The Influences of Neighborhood Characteristics on Police Intervention: Examining Contextual Effects with National Data

• In Event: Policing Diverse Societies: Using Macro to Micro Perspectives to Examine Issues in Policing

Abstract

Research focusing on potential discrimination in the juvenile and criminal justice system suggests that race and socioeconomic status impacts who is selected for criminal justice system sanctions, independent of differences in illegal behavior. There are, however, still relatively few studies focusing on the contextual effects of neighborhood characteristics on police decisions to stop, detain, and arrest individuals. Examining the individual and neighborhood influences simultaneously may be particularly important as the formation of suspicion is highly contextual. It has,for example, been suggested that racial minorities have a disproportionate probability of police intervention in majority white, affluent neighborhoods. The current study, using a large nationally representative sample of young individuals, finds that individual characteristics of the suspect influences police behavior differently depending on the social structure of the location.

Author

• Margret Valdimarsdottir, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center