Immigration, Crime, and Victimization in the US Context

Pendergast, Philip M.; Wadsworth, Tim; LePree, Joshua

doi:10.1002/9781119113799.ch3

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Despite the widespread perception that immigration is responsible for violent crimes such as homicide, scholarly research finds little empirical evidence for that (see, e.g., in Papadopoulos [59]). Indeed, numerous studies find that higher concentrations of immigrants are associated with lower crime rates (e.g., Pendergast et al [60]). Some studies even establish causality to show that immigration led to lower crime rates.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Is poverty the mother of crime? Evidence from homicide rates in China

2020

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Income inequality is blamed for being the main driver of violent crime by the majority of the literature. However, earlier work on the topic largely neglects the role of poverty and income levels as opposed to income inequality. The current paper uses all court verdicts for homicide cases in China between 2014 and 2016, as well as various inequality measures calculated from 2005 mini census data together with a host of control variables to shed light on the relationship at the detailed Chinese prefecture-level. The results suggest that it is the poverty and low income level, rather than income inequality, that is positively related to homicide rates. We show that the internal rural-urban migration from more violent localities contributes to the destination cities' homicide rates. The poverty-homicide association implies that instead of "relative deprivation", "absolute deprivation" is mainly responsible for violent crime. Poverty is the mother of crime. -Marcus Aurelius (121-180AD), Emperor of the Roman Empire.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Is poverty the mother of crime? Evidence from homicide rates in China

2020

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“…Although historically applied across racial groups (Pendergast et al, 2018), the CIN has concentrated on Latinx groups in recent decades (Armenta, 2017). Within the narratives of this "undeserving group," undocumented Latinx migrants are placed at the forefront (Chavez, 2013).…”

Section: The Criminal Immigrant Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

El Amigo y El Esé: Stereotyping of the “Criminal Immigrant”

Caraballo

Topalli

2023

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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The criminal immigrant narrative (CIN) is the embodiment of stereotypes suggesting that foreign nationals are engaged in crime. Research has documented how this narrative has influenced discourse, policies, and enforcement, but none to date has addressed how the CIN affects the stereotyping and interactions of crime-involved individuals with those deemed “immigrants.” This study draws from in-depth, semi-structured interviews of 25 individuals actively engaged in street crime from Atlanta, Georgia, to understand their beliefs regarding immigration, stereotyping of “immigrants,” and their interactions with perceived immigrants, including targeting. Our findings suggest that interviewees’ stereotypes of immigrants and their ascribed attributes are based on perceived nationality, nativity, documentation status, work ethic, criminality, and prior interactions with foreign nationals. Participants demonstrated an understanding of immigration policies from media and political rhetoric. This understanding influenced the stereotyping of immigrants as “illegal” or “doing illegal things,” shaping participants’ views of foreign nationals as vulnerable or dangerous.

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“…Thus far, these predictions have not been examined in a multivariable setting, but a growing number of studies have considered relevant immigrant experiences in the United States, including Mexican and Central American migrants (Menjívar & Abrego, 2012), Latino day laborers (Negi et al, 2013), janitors (Cranford, 2005), Latino undocumented women (Salcido & Adelman, 2004), Latino undocumented men (Bucher et al, 2010), Arab immigrants (Hendricks et al, 2007), and Asian immigrants (Grubb & Bouffard, 2014), often recruited through local employers, work sites, churches, and community-based organizations (for additional studies, see reviews by McDonald & Erez, 2007;Pendergast et al, 2018;Zatz & Smith, 2012). Respondents in these studies frequently reported experiencing crimes ranging from verbal and physical violence to property-related crimes such as wage exploitation, theft, robbery, and burglary.…”

Section: Citizenship Status and Differential Access To The Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant status, citizenship, and victimization risk in the United States: New findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)*

Xie

Baumer

2021

Criminology

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Until recently, national-level data on criminal victimization in the United States did not include information on immigrant or citizenship status of respondents. This data-infrastructure limitation has hindered scientific understanding of whether immigrants are more or less likely than native-born Americans to be criminally victimized and how victimization may vary among immigrants of different statuses. We address these issues in the present study by using new data from the 2017-2018 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to explore the association between citizenship status and victimization risk in a nationally representative sample of households and persons aged 12 years and older. The research is guided by a theoretical framing that integrates insights from studies of citizenship with the literature on immigration and crime, as well as with theories of victimization. We find that a person's foreign-born status (but not their acquired U.S. citizenship) confers protection against victimization. We also find that the protective benefit associated with being foreign born does not extend to those with ambiguous citizenship status, who in our data exhibit attributes similar to the known characteristics of undocumented immigrants. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings and the potential ways to extend the research.

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Immigration, Crime, and Victimization in the US Context

Cited by 9 publications

References 58 publications

Is poverty the mother of crime? Evidence from homicide rates in China

Is poverty the mother of crime? Evidence from homicide rates in China

El Amigo y El Esé: Stereotyping of the “Criminal Immigrant”

Immigrant status, citizenship, and victimization risk in the United States: New findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)*

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