Suchergebnisse

A review of key empirical findings on race, ethnicity, & criminal or delinquent behavior in the US looks at racial/ethnic disparities in three data sources: official arrest/conviction records; self-reports of victimization; & self-reports of offending. Special attention is given to why there are huge ethnic differences in official records but smaller ethnic discrepancies in self-report studies. Consideration is given to the likelihood of certain groups being omitted from self-report studies; the emphasis on minor delinquency in questionnaires; & evidence of ethnic bias in self-report studies. Possible mediators of ethnic differences in crime are examined, including IQ & the socioeconomic context of one's neighborhood. New findings from the Chicago Neighborhoods Study indicate that crime rates (as self-reported) were highest among African Americans & lowest among Mexican Americans. The results of multivariate analyses showed neighborhood disadvantage to be the most important single mediator of the violent crime difference between African Americans & Whites while neither socioeconomic status nor family structure was influential. The implications are discussed. Tables, Figures, References. J. Lindroth

This article places the growth of an urban underclass in the broader context of trends in inequality and the stratification of place in global cities. Using Chicago as a case study, we construct a multidimensional typology of urban neighborhoods to illuminate trends in the spatial distribution of opportunity, the impact of immigration on the city's ecological structure, and modal patterns of neighborhood change. Our empirical analysis documents (1) the increasing spatial polarization of Chicago's neighborhoods, fueled by a concentration of both affluence and socioeconomic disadvantage; (2) the erosion of working-class areas as an ecological category; (3) the emergence of Hispanic neighborhoods as a distinct ecological type; and (4) the existence of race-specific patterns of neighborhood upgrading. These trends have broader implications for the study of spatial inequality in advanced industrial cities.

Places the growth of an urban underclass in the broader context of trends in inequality & the stratification of place in global cities, using Chicago, IL, as a case study. A multidimensional typology of urban neighborhoods is constructed to illuminate trends in the spatial distribution of opportunity, impact of immigration on the city's ecological structure, & modal patterns of neighborhood change. Census data, 1970-1990, reveal (1) the increasing spatial polarization of Chicago's neighborhoods, fueled by a concentration of both affluence & socioeconomic disadvantage; (2) erosion of working-class areas as an ecological category; (3) emergence of Hispanic neighborhoods as a distinct ecological type; & (4) existence of race-specific patterns of neighborhood upgrading. These trends have broader implications for the study of spatial inequality in advanced industrial cities. 3 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

Since the mid-1970s, the United States has experienced an enormous rise in incarceration and accompanying increases in returning prisoners and in postrelease community correctional supervision. Poor urban communities are disproportionately impacted by these phenomena. This review focuses on two complementary questions regarding incarceration, prisoner reentry, and communities: (a) whether and how mass incarceration has affected the social and economic structure of American communities, and (b) how residential neighborhoods affect the social and economic reintegration of returning prisoners. These two questions can be seen as part of a dynamic process involving a pernicious feedback loop in which mass incarceration undermines the structure and social organization of some communities, thus creating more criminogenic environments for returning prisoners and further diminishing their prospects for successful reentry and reintegration.

Poor urban communities experience high rates of incarceration and prisoner reentry. This article examines where former prisoners live after prison, focusing on returns to pre-prison social environments, residential mobility, and the role of intermediate sanctions—punishments for parole violations that are less severe than returning to prison—on where former prisoners live. Drawing on a unique dataset that uses administrative records to follow a cohort of Michigan parolees released in 2003 over time, we examine returns to pre-prison environments, both immediately after prison and in the months and years after release. We then investigate the role of intermediate sanctions in residential mobility among parolees. Our results show low rates of return to former neighborhoods and high rates of residential mobility after prison, a significant portion of which is driven by intermediate sanctions resulting from criminal justice system supervision. These results suggest that, through parole supervision, the criminal justice system generates significant residential mobility.

▪ Abstract  This paper assesses and synthesizes the cumulative results of a new "neighborhood-effects" literature that examines social processes related to problem behaviors and health-related outcomes. Our review identified over 40 relevant studies published in peer-reviewed journals from the mid-1990s to 2001, the take-off point for an increasing level of interest in neighborhood effects. Moving beyond traditional characteristics such as concentrated poverty, we evaluate the salience of social-interactional and institutional mechanisms hypothesized to account for neighborhood-level variations in a variety of phenomena (e.g., delinquency, violence, depression, high-risk behavior), especially among adolescents. We highlight neighborhood ties, social control, mutual trust, institutional resources, disorder, and routine activity patterns. We also discuss a set of thorny methodological problems that plague the study of neighborhood effects, with special attention to selection bias. We conclude with promising strategies and directions for future research, including experimental designs, taking spatial and temporal dynamics seriously, systematic observational approaches, and benchmark data on neighborhood social processes.

Highlighting resource inequality, social processes, and spatial interdependence, this study combines structural characteristics from the 1990 census with a survey of 8,872 Chicago residents in 1995 to predict homicide variations in 1996–1998 across 343 neighborhoods. Spatial proximity to homicide is strongly related to increased homicide rates, adjusting for internal neighborhood characteristics and prior homicide. Concentrated disadvantage and low collective efficacy—defined as the linkage of social control and cohesion—also independently predict increased homicide. Local organizations, voluntary associations, and friend/kinship networks appear to be important only insofar as they promote the collective efficacy of residents in achieving social control and cohesion. Spatial dynamics coupled with neighborhood inequalities in social and economic capacity are therefore consequential for explaining urban violence.

Trajectories -- Transitions -- A place to call home? -- Families and reintegration -- Navigating neighborhoods -- Finding and maintaining employment

AbstractThis article explores one way prior punishments may contribute to cumulative disadvantage: through more severe sentencing of those under criminal justice supervision. We examine the impact of being on supervision in Michigan on receiving a sentence of imprisonment—comparing the magnitude of the impact reflected in the formal sentencing guideline recommendation with deviations made by court actors. We find that the formal penalty for supervision status is modest, whereas court actors place substantially more weight on current parole status than do the guidelines when deciding to sentence a defendant to prison. They do not seem to give current probation status extra weight in a consistent way. As such, parole is more likely to contribute to cumulative disadvantage stemming from prior punishments. This disproportionately impacts Black defendants because of their higher rates of parole—not through disproportionate sentencing conditional on parole status. Findings suggest that attempts to address factors contributing to cumulative disadvantage will need to consider not only formal rules but also how informal discretion contributes to prison sentences.