Revitalized or Disorganized? Unpacking the Immigration-Crime Link in a Multiethnic Setting

Abstract

Objective: To date, much of what we know about the immigration–crime link is based on the United States setting. Yet, contextual features unique to the United States may produce distinct outcomes for immigration and crime that do not hold elsewhere. This study therefore tests the applicability of ecological frameworks largely derived from the United States experience (such as the immigration revitalization thesis) in a country with a greater mixture of ethnic groups and where immigration policy is focused on recruiting skilled immigrants. Methods: Utilizing an innovative hybrid modeling approach, this article draws on three waves of census data and nine years of official recorded crime incident data to examine the effect of immigration on violent crime across 882 neighborhoods located in two Australian cities. Results: The results offer little evidence that neighborhoods with a greater concentration of immigrants have more crime or that increases in the immigrant population over time are associated with increased violence. Diversity however appears to have a more problematic effect on violent crime in both cities. Conclusions: While these findings are relatively consistent with previous research in the United States, whether this similarity is due to a process of revitalization requires further investigation.

Is It Dangerous to Live in Neighborhoods with More Immigrants? Assessing the Effects of Immigrant Concentration on Crime Patterns

“…For instance, it is generally perceived that most of the immigrant arrests and apprehensions happen in communities with Latin American origins (Hernández et al, 2018). In extension to the conventional notion, a handful of studies have examined the unique effects of immigration in specific racial/ethnic enclaves on crime (Feldmeyer & Steffensmeier, 2009;Herzog, 2009;Kim et al, 2019;Kubrin et al, 2018;Kubrin & Ishizawa, 2012;Ramey, 2013;Saporu et al, 2011;Sydes, 2017). This line of inquiry asserts that "context matters," stating that immigrant concentration needs to be distinguished from the general combination of distinct immigrant groups due to the different cultures and trends of the reaction to discrimination and abuse in racially/ethnically segregated communities (Kubrin et al, 2018).…”

Immigration and environment in the U.S.: A spatial study of air quality

“…Immigrants are often susceptible to environmental harms because they have less income and political clout in order to organize to address environmental issues (Feldmeyer, 2009;Light & Gold, 2000;Steffensmeier & Demuth, 2001;Portes & Rumbaut, 2006;Stowell, 2007). The very foundation of social disorganization perspective, however, is questioned by the findings that immigration may lead to the development of new types of social organization to mediate the negative effects (Chavez & Griffiths, 2009;Martinez, 2002, 2009;Ousey & Kubrin, 2009;Schnapp, 2015;Sydes, 2017).…”

Immigration, Ethnicity, and Neighborhood Violence: Considering Both Concentration and Diversity Effects

“…As a result, crime flourishes. As Feldmeyer, Harris, and Lai (2016, p. 271) explain, heterogeneity “may contribute to a sense of social isolation among residents and a tendency for people to ‘hunker down’ in their figurative ‘shells’ in ways that decouple linguistically diverse communities from the social capital and normative constraints that reduce crime and violence.” Yet despite reasons to believe immigrant concentration and diversity may differentially impact the neighborhood social processes important for the regulation of crime, few immigration–crime studies compare these two effects (see for exception, Feldmeyer et al, 2016)—especially beyond the U.S. context (see for exception, Sydes, 2017).…”