Concentration at the Extremes and Race/Ethnic Disparities in Neighborhood Violence: Evidence from the National Neighborhood Crime Study

• In Event: Communities and Place: Setting an Agenda for Neighborhoods, Race, and Crime Research in the 21st Century

Abstract

We investigate the racial invariance thesis and address whether concentration at the extremes in income and race account for racial differences in neighborhood violent crime. Drawing on data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study (NNCS) the analysis assesses 1) whether a greater proportion of racial/ethnic differences in neighborhood violence are explained by indices of concentration at the extremes (ICE) than disadvantage and inequality indices, and 2) whether effects on violent crime in white, black, Hispanic, minority, and integrated neighborhoods are comparable. We utilize multi-level models to estimate effects at the city- and neighborhood-level. There are several noteworthy findings. Among them, heightened violence in black, Hispanic, minority, and integrated neighborhoods (relative to white) is explained by the ecological polarization and homogenization of income and race across urban neighborhoods. Concentrated disadvantage or within-neighborhood inequality (GINI) do not fully account for all race/ethnic disparities in violence, but Hispanic neighborhoods are an exception. Theoretically expected effects of the ICE indices on violent crime are also evident across neighborhood types.

Authors

• Man Kit Lei, University of Georgia

• Thomas L. McNulty, University of Georgia

• Paul E. Bellair, The Ohio State University

• Arlana K. Henry, Rutgers University