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Digital neighbourhood platforms (DNPs) – also called online neighbourhood networks or neighbourhood social networks – are still a relatively novel phenomenon, and little is known about their actual reach among citizens and about neighbourhood conditions which foster or impede their spread. We consider DNPs as a digital extension of conventional neighbourhood social capital and analyse their spread in comparison with the latter using a recent community survey in two large German cities with a probability sample of 2900 respondents in 139 neighbourhoods. The analysis is guided by the scholarly discussion on the potential of DNPs to reduce current inequalities in the distribution of social capital. The results showed that 18% of respondents in Cologne and 12% of respondents in Essen have used DNPs. Multilevel analyses revealed a strong negative association of neighbourhood ethnic diversity with user rates, in parallel to the same negative effect on conventional neighbourhood social capital. It is therefore reasonable to assume that pre-existing inequalities in social capital are replicated by DNPs. On the individual level, the use of DNPs was less dependent on strong social bonds than on conventional social capital. Comparing respondents who use DNPs to those who do not, the former group proves to be socially more connected, more trusting and more satisfied with their neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminologists typically test rational choice theory by examining the relationship between one aspect of decision making—the perceived costs and benefits of crime—and the likelihood of crime, primarily using (experimental) surveys that lack consideration of the neighborhood context. Building on decades of research in the risk and decision sciences, the current study utilizes broader models of decision making to qualitatively examine how youth living in concentrated disadvantage make decisions during incidents of violence. Our thematic analysis of 22 in-depth interviews with youth in a midsize midwestern city indicates that the decision process regarding violence is much more complex than previously theorized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol availability is a consistent predictor of domestic violence, including intimate partner violence. Less is known about the effects of alcohol availability in neighboring units of analysis on domestic violence. This study examined whether alcohol outlet density in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is associated with Male-on-Female domestic violence (MFDV). Using block groups as the unit of analysis (N = 571), spatial regression models were estimated to model the relationship between the density of total, on-premise, and off-premise alcohol outlets on MFDV, while accounting for the spatial spillover effect (i.e., alcohol availability and neighborhood characteristics in focal and surrounding block groups). At the focal level, off-premise alcohol outlets are associated with MFDV, net of concentrated disadvantage, lack of health insurance, MFDV lag and total population. Additionally, off-premise alcohol outlet density in surrounding units of analysis is a significant predictor of MFDV. However, total and on-premise densities did not demonstrate a relationship with MFDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractA growing research body shows that victimization increases victims’ fear of crime. Typically, this research estimates average effects, which may conceal that people respond differently to victimization or that ecological contexts shape the experience of crime. The current study is among the few that attempt to uncover potential heterogeneities in victimization effects by ecological contexts. It explores whether the victims’ neighborhood conditions (levels of crime, disorder, and concentrated disadvantage) moderate the impact of violent victimization close to home on fear of crime. For this purpose, longitudinal multilevel models were estimated using data from a two-wave panel survey of about 3300 adult respondents nested in 140 neighborhoods in two large German cities. The results suggest that individuals from more disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to increase their fear of crime more strongly after victimization than those from more advantaged areas. For the other neighborhood conditions, victimization effects were estimated to be more homogenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative impact of vacant and abandoned housing in city neighborhoods is extreme, affecting health and quality of life, promoting violence, and leading to further abandonment. One approach to addressing abandoned housing is to intervene with low-cost interventions that provide a visual sense of ownership. We tested whether a low-cost remediation of abandoned and vacant houses or a trash cleanup intervention would make a noticeable difference in the levels of nearby disrepair, disorder, and public safety. The abandoned housing remediation and trash cleanup interventions were a test of compliance with municipal ordinances. We used an experimental design to test the causal effects of the ordinances and because the scale of abandonment was too large to provide treatment to all abandoned houses in the city. We used systematic social observation methods to rate changes in disrepair, disorder, and litter at housing sites and on the city blocks they were located and police-reported data on gun violence and illegal substance use. Our experimental design allowed us to see whether observed disrepair, disorder, and public safety improved after working windows and doors were installed on abandoned houses compared with a trash cleanup around properties or a no-intervention control condition. Our results showed significant changes in observed disrepair, disorder, and gun violence and illustrate the benefits of experimental evaluations of place-based changes to the built environment. Improving compliance with ordinances to remediate abandoned housing can make a noticeable difference in disrepair in neighborhoods and contribute to improved public safety. We illustrate how planners can use field experiments in partnership with city agencies, nonprofit community groups, and local universities to discover novel approaches to advance place-based changes to the built environment that can help economically disadvantaged communities abate problems of physical disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gun violence imparts a tremendous human and financial toll on local communities. Researchers have documented extensive mental and physical health consequences of generalized violence exposure but few studies have analyzed the particular impacts of gun violence on community well-being using nationally comprehensive data. We leverage a unique database of almost 16,000 neighborhoods in 100 US cities (2014–2019) to examine how year-over-year rates of gun violence correspond to overall neighborhood well-being and three aspects of community health: (1) health behaviors, (2) physical and mental health status, and (3) health prevention efforts. We simultaneously consider the reciprocal influence of neighborhood well-being on subsequent gun violence while accounting for concentrated disadvantage in communities. The results demonstrate that gun violence is associated with poorer community health in subsequent years, particularly health behaviors and mental/physical health status. Furthermore, we find substantial reciprocal effects for both gun violence and community health in their relationship to neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. These findings highlight the consequential role of gun violence in perpetuating cycles of harm in local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families relocating from concentrated poverty neighborhoods is somewhat rare, either due to structural constraints that limit mobility or the disincentive to leave dense social networks built over time. Researchers previously juxtaposed these two experiences as either "stuck" or "rooted". We advance a critical take on both perspectives by demonstrating the heterogeneity of life in disadvantaged neighborhoods for Black urban youth. We utilize data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the 1997 Child Development Supplement to investigate contextual immobility, barriers to moving, and self-reported levels of neighborhood social ties to critique prior research and emergent policy that categorizes disadvantaged populations as "stuck" or "rooted". Our findings demonstrate that immobility is most strongly associated with the household head lacking a high school education and with knowing more children's names in the neighborhood. Thus, immobility is associated with structural barriers to moving and social rootedness. We discuss how current policy strategies do not effectively address this duality. We conclude that policy strategies should facilitate intragenerational mobility through housing choice, including the choice to remain in the neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science research has focused on hot spots of adolescent violence in marginalized urban neighborhoods for nearly a century. In contrast, in this study, we explore under‐resourced urban areas that do not experience high rates of adolescent violence: "pockets of peace." We use a mixed‐method approach to identify the sociodemographic, geographic, and criminological commonalities and differences between pockets of peace and other areas of concentrated disadvantage dealing with high rates of adolescent violence in Indianapolis, IN. More than one out of every ten of Indianapolis' areas of concentrated disadvantage meet the criteria to be labeled "pockets of peace." Quantitative data indicate that these areas have fewer prosocial institutions and experience lower homeownership rates than comparison under‐resourced areas, and qualitative data point toward rental stability and residential longevity as potentially salient social factors within these contexts. As an alternative to using statistics to control for the context of structural disadvantage, studying pockets of peace and other "cold‐spots" of adolescent violence presents an opportunity to understand community‐level resilience within the real, lived context of structural disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Concentrated disadvantaged areas have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 outbreak in the United States (US). Meanwhile, highly connected areas may contribute to higher human movement, leading to higher COVID-19 cases and deaths. This study examined the associations between concentrated disadvantage, place connectivity, and COVID-19 fatality in the US over time. Methods: Concentrated disadvantage was assessed based on the spatial concentration of residents with low socioeconomic status. Place connectivity was defined as the normalized number of shared Twitter users between the county and all other counties in the contiguous US in a year (Y = 2019). COVID-19 fatality was measured as the cumulative COVID-19 deaths divided by the cumulative COVID-19 cases. Using county-level (N = 3,091) COVID-19 fatality over four time periods (up to October 31, 2021), we performed mixed-effect negative binomial regressions to examine the association between concentrated disadvantage, place connectivity, and COVID-19 fatality, considering potential state-level variations. The moderation effects of county-level place connectivity and concentrated disadvantage were analyzed. Spatially lagged variables of COVID-19 fatality were added to the models to control for the effect of spatial autocorrelations in COVID-19 fatality. Results: Concentrated disadvantage was significantly associated with an increased COVID-19 fatality in four time periods (p < 0.01). More importantly, moderation analysis suggested that place connectivity significantly exacerbated the harmful effect of concentrated disadvantage on COVID-19 fatality in three periods (p < 0.01), and this significant moderation effect increased over time. The moderation effects were also significant when using place connectivity data from the previous year. Conclusions: Populations living in counties with both high concentrated disadvantage and high place connectivity may be at risk of a higher COVID-19 fatality. Greater COVID-19 fatality that occurs in concentrated disadvantaged counties may be partially due to higher human movement through place connectivity. In response to COVID-19 and other future infectious disease outbreaks, policymakers are encouraged to take advantage of historical disadvantage and place connectivity data in epidemic monitoring and surveillance of the disadvantaged areas that are highly connected, as well as targeting vulnerable populations and communities for additional intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across American societal institutions, a punitive culture of control and surveillance has manifested in a variety of ways, including exponential growth in incarceration rates and school suspension rates over the last four decades. To date, much of the scholarship exploring the relationship between criminal justice outcomes and school-based outcomes has focused primarily on how school punishment is consequential for future involvement in the justice system. What remains unclear, however, is whether an alternative relationship exists. That is, does a culture of control foster an environment where punitiveness in the criminal justice system is mirrored by punitiveness within schools? Drawing on carceral perspectives and place-based stratification theories and analyzing a random sample of Florida middle and high schools combined with school district data, several key findings emerge. Specifically, Black and Hispanic students are more likely to be suspended in places with higher incarceration rates; all students are more likely to be suspended in places with greater concentrated disadvantage; and Black and Hispanic students are significantly more likely to be suspended when attending schools in places with high incarceration rates and greater concentrated disadvantage. These findings highlight the interconnectedness of place and social control in the school setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Examine the spatial relationship between firearm dealers and shootings in Atlanta. Methods: We combine data from the Atlanta Police Department (APD), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the American Community Survey (ACS) to conduct a street network analysis from 2016 through 2018. We employ the Network Cross K Function to assess whether firearm dealers attract shootings in the city. We examine whether this spatial relationship differs by level of concentrated disadvantage in neighborhoods. Results: Without consideration of concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, firearm dealers and shootings are spatially unrelated to one another. Tract-level disadvantage influences the relationship between firearm dealers and shootings wherein dealers significantly attract shootings in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conversely, shootings are located further from gun stores in non-disadvantaged communities. Shootings related to manslaughter and assault, but not robbery, are spatially associated with firearm dealers in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusions: Building on prior research regarding firearm dealers and gun violence, we find support for an attraction effect in disadvantaged neighborhoods for certain types of shootings. We contextualize these findings within a broader discussion of how firearm dealers contribute to the complex ecology of local gun violence. This is important in light of federal policies and investments related to the prevention of and response to gun crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most consistent findings in the cross-national literature is the association between economic inequality and homicide rates. However, recent research has raised doubts concerning causality. To address some of these concerns, I draw on a (modified) version of Coleman's theory-building model to connect societal-level economic inequality and homicide rates through mechanisms operating at the neighbourhood level. The causal pathway operates through three mechanisms. First, greater economic inequality within society corresponds with higher degrees of spatial segregation by income across neighbourhoods. Second, spatial segregation contributes to concentrated disadvantage and less social integration of the lowest economic stratum, described as (reduced) collective efficacy and social isolation. Finally, more tenuous social integration contributes to higher rates of crime due to weakened social control and cultural/social adaptations to social isolation. This integration of the cross-national and neighbourhood literatures provides new avenues for research on the societal inequality/homicide association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eviction is concentrated in poor communities of color, and studies indicate eviction may affect social processes. Community and crime literature demonstrates that structural factors, such as socio-economic status and racial composition, are linked with crime and that social processes protect neighborhoods from crime. Therefore, eviction is likely concentrated in neighborhoods vulnerable to crime, but the connection between eviction and neighborhood violent crime has not yet been examined. Using data from Princeton University's Eviction Lab National Database, the National Neighborhood Crime Study 2, and the Boston Neighborhood Survey, this Boston-based study is a first step in filling this knowledge gap. Findings indicate that eviction is positively associated with crime and partially explains why crime is concentrated in disadvantaged communities of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between mode of Internet access, variety of online activities, and the potential for the Internet to contribute to local social capital in distressed, urban communities. Based on a sample of 525 telephone surveys in Detroit, findings show that breadth of access predicts participation in a larger variety of online activities, which is associated with higher levels of local social capital. Neither public Internet access, home broadband, nor Internet access through a mobile phone data plan alone affords participation in a full range of social capital-enhancing activities. The findings highlight the potential problems of initiatives that assume equivalent social outcomes through nonequivalent modes of access, such as providing Internet access through mobile phones in place of home broadband. Efforts to enhance a city's social infrastructure by providing Internet access are best served when individuals have multiple points of access available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Safe Passage" is an after‐school intervention program for disadvantaged youth in a medium‐sized city in southern California. Led by local law enforcement, as well as the city's recreation and park department, the program's goal is to combine community policing with after‐school care and tutoring to support children living in a large apartment complex with the highest rates of gang membership and crime in the city. This is an exploratory study that examines the perspectives of various stakeholders in the intervention program, including the community members, the local police, and Safe Passage staff members. Survey data from the community residents, program staff and law enforcement were collected. Findings indicate that there was some consensus across the various subpopulations on the challenges that have had the largest negative influence on youth in the community. The local police and the community members surveyed were also in agreement that police/community relations were largely positive. All stakeholders surveyed felt generally positive about the intervention program, but the community members were more skeptical of the program's ability to deter their children from trouble. Implications of our findings for the program and for future studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the number and location of residential burglaries before and after a tornado that struck New Orleans, Louisiana in February 2017. Using calls for service to the New Orleans Police Department, Weather Service data and geospatial referencing, we found that the number of residential burglaries increased in the short-term aftermath of the tornado and that the increase in suitable targets caused by the tornado appears to be an important predictor of post-tornado burglary in that timeframe. We conclude with implications for policy and practice that stem from our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies indicators of social disorganization theory (i.e., concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and concentrated immigration) to predict officers' use of coercive action during street stops of citizens suspected of criminal activity. It also investigates whether concentrated disadvantage moderates suspects' likelihood of receiving greater levels of police coercive actions when stopped for reasons listed in the New York City Police Department's Unified Form 250 (UF-250). Results from multilevel analyses of stop incidents nested within neighborhoods confirm that certain indicators of social disorganization are associated with officer use of coercive action. Further, suspects stopped in areas marked by concentrated disadvantage are less likely to receive higher levels of police coercive action. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Use of lethal force by police officers has incited riots, inspired social movements, and engendered socio-political debate. Police officers also assume a high level of risk during police–citizen encounters. Yet, existing studies tend to center on these two phenomena independently. Additionally, the under-utilization of multilevel research in these areas of inquiry has hampered attempts to empirically disentangle the individual, agency, and contextual correlates of fatal police–citizen encounters. This study integrates the predominantly distinct research bases on these phenomena to examine the contexts in which police use lethal force, relative to the contexts in which officers are killed in the line of duty. Methods: Data were compiled on 6416 citizen fatalities and 709 officer fatalities distributed across 1735 agencies and 1506 U.S. places from 2000 to 2016. A series of three-level logistic regression models examined the civilian and officer characteristics, organizational factors, and contextual features that impacted the odds of citizen fatalities by the police relative to police lethal victimization. Results: Findings indicated that structural disadvantage increased the odds of police lethal victimization relative to citizen fatalities by the police. Moreover, this contextual effect was, in part, a product of increased firearm usage by citizens who killed police in more disadvantaged areas. Conclusions: A more complete understanding of fatal police–citizen encounters requires considering police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization concurrently in their broader social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics and childhood pedestrian fatalities (2001–2010) in Johannesburg, South Africa. This cross-sectional study used negative binomial regression models. Results indicate that: areas with high concentrated disadvantage have elevated childhood pedestrian deaths, especially for those aged 5 to 9 years. Areas marked by residential mobility are associated with high pedestrian deaths among children 0 to 4 years. Black childhood pedestrian deaths are higher in areas marked by a high concentration of female-headed households. The analyses highlight the value of further exploring the effects of neighbourhood characteristics and suggest points of entry for interventions to reduce or prevent childhood pedestrian traffic mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Examine the relationships among structural disadvantage, friendship network age composition, and violent offending by investigating the contextual and individual etiology of affiliating with older friends and exploring the mechanisms that link friendship network age composition to violent offending. Method: Hierarchical linear models analyze 8,481 respondents distributed across 1,485 census tracts from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Social network data are used to construct a measure of the proportion of a respondent's friendship network that is at least one grade older than the respondent. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, structural disadvantage increases affiliations with older friends, older friendship networks report higher levels of violence, and affiliating with older friends increases violence among respondents. Contrary to expectations, the influence of affiliating with older friends on respondent violence decreases, rather than increases, as levels of violence in the friendship network increase. Conclusions: The results shed light on the inextricable linkages among social context, friendship network composition, and sociobehavioral outcomes among youth. The findings inform peer mentoring program evaluations observing iatrogenic effects via peer deviancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of policing in the United States is a history of tension between the police and the public, especially in marginalised communities, where the legitimacy of the police and their interventions has been most questioned. Marginalised and often minority communities often complain about over and under policing, that is, policing that harasses local residents but does not address serious crime. In recent years, concerns with the institutional legitimacy of the police in the US and elsewhere have risen in public discussions and in scientific research. Current models of police legitimacy tend to focus on transactions between the police and the public over matters of procedural justice; however, taking a more contextual view of police interventions in communities provides opportunities to look beyond transactions and sort out the socio-cultural acceptance of the police against the myriad of services they provide to communities. Here we focus on census tracts in Boston, merging calls for service data with perceptual survey data. We find significant differences in the types of police services requested by advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Public-initiated calls for service are largely for emergency response matters as opposed to crime prevention and community restoration; police-initiated services, however, are more evenly distributed across prevention, response, and restoration. While residents of disadvantaged, high-crime communities request the police more often, they perceive themselves as unwilling to report crime. Additionally, they perceive their communities as unsafe while also viewing the police as less legitimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant progress in research on the treatment and prevention of psychological, behavioral, and health problems, the translation of this knowledge into population-wide benefit remains limited. This paper reviews the state of America's children and families, highlighting the influence of stressful contextual and social conditions on child and family well-being and the concentration of disadvantage in numerous neighborhoods and communities throughout the nation. It then briefly reviews the progress that has been made in pinpointing policies that can reduce stressful contextual conditions such as poverty, discrimination, and the marketing of unhealthful foods and substances. It also describes numerous family and school interventions that have proven benefit in preventing psychological and behavioral problems as diverse as tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; depression; antisocial behavior; academic failure; obesity prevention; and early childbearing. We argue that progress in translating existing knowledge into widespread benefit will require a nationwide effort to intervene comprehensively in neighborhoods and communities of concentrated disadvantage. We present a strategic plan for how such an effort could be organized. The first step in this organizing would be the creation of a broad and diverse coalition of organizations concerned with advancing public health and well-being. Such a coalition could increase public support both for the policies needed to focus on these disadvantaged areas and the research needed to incrementally improve our ability to help these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual harassment is a pervasive problem predominantly perpetrated by men. Creating cultural shifts to prevent men's sexual harassment perpetration requires attention to community as well as individual factors. Study data were collected from a cohort of 768 youth and young adult males ages 10–18 at baseline (2013), with follow-up 3 years later. Multivariable regression was applied to assess the role of neighborhood characteristics, including crime rates, gender equality, and concentrated disadvantage, adjusting for individual sociodemographics and views on traditional gender stereotypes. The self-reported prevalence of sexual harassment perpetration was 8.8%. In neighborhoods characterized by greater concentrated disadvantage, the likelihood of male sexual harassment perpetration was significantly lower than in neighborhoods characterized by greater advantages. Relative neighborhood advantage was associated with sexual harassment perpetration even controlling for the significant positive association between espousing traditional gender stereotypes and perpetration of sexual harassment. The relative rates of neighborhood crime and gender equality did not predict young males' sexual harassment perpetration. In sum, young men's perpetration of sexual harassment behaviors is more common in more advantaged communities, underscoring the importance of awareness that, beyond individual attitudes, there is a collective social influence on individual behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional differences in the use of prison are, in part, due to cultures of punishment within Sunbelt states. To date, this has been largely studied at the state level, ignoring the smaller geographic areas in which the effects of imprisonment are deeply felt. We employ a novel data set to examine the relationship between prison and region and regional variation in the relationship between concentrated disadvantage and neighborhood imprisonment. We find that region affects neighborhood prison admission rates in unexpected ways, and that the relationship between concentrated disadvantage and prison admissions varies in magnitude by region. We discuss the implications of these findings for better understanding the impact of region and the processes that lead to imprisonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead is an environmental toxin that contributes to several health and neurological development problems, with young children particularly at risk. Research shows that elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) are higher in communities characterized by concentrated disadvantage. However, studies have provided conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between concentrated disadvantage, lead exposure, and crime rates. We analyzed data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Census Bureau, and Boston Police Department to help address several issues in the literature. Specifically, we examined EBLLs at the census tract level and accounted for the percentage of homes built before 1979 to overcome previous research limitations regarding lead exposure measures, unit of analysis, and omitted variables. Our findings revealed that (1) the impact of concentrated disadvantage on EBLL rates was exacerbated by the amount of pre-1979 housing, and (2) concentrated disadvantage intensified the effect of EBLLs on crime rates, but only after accounting for pre-1979 housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the distribution of crime across various types of low-income housing developments and estimates the main and interactive effects of housing development and neighborhood characteristics on crime. Negative binomial regression models were estimated to observe the influence of security and design features, neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, residential stability, and nearby nonresidential land use on crime at the housing developments. The findings suggest that low-income housing developments are not uniformly criminogenic, and both development characteristics and neighborhood conditions are relevant for understanding crime in low-income housing developments. Implications for prevention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Childhood lead exposure is linked to numerous adverse health effects and exposure in the United States is highest among people living in substandard housing, which is disproportionately inhabited by socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. In this paper, we compared the Vox lead exposure risk score and concentrated disadvantage based on principal component analysis (PCA) to weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to determine which method was best able to explain variation in elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs). Methods We constructed indices for census tracts in Minnesota and used them in Poisson regression models to identify the best socioeconomic measure for explaining EBLL risk. Results All indices had a significant association with EBLL in separate models. The WQS index had the best goodness-of-fit, followed next by the Vox index, and then the concentrated disadvantage index. Among the most important variables in the WQS index were percent of houses built before 1940, percent renter occupied housing, percent unemployed, and percent African American population. Conclusions The WQS approach was best able to explain variation in EBLL risk and identify census tracts where targeted interventions should be focused to reduce lead exposure. Graphical abstract Estimated weighted quantile sum (WQS) index, Vox lead exposure score, and concentrated disadvantage index from principal components analysis to explain elevated blood lead level rates across census tracts in Minnesota with county lines drawn for reference. The top panel is the entire state and the bottom panel is focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Unlabelled Image Highlights • Elevated blood lead levels are significantly related to area socioeconomic status. • Weighted quantile sum regression best explains elevated blood level risk. • Percent of houses built prior to 1940 is most important for elevated blood levels. • The conceptual model to identify areas of elevated blood lead risk is complex. • Our complex model improves on existing approaches at explaining risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homicide followed by suicide remains an understudied phenomenon in the criminological literature. This is due, in part, to methodological and statistical limitations—much of the extant research includes small samples and has not kept pace with quantitative advances. Moreover, scholarship on homicide–suicide has been focused almost exclusively on individual risk factors, discounting contextual influences. In this study, we examine whether macro‐environmental characteristics affect the odds of suicide after a homicide. We use data on 24,373 homicide and homicide–suicide cases distributed across 3,019 cities and 48 U.S. states from the National Violent Death Reporting System to examine the direct effects of structural factors on the odds of suicide after a homicide; and whether structural characteristics condition the impact of the victim–offender relationship on the odds of homicide–suicide. Hierarchical logistic regression models indicate that macro‐level concentrated disadvantage decreases the odds of homicide–suicide. Furthermore, concentrated disadvantage attenuates the odds of suicide after the homicide of an intimate partner, child, family member, or friend, relative to the killing of a stranger. The findings reveal that researchers should account for the context in which homicide–suicide occurs; failure to do so may unintentionally discount a key correlate of homicide–suicide and artificially inflate the effects of the micro‐environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how distinct residential environments uniquely influence chronic child disease prevalence. Aggregating over 200,000 pediatric geocoded medical records to the census tract of residence and linking them to neighborhood-level measures, we use multiple data analysis techniques to assess how heterogeneous exposures of social and environmental neighborhood conditions influence an index of child chronic disease (CCD) prevalence for the neighborhood. We find there is a graded relationship between degree of overall neighborhood disadvantage and children's chronic disease such that the highest neighborhood CCD scores are found in communities with the highest concentrated disadvantage. After considering individual- and family-level characteristics, results show that higher levels of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and air pollution exposure associate with higher risks of children having at least one chronic condition. Overall, our analysis serves as a comprehensive start for future researchers interested in assessing which neighborhood factors matter most for child chronic health conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While evidence of social structural factors influencing violence against police (VAP) exists, few studies spatially explore this phenomenon with geographical aggregations smaller than the city level. The purpose of this study is to contribute to filling this gap in the literature. Using the census tract as the unit of analysis, the number of incidents per tract where Baltimore police officers were injured or assaulted with firearms in the line of duty was compared with theoretical indicators drawn from census data: concentrated disadvantage, residential mobility, immigration concentration and racial diversity. Maps show that incidents of VAP tend to cluster spatially, and multivariate analyses suggest that concentrated disadvantage and calls for service, but not other indicators, were significantly related to violence against the police. Future studies of violence against the police should include measures of routine activities theory, as such indicators may be mediating the relationship between community-level factors and VAP. Additionally, future research should attempt multilevel modelling to account for situational factors as well as structural characteristics of the location. Further, theory would significantly move forward if researchers could identify the processes by which structural conditions affect VAP. To decrease injurious assault on police, police administrators may want to refocus community policing efforts. While police are unable to eradicate poverty and other structural social problems, they are in a unique position to work with a variety of local government agencies to alleviate community concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighborhood structural conditions influence police behavior, but few studies have addressed whether neighborhood conditions are associated with officers' perceptions of residents in those communities. This is an important gap because officers' perceptions of what they can expect from residents in disadvantaged communities may help explain differential treatment. Using data from the Project on Policing Neighborhoods, we examined neighborhood effects on officers' perceptions of citizen cooperation. Officers working in beats with more concentrated disadvantage and higher homicide rates were less likely to believe that citizens would be willing to cooperate with law enforcement. We discuss this finding in relation to explaining differential police treatment across communities and what it means for the legitimacy dialogue that unfolds between the police and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We draw upon theories of social disorganization, strain, and subculture of violence to examine how sex and race/ethnicity intersect to inform nonlethal violent offending at the macrolevel. Methods: Using neighborhood-level incidents, we examine (1) the structural correlates of male and female nonlethal violence and (2) whether ecological conditions have variable impacts on the prevalence of White, Black, and Latino male and female offenses above and beyond differential exposure to disadvantage. We use multivariate negative binomial regression within a structural equation modeling framework which allows for the examination of the same set of indicator variables on more than one dependent variable simultaneously while accounting for covariance between the dependent variables. Results: We find few significant differences in the salience of disadvantage on female and male violence across race and ethnicity although some differences emerge for White men and women. Structural factors are largely sex invariant within race and ethnicity. Conclusions: Despite expectations that disadvantage would have differential effects across sex and race/ethnicity, we uncover only minor differences. This suggests that structural effects are more invariant than variant across subgroups and highlights the importance of investigating both similarities and differences when examining neighborhood structure, intersectionality, and criminal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The link between relationship violence and aspects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (e.g., percent of unemployed adults, percent of families below poverty level), has been established. However, the literature examining neighborhood social processes, including informal social control and social cohesion, in relation to adolescent dating violence has shown mixed results with a limited theoretical foundation and methodology. Using a social disorganization theoretical framework, this study examined the mediating role of these neighborhood social processes in the relation between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent dating violence within an urban context. Participants included 605 adult residents in 30 census tracts and 203 adolescents from neighborhoods on the West and South sides of Chicago. Neighborhood‐level concentrated disadvantage was measured via Census data, adult residents reported on neighborhood social processes, and youth reported on dating violence. Informal social control was negatively associated with dating violence, and social cohesion was positively associated with dating violence. A multilevel mediation model showed that concentrated disadvantage was related to higher levels of dating violence via lower levels of informal social control. These results extend social disorganization theory to dating violence within an urban context, while also highlighting the important role of neighborhood processes on relationship violence. Implications for research and intervention programming are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although some urban sociology perspectives suggest how certain sociodeomgraphic characteristics influence nonprofit development, there is a dearth of empirical research to assess neighborhood differences in nonprofit organizations. The goal of the current study is to build upon the extant literature by examining how both concentrated disadvantage and violent crime impact nonprofit density across neighborhoods. Using data from Los Angeles census tracts from 2010 to 2012, I test for linear and nonlinear influences that these two neighborhood factors might exert on nonprofit density. Poisson regression models show that concentrated disadvantage has a nonlinear (U-shaped) effect on all forms of nonprofit density, whereas violent crime has a linear and deleterious effect on all forms of nonprofit density. These results provide important new insights for urban sociology and policy; most importantly, the extent to which neighborhoods with ongoing social problems can later respond to such problems via access to nonprofit organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geographic concentration of disadvantage is a key mechanism of inequity. In the United States, the spatial patterning of disadvantage renders it more than the sum of its individual parts and disproportionately harms economically and racially marginalized Americans. This article focuses specifically on the political effects of Medicaid beneficiaries being concentrated in particular locales. After offering a framework for conceptualizing the community-wide consequences of such policy concentration, I analyze aggregate multiyear data to examine the effect of Medicaid density on county-level voter turnout and local organizational strength. I find that, as the proportion of county residents enrolled in Medicaid increases, the prevalence of civic and political membership associations declines and aggregate rates of voting decrease. These results suggest that, if grassroots political action is to be part of a strategy to achieve health equity, policy makers and local organizations must make efforts to counteract the sometimes demobilizing "place-based" political effects of "people-based" policies such as Medicaid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that residents of inner-city urban neighborhoods have higher rates of late stage cancer diagnosis. Identifying urban neighborhoods with high rates of both concentrated disadvantage and late stage cancer diagnosis may assist health care providers to target screening interventions to reduce disparities. The purposes of this study were to (1) create an index to evaluate concentrated disadvantage (CD) using non-racial measures of poverty, (2) determine the impact of neighborhood CD on late stage breast cancer diagnosis in US cities, and (3) to understand the role of obesity on this relationship. We used census block group- (CBG) level poverty indicators from five Virginia cities to develop the index. Breast cancer cases of women aged 18-65 who lived in the five cities were identified from the 2000-2012 Virginia Cancer Registry. A logistic regression model with random intercept was used to evaluate the impact of disadvantage on late stage breast cancer diagnosis. CBG-level maps were developed to geographically identify neighborhoods with both high rates of CD and late breast cancer staging. Over 900 CBGs and 6000 breast cases were included. Global fit of the concentrated disadvantage model was acceptable. The effect of disadvantage on late stage was significant (OR = 1.0083, p = 0.032). Inner-city poverty impacts risk of late stage breast cancer diagnosis. Area-level obesity is highly correlated with neighborhood poverty (ρ = 0.74, p < 0.0001) but the mediating direct and indirect effects are non-significant. Intervening in these high poverty neighborhoods may help combat disparities in late stage diagnosis for urban poor and for minorities living in these underserved neighborhoods, but more study is needed to understanding the complex relationship between concentrated neighborhood poverty, obesity, and late stage diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although residential segregation is known to have declined for some racial groups in America, much less is known about change in the relative socioeconomic quality of the neighborhoods where different racial and ethnic groups live. Using census data for 1980-2010, we find that the neighborhoods where whites and minorities reside have become more alike in terms of neighborhood poverty and median income, largely because whites now live in poorer neighborhoods and because African Americans live in less-poor neighborhoods. The narrowing of black-white neighborhood inequality since 1980 has been sizable, far exceeding the narrowing of Hispanic-white neighborhood inequality; nonetheless, despite blacks' relative gains, the disparity in black-white neighborhood economic conditions remains very large. Asian Americans, on the other hand, now reside in neighborhoods that are economically similar to the neighborhoods where whites reside. Regression analyses reveal that racial neighborhood inequality declined the most in U.S. metropolitan areas where racial residential segregation declined the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long history of research has indicated that neighborhood poverty increases youth's risk taking and delinquency. This literature predominantly has treated neighborhoods as independent of their surroundings despite rapidly growing ecological evidence on the geographic clustering of crime that suggests otherwise. This study proposes that to understand neighborhood effects, investigating youth's wider surroundings holds theoretical and empirical value. By revisiting longitudinal data on more than 1500 low-income youth who participated in the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) randomized intervention, this article explores the importance of extended neighborhoods (neighborhoods and surroundings) and different concentrated disadvantage configurations in shaping gender differences in risk taking and delinquency. The results from two-stage, least-squares analyses suggest that the extended neighborhoods matter and they matter differently by gender. Among girls, extended neighborhoods without concentrated disadvantage were associated with lower risk-taking prevalence than extended neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantage. In contrast, among boys, localized concentration of disadvantage was associated with the highest prevalence of risk taking and delinquency. Interactions between the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods were similarly associated with differential opportunity and social disorganization mediators. Among the more critical potential mediators of the link between localized disadvantage and boys' risk taking were delinquent network ties, strain, and perceived absence of legitimate opportunities for success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether neighborhood-level characteristics influence spatial variations in the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). Geocoded data on IPV cases with associated protection orders (n = 1,623) in the city of Valencia, Spain (2011-2013), were used for the analyses. Neighborhood units were 552 census block groups. Drawing from social disorganization theory, we explored 3 types of contextual influences: concentrated disadvantage, concentration of immigrants, and residential instability. A Bayesian spatial random-effects modeling approachwas used to analyze influences of neighborhood-level characteristics on small-area variations in IPV risk. Disease mapping methods were also used to visualize areas of excess IPV risk. Results indicated that IPV risk was higher in physically disordered and decaying neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with loweducational and economic status levels, high levels of public disorder and crime, and high concentrations of immigrants. Results also revealed spatially structured remaining variability in IPV risk that was not explained by the covariates. In this study, neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and immigrant concentration emerged as significant ecological risk factors explaining IPV. Addressing neighborhood-level risk factors should be considered for better targeting of IPV prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study seeks to better understand the relationship between neighborhood disability concentration and police calls for assault with a deadly weapon. Is this relationship the result of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, or does disability act independently of other ecological characteristics associated with high crime rates? Methods: The authors combine Census and other neighborhoodlevel data from Washington, DC to test a one-level random intercept hierarchical multiple regression model using Census tracts as a grouping variable. Disability concentration is measured by the percent of disabled residents living in a block group. Concentrated disadvantage is a composite measure including percent households below poverty line, percent families on public assistance, percent African American, percent female-headed households with children, and percent unemployed. Assault with a deadly weapon is a rate per 1,000 of police calls for assault in 2005-2006. Results: The effect of disability concentration is partially mediated by other ecological factors, but remains a significant predictor of neighborhood rates of reported assault. Each one-unit increase in percent disabled increased police calls for assault by 0.14 %. Conclusions: The results of the analyses suggest that although concentrated disadvantage does affect the relationship between disability concentration and crime, it exerts an independent effect on neighborhood rates of assault with a deadly weapon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious youthful offenders are presented with a number of significant challenges when trying to make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. One of the biggest obstacles for these youth to overcome concerns their ability to desist from further antisocial behavior, and although an emerging body of research has documented important risk and protective factors associated with desistance, the importance of the neighborhoods within which these youth reside has been understudied. Guided by the larger neighborhood effects on crime literature, the current study examines the direct and indirect effects of concentrated disadvantage on youth reoffending among a sample of highly mobile, serious youthful offenders. We use data from Pathways to Desistance, a longitudinal study of serious youthful offenders (N = 1,354; 13.6 % female; 41.4 % African American, 33.5 % Hispanic, 20.2 % White), matched up with 2000 Census data on neighborhood conditions for youth's main residence location during waves 7 and 8 of the study. These waves represent the time period in which youth are navigating the transition to adulthood (aged 18-22; average age = 20). We estimate structural equation models to determine direct effects of concentrated disadvantage on youth reoffending and also to examine the possible indirect effects working through individual-level mechanisms as specified by theoretical perspectives including social control (e.g., unsupervised peer activities), strain (e.g., exposure to violence), and learning (e.g., exposure to antisocial peers). Additionally, we estimate models that take into account the impact that a change in neighborhood conditions may have on the behavior of youth who move to new residences during the study period. Our results show that concentrated disadvantage is indirectly associated with youth reoffending primarily through its association with exposure to deviant peers. Taking into account youth mobility during the study period produced an additional indirect pathway by which concentrated disadvantage is associated with goal blockage (i.e., the gap between belief in conventional goals and perceived potential to reach those goals), which was then associated with exposure to deviant peers and indirectly, reoffending behavior. We conclude that the neighborhood effects literature offers a promising framework for continued research on understanding the successful transition to adulthood by serious youthful offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research documents how spatial location in American metropolitan areas influences individuals' and families' life chances due to differential access to opportunity. Racial residential segregation and concentrated poverty interact to create an especially vulnerable population within American cities. Less research has been performed about the detailed perceptions of residents who live in spatially isolated neighborhoods with high levels of poverty. Using in-depth interviews in a Buffalo, New York, neighborhood, we develop a better understanding of how geographic isolation influences individuals' attitudes about and perceptions of their lives. Respondents discuss subjects ranging from transportation to employment and outline the ways in which concentrated disadvantage impacts their daily lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foundational research on the link between neighborhood accessibility and burglary has consistently shown a positive association. However, recent research has found that less accessible neighborhoods have higher burglary rates. Geographically referenced data from 401 neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida, are used to determine whether these inconsistencies can be explained by a conditioning effect of neighborhood social-structural context. Results from spatially lagged regression models indicate that neighborhood accessibility fails to have a direct effect on burglary rates after social-structural variables are controlled; rather, the effect of neighborhood accessibility on burglary rates is conditioned by the level of concentrated disadvantage of the neighborhood. Two potential explanations for the empirical findings are offered, and implications of the results for “designing out” crime are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying Robert Sampson’s (2012) work on interdependent spatial patterns in a new setting, we link structural characteristics of the neighbourhood to public beliefs and worries about neighbourhood violence via two intermediate mechanisms: (1) collective efficacy and (2) neighbourhood disorder. Analysing data from face-to-face interviews of 61,436 individuals living in 4,761 London neighbourhoods, we find that the strength of informal social control mechanisms and the extent of low-level breaches of common standards of behaviour communicate information about the prevalence and threat of violent crime in one’s neighbourhood. Moreover, collective efficacy partially mediates many of the statistical effects of structural characteristics of the neighbourhood on beliefs and worries about violent crime. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the intersection of social disorganization at a community level with responses to crime. In contrast to other works examining the impact of social disorganization on the production of crime rates, we examine the role of social disorganization theory in responses to crime rates (i.e. the arrest and conviction of perpetrators of crime). In an effort to examine these dynamics, we use law enforcement data from Cleveland, Ohio to explore the role of social disorganization in the ability of police and the courts to respond to homicide cases. Such an examination suggests not only how far the law extends in community responses to homicide but also reveals an extension of social disorganization theory beyond its established role in explaining the production of crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Using a sample of 6818 individuals in 83 public school districts in Iceland, this study explored the influence of three community characteristics: Residential mobility, proportion of single-parent families, and poverty on adolescent daily smoking. Building on Coleman''s social capital theory, we also examined the mediating and moderating role of several measures of social capital. Both self-reported and official data were used to measure key variables. The main findings are consistent with theoretical predictions showing that social capital partly mediates the association between community characteristics and adolescent daily smoking both on the community and individual levels. Likewise, the findings show that the association between individual level poverty and adolescent daily smoking varies across levels of neighborhood social capital. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An impressive body of research has revealed that individual-level IQ scores are negatively associated with criminal and delinquent involvement. Recently, this line of research has been extended to show that state-level IQ scores are associated with state-level crime rates. The current study uses this literature as a springboard to examine the potential association between county-level IQ and county-level crime rates. Analysis of data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealed statistically significant and negative associations between county-level IQ and the property crime rate, the burglary rate, the larceny rate, the motor vehicle theft rate, the violent crime rate, the robbery rate, and the aggravated assault rate. Additional analyses revealed that these associations were not confounded by a measure of concentrated disadvantage that captures the effects of race, poverty, and other social disadvantages of the county. We discuss the implications of the results and note the limitations of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perhaps the leading perspective on how and where prisons are located stems from the perspective of the prison industrial complex (PIC). Implicit, if not explicit, in the PIC perspective is the notion that Black and Hispanic prisoners are exploited for the benefit of poor, unemployed, White prison towns. Unfortunately, however, there has been a shortage of empirical scrutiny of this central notion. This paper examines this claim with a rare event logistic regression analysis of 176 new prison placements across 13,155 rural places in the 1990s in the US. In contrast to the PIC perspective, prison towns are disproportionately southern and poor, and have a larger population with a greater share of Blacks and Hispanics. The analysis yields three further challenges to the PIC perspective on prison towns. First, findings suggest rural prison placement does not cause racial and economic inequality as much as prison siting results from concentrated rural disadvantage. Second, there is not one prototypical prison town. Instead, there are typologies of prison towns based on US region, race, town population size, race, prior proximate prison, and SES. Lastly, future studies should consider the theoretical and methodological implications of rural concentrated disadvantage in measuring prison impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the Florida juvenile justice system the decision to withhold adjudication can serve as a less punitive action by the courts and could prove to be more beneficial for the youth receiving this concession. The current study examined how individual-level variables and community context, with a focus on race and racial context, may influence the decision to withhold adjudication for all juvenile drug cases adjudicated between the years 1999 and 2001. Using hierarchical generalized linear modeling, the results indicated that Black youth were less likely to have adjudication withheld compared to their White counterparts. However, contextual county-level variables did not explain variation in the overall probability of a county to withhold adjudication, nor did these variables affect the Black-adjudication withheld relationship. The implications of these results for future research on racial threat at the individual and contextual levels are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residents living in neighborhoods marked by concentrated disadvantage (i.e., poverty, joblessness, residential segregation) contend with resource scarcity. Theories indicate that competition for resources from an insufficient pool within the context of concentrated disadvantage may be one factor that promotes social norm violations. A limited body of experimental research has explored the impact of concentrated disadvantage on decision-making about obtaining resources, and in other research, the potential connection between concentrated disadvantage and engagement in social norm violation. Participants (N = 112) completed patch-foraging tasks in resource-rich and resource-depleted (i.e., scarce) environments. Participants then completed a social norm foraging task where they could trespass and forage on their neighbor's land, which was resource-rich compared to their own. Computational modeling was used to evaluate explore-exploit decision-making in the resource-rich and resource-depleted environments. The frequency of crossing and foraging was used to capture social norm violations. Results indicated that individuals who experience higher levels of concentrated disadvantage in the real-world made fewer resource-maximizing decisions in resource-rich and resource-depleted environments. Model fits revealed that the performance difference in the resource-rich and resource-depleted environments for individuals higher on concentrated disadvantage was due to difficulty in discriminating between competing choice options and not due to a general bias toward exploring or exploiting. Finally, when foraging in a relatively depleted environment compared to the enriched environment of their neighbor, the majority of participants, regardless of experienced real-world concentrated disadvantage, engaged in social norm violations. Overall, resource scarcity, whether in the real world or experimental context, affects cognition and behavior. • Real-world experience of scarcity relates to decreased resource-maximizing decision-making. • Difficulty discerning between choice values may curb resource-maximizing decision-making. • Most participants violate social norms when experiencing task-induced resource scarcity. • Violating norms during task-induced scarcity did not vary by real-world experience of scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]