Attempting to Unpack the Relationship between Immigration and Crime: Are Institutions a Key Mechanism?

• In Event: Crime in Metropolitan America: Patterns and Trends across the Dynamic Southern California Landscape

Abstract

Studies have consistently documented that immigrant concentration is negatively associated with neighborhood crime rates, though the mechanisms responsible for this relationship are less well-understood. One explanation is that immigrant/ethnic organizations (those that act on behalf of immigrants and/or provide services to immigrants) provide a forum for social interaction that facilitates mutual trust, neighborhood attachment, social capital formation, and social control, all of which, in turn, reduce crime. In this study, we consider this possibility. Focusing on neighborhoods in Southern California, we use non-profit organization and crime data from 2000-2010 to examine the longitudinal impact of immigrant/ethnic organizations on neighborhood crime rates, controlling for a range of neighborhood factors We also test for interaction effects and non-linear relationships between immigrant organizations and crime. We discuss the implications of this study for future research that seeks to determine why immigrant neighborhoods are some of the safest places around.

Authors

• Young-an Kim, University of California, Irvine

• Charis Kubrin, University of California, Irvine

• John R. Hipp, University of California, Irvine