Beyond Displacement: Eviction's Role in Neighborhood Crime

• In Event: Macrosocial Factors and Crime

Abstract

Eviction is a harmful place-based housing practice that contributes to social inequalities, and a recent body of work suggests that eviction has community-level consequences. One neighborhood effect that remains underexamined is the relationship between eviction on neighborhood crime. Purpose: The goal of this multicity study is to explore the connection between eviction, neighborhood structural factors, and crime. Study design: Employing a random-effects regression analysis, the study utilizes the National Neighborhood Crime Study 2 and the Eviction Lab National Database to analyze the relationship between eviction and neighborhood crime, while controlling for the city-level effects. Findings: Eviction is associated with both violent and nonviolent neighborhood crime, and the link between eviction and crime is distinct from the relationship between other neighborhood factors and crime. Conclusions: Study findings indicate that the housing practice of eviction has damaging neighborhood consequences beyond the displacement of individuals. This relationship between eviction and crime suggests that housing-related policies may be a tool for policy makers to utilize when confronting neighborhood crime.

Author

• Eileen Kirk, Fitchburg State University