NCJ Number
108092
Journal
American Journal of Sociology Volume: 93 Issue: 3 Dated: (November 1987) Pages: 688-699
Date Published
1987
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study, based on regression analysis of 1980 census data, confirms a positive relationship between the degree of suburbanization of a metropolitan area and central-city crime rates and explores reasons underlying this phenomenon.
Abstract
Population data for the study included the population of the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA), percentage black in the central city, poverty rate of the central city, percentage of SMSA residents who live in the central city, and ratio of mean family income in the central city to mean family income in the balance of the SMSA. The results showed a relative deprivation effect on two crimes in cities -- robbery and auto theft -- as compared with suburbs. When relative deprivation is controlled, however, the suburbanization-crime relationship persists. The article rejects the argument attributing this relationship to suburb-to-city movements of crime participants. It proposes that the unexplained part of the relationship between suburbanization and central-city crime is an arbitrary product of the effect of the city-suburb boundary location on the denominator of the crime rate. Tables and approximately 30 references. (Author abstract modified)