Living with Crime: The Implications of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Suburban Location

• NCJ Number: 156178
• Journal: Social Forces Volume: 73 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 395-434
• Author(s): R D Alba; J R Logan; P E Bellair
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 40 pages
• Grant Number(s): SES-8921273; 1-RO1-HD2525
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation; National Institutes of Health
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: A earlier version of this article was presented at the 1992 meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Annotation

Characteristics of crime in the suburbs are explored.

Abstract

This article investigates racial/ethnic differences in exposure to crime in the suburbs. In the research site for this study, a part of the greater New York City metropolitan area, the researchers found clear-cut racial/ethnic differences in average exposure to property and violent crime. Black Americans are the most exposed to crime; white Americans and Asians, the least exposed; Hispanics are in between. Using a novel technique for constructing cross-level regression models when a matching data set is not available, the researchers tested in two stages whether individual-level and contextual variables can explain differences among the groups. Such individual-level variables as household income and homeownership do predict the crime level of an individual's community of residence, but they do little to explain group differences in exposure to crime, especially between blacks and other groups. Three contextual variables, reflecting community racial composition, extent of poverty, and population size, constitute a more powerful explanation of individual and group variations. Tables, figures, notes, references, appendixes