NCJ Number
178477
Journal
Criminology Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1999 Pages: 251-276
Date Published
May 1999
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study of the determinants of living in local areas with higher or lower crime rates in the Cleveland metropolitan region in 1990 examined whether minorities live in higher crime neighborhoods because they lack the class resources to live in better areas or whether racial differences in exposure to crime persist even for blacks and whites of comparable backgrounds.
Abstract
Specifically, the study examined whether living in the suburbs reduced exposure to crime equally for whites and blacks. The study combined census data with reported crime statistics for suburban places and central-city neighborhoods. It modeled locational outcomes for individuals, a departure from most community studies which rely exclusively on aggregate data and ecological correlations. The dependent variables were the neighborhood's property crime rates (burglary, larceny, and auto theft) and violent crime rates (homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery) for 1990. Independent variables at the personal or household level included indicators of socioeconomic status (homeownership, education, household income, and class of employment). Multivariate models were estimated for whites and blacks, with separate models for city and suburban residents and for violent crime and property crime. Within the city, exposure to both types of crime was strongly related to socioeconomic status for both races, but there were also strong independent effects of race on exposure to violent crime. In the suburbs, whites were concentrated in communities with low crime rates regardless of their social class. There were substantial class differences among suburban nonwhites, but even affluent blacks lived in places with a higher violent crime rate than did poor whites. 4 tables, 44 references, and appended supplementary data