Rich a rd Rose n fe I d University of Missouri--St. Louis, National Consortium on Violence ResearchUnderstanding the complex relationship between immigration and crime was once a corc concern of American sociology. Yet the extensive post-1965 wave of immigration to the United States has done little to rekindle scholarly interest in this topic, even as politicians and other public figurcs advocate public policies to restrict immigration as a means of preventing crime. Although both popular accounts and sociological theory predict that immigration should increase crime in areas where immigrants scttle, this study of Miami, El Paso. and San Diego neighborhoods shows that, controlling for other influences, immigration generally does not increase levels of homicide among Latinos and African Americans. Our results not only challenge stereotypes of the "criminal immigrant" but also the core criminological notion that immigration, as a social process, disorganizes communities and increases crime.Understanding the social consequences of immigration and urbanization were instrumental concerns of those who created American sociology as a distinct academic discipline (M. Waters 1999). The founders of the Chicago School of sociology were troubled by the urban problems linked to newcomers, and early sociologists wrestled with the connections between immigration and crime. This anxiety produced some of American sociology's most enduring conceptual and empirical work, including classics on social disorganization (Thomas and Znaniecki 1920; Shaw and McKay 1931) and culture conflict (Sutherland 1934;Sellin 1938). Despite the potentially significant effect of immigration on current levels of crime and the high-profile role of this relationship in the history of the discipline, contemporary sociological studies of the link between crime and immigration are scarce.Direct all correspondence to Matthew T. Lcc.
Research Summary Limitations in data and research on the use of firearms by police officers in the United States preclude sound understanding of the determinants of deadly force in police work. The current study addresses these limitations with detailed case attributes and a microspatial analysis of police shootings in St. Louis, MO, between 2003 and 2012. The results indicate that neither the racial composition of neighborhoods nor their level of economic disadvantage directly increase the frequency of police shootings, whereas levels of violent crime do—but only to a point. Police shootings are less frequent in areas with the highest levels of criminal violence than in those with midlevels of violence. We offer a provisional interpretation of these results and call for replications in other settings. Policy Implications Nationwide replications of the current research will require the establishment of a national database of police shootings. Informative assessments of a single agency's policies and practices require comparative information from other agencies. We recommend specific data elements to be included in such an information system that would shed further empirical light on the interconnections among race, crime, and police use of deadly force. The database also would contribute to the development of evidence‐based policies and procedures on deadly force—an urgent public priority in light of recent controversial police shootings across the United States.
Rates of homicide involving intimate partners have declined substantially over the past 25 years in the United States, while public awareness of and policy responses to domestic violence have grown. To what extent has the social response to domestic violence contributed to the decline in intimate-partner homicide? We evaluate the relationship between intimate-partner homicide and domestic violence prevention resources in 48 large cities between 1976 and 1996. Controlling for other influences, several types of prevention resources are linked to lower levels of intimate-partner homicide, which we interpret in terms of their capacity to effectively reduce victims' exposure to abusive or violent partners. Other resources, however, are related to higher levels of homicide, suggesting a retaliation effect when interventions stimulate increased aggression without adequately reducing exposure. In light of other research on deficiencies in accessing and implementing prevention resources, our results suggest that too little exposure reduction in severely violent relationships may be worse than none at all.In the United States, rates of homicide involving ''intimate partners''Fspouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, girlfriendsFhave declined substantially over the past 25 years. Public awareness of and policy responses to domestic violence have increased during
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.