity than would be expected given estimates of alcohol use, including for alcohol positivity among drivers of fatally injured black children and homicide. These findings highlight the continued need for public health focus on Native American populations with respect to alcohol consumption and injury. Further, the disparity in alcohol-attributable injury mortality among black and Hispanic groups relative to their reported rates of alcohol consumption is an overlooked area of research. The authors review potential social determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol-attributable injuries and identify directions for further research on these patterns.

Patterns and Trends in Elder Homicide Across Race and Ethnicity, 1985-2009

In this report, we assess total and race/ethnicity-disaggregated patterns and temporal trends in elderly homicide (age 55-74) compared with younger age groups for the 1985-to-2009 period. To do this, we use California arrest statistics that provide annual homicide figures by race and ethnicity (including a Hispanic identifier) and by age. Major aims of our analysis are to establish whether (a) elderly homicide rates are different/similar across race/ethnic comparisons; (b) the elderly share of homicide and age-homicide distributions more generally differ across race/ethnicity; and (c) elderly rates of homicide and the share of elderly homicide relative to younger age groups is similar or different now as compared with 20 to 30 years ago. Our analysis is important and timely because some commentators have suggested that elderly homicide levels have been rising over the past one to two decades and because there is a virtual absence of research of any sort on elderly homicide trends that involve comparisons by race and ethnicity. Key findings are that elderly shares of homicide offending relative to younger ages have not increased (or decreased), that elder homicides continue to account for a small fraction of all homicides, and that these patterns persist across race/ethnicity comparisons.

Racial differences in age at first sexual intercourse: residential racial segregation and the black-white disparity among U.S. adolescents

OBJECTIVES

The age of adolescents at first sexual intercourse is an important risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and adolescent pregnancy. Black adolescents are at higher risk than white adolescents for first sexual intercourse at younger ages as well as STDs and pregnancy. Individual- and family-level factors do not fully explain this disparity. We examined whether five dimensions of black-white residential racial segregation can help explain the racial disparity in age at first sexual intercourse.

METHODS

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and U.S. Census 2000 data, we performed multiple hierarchical discrete time-to-event analyses on a nationally representative cohort of adolescents followed since 1997. Although the cohort study is ongoing, we used data from 1997 through 2005.

RESULTS

Concentration and unevenness significantly modified the association of race and age at first sexual intercourse. However, stratified results suggested differences in the effect of race on age at first sexual intercourse at each level of segregation across dimensions of segregation.

CONCLUSIONS

Residential racial segregation may modify the black-white disparity in risk of first sexual intercourse at younger ages, but these associations are complex. Future studies should be conducted to elucidate the causal mechanisms.

Residential segregation and obesity among a national sample of Hispanic adults

We explored the role of residential segregation in obesity among a national sample of Hispanics for the first time. Data on the 8785 Hispanic adults in the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were linked to 2000 census data on the segregation of 290 metropolitan statistical areas. Multilevel modeling revealed that after controlling for individual-level variables, the odds of being obese for Hispanics residing in high-segregated metropolitan statistical areas were 26.4 percent higher than for those residing in low-segregated metropolitan statistical areas. This segregation effect might be mediated by the obesogenic features (e.g. paucity of recreational facilities and abundance of fast-food outlets) of segregated Hispanic neighborhoods.

Do the long-term consequences of neglect differ for children of different races and ethnic backgrounds?

Scant research has examined how children of different races or ethnic backgrounds manifest consequences of neglect. We examined multiple domains of functioning (academic/intellectual, social/behavioral, and psychiatric), three theories (racial invariance, double jeopardy, and resilience), and potential confounding variables. Children with documented cases of neglect (ages 0-11) and matched controls without such histories were followed up and interviewed in adulthood (N = 1,039). The sample was 47.3% female, 62.4% White, 34.3% Black, and 3.4% Hispanic. Black and White neglected children showed negative consequences for IQ, reading ability, and occupational status compared to controls. Compared to same race and ethnic group controls, neglected White children showed extensive mental health consequences, Black children showed more anxiety and dysthymia, and Hispanic children showed increased risk for alcohol problems. Black and White neglected children differed in risk for violence compared to same race controls: Neglected Black children were arrested for violence two times more often than Black controls, whereas neglected White children were more likely than White controls to report engaging in violence. Findings provide some support for each theory (racial invariance, double jeopardy, and resilience). Understanding the factors that account for similarities and differences in consequences requires further investigation. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Latino immigration and White, Black, and Latino violent crime: A comparison of traditional and non-traditional immigrant destinations

Despite a resurgent interest in the macro-level relationship between Latino immigration and violent crime, research has overlooked an important shift in immigrant settlement whereby Latino migrants are increasingly bypassing traditional receiving communities in favor of non-traditional ones. Additionally, how the impact of this new settlement pattern on violence is conditioned by race and ethnicity has yet to be explored. Using year 2000 race/ethnic-specific arrest data for 326 California, New York, and Texas census places, the current study explores the relationship between recent Latino immigration and White, Black, and Latino violent crime across both traditional and non-traditional immigrant destinations. Results suggest that (1) recent Latino immigration is generally unassociated with violence across all communities, (2) recent Latino immigration is associated with decreased violence in traditional destinations but slightly increased violence in non-traditional destinations, and (3) there are important race/ethnic differences in these relationships. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The role of race/ethnicity in alcohol-attributable injury in the United States

A substantial proportion of injuries worldwide are attributable to alcohol consumption, and US estimates indicate that the drinking patterns of racial/ethnic groups vary considerably. The authors reviewed evidence from 19 publications regarding racial/ethnic differences in overall alcohol-attributable injury as well as percent blood alcohol content positivity for injury deaths in the United States. They found that Native Americans evidence higher rates of alcohol-attributable motor vehicle crash fatality, suicide, and falls compared with other racial/ethnic groups; conversely, Asians evidence lower rates of alcohol-attributable injury than other racial/ethnic groups. The rate of alcohol positivity and intoxication among Hispanics is disproportionately high relative to estimates of alcohol use. Black subgroups also evidence higher rates of alcohol positivity than would be expected given estimates of alcohol use, including for alcohol positivity among drivers of fatally injured black children and homicide. These findings highlight the continued need for public health focus on Native American populations with respect to alcohol consumption and injury. Further, the disparity in alcohol-attributable injury mortality among black and Hispanic groups relative to their reported rates of alcohol consumption is an overlooked area of research. The authors review potential social determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol-attributable injuries and identify directions for further research on these patterns.

Race/Ethnic-Specific Homicide Rates in New York City: Evaluating the Impact of Broken Windows Policing and Crack Cocaine Markets

The current study evaluated a range of social influences including misdemeanor arrests, drug arrests, cocaine consumption, alcohol consumption, firearm availability, and incarceration that may be associated with changes in gun-related homicides by racial/ethnic group in New York City (NYC) from 1990 to 1999. Using police precincts as the unit of analysis, we used cross-sectional, time series data to examine changes in Black, White, and Hispanic homicides, separately. Bayesian hierarchical models with a spatial error term indicated that an increase in cocaine consumption was associated with an increase in Black homicides. An increase in firearm availability was associated with an increase in Hispanic homicides. Last, there were no significant predictors for White homicides. Support was found for the crack cocaine hypotheses but not for the broken windows hypothesis. Examining racially/ethnically disaggregated data can shed light on group-sensitive mechanisms that may explain changes in homicide over time.