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Objective: Literature on the influence of homelessness on crime is lacking, particularly at the neighborhood level. This study seeks to understand how homelessness affects crime levels in a large city in the United States. Data/Methods: Crime data, homeless count data, and neighborhood characteristics are obtained from three government public data sources. OLS Regression and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) are utilized to determine the relationship between homelessness and crime on a global and local level. Results: The analyses revealed that homelessness is significantly, positively associated with crime, even when controlling for macro-level correlates of crime. The effect size of homelessness on crime varies across neighborhoods. Conclusions/Implications: Policy implications based on findings of the current study and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The myriad applications of artificial intelligence (AI) by the private and public sectors have exploded in the public consciousness in the postpandemic period. However, researchers and businesses have been working on AI technology applications for decades, and in many ways, governments are rushing to catch up. This article presents an argument that the future of AI policy in the United States will be driven in large part by current and future state-level policy experiments. This argument is presented by drawing on scholarship surrounding federalism, regulatory fragmentation, and the effects of fragmentation on business and social equity. The article then presents the case of autonomous vehicle policy in the states to illustrate the degree of current fragmentation and considers the effects of layering new AI policies on top of existing rules surrounding privacy, licensing, and more. Following this consideration of existing research and its application of AI policy, the article presents a research agenda for leveraging state differences to study the effects of AI policy and develop a cohesive framework for governing AI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This secondary data analysis of 1731 low-birth-weight children and their parents in the United States investigated children's health and its associations with social disorganization, social structural factors, social relationships, health/mental health, and access to health insurance/services. The study drew on data from the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health. Logistic regression yielded results showing low-birth-weight children's excellent/very good/good health to be associated positively with parents' education and health. In turn, child health was associated negatively with being Black, having a family income at or below the 100% federal poverty level, difficulty parenting the child, child chronic health condition(s), parent mental health, and substance use in the family. The implications of the present findings in terms of interventions promoting maternal and child health as well as participation in government assistance programs for low-income families are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive theory and research on the geography of crime, few studies have examined the geography of commercial sex and sex trafficking through a criminological lens. As such, this study explores how social disorganization and routine activities help explain the geography of commercial sex venues, specifically illicit massage businesses (IMBs) that host commercial sex. Because IMBs have also been linked to sex trafficking, understanding which environmental contexts are conducive to their presence may also help identify sex trafficking premises. Findings from hierarchical logistic regression models indicate that both theories point to significant correlates of IMB placement in census tracts and cities, yet neither theory provides a sufficient explanation alone. Implications for future research and policy will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years, suicide rates have grown across most demographic groups in the United States, making the sociological study of suicide as imperative now as it was in Durkheim's day. For the most part, however, sociologists study suicide solely using Durkheim's analytic strategy. The following article recovers a text on suicide long since forgotten by sociology. Divided into three parts, the article begins first by revisiting Ruth Cavan's social disorganizational theory of suicide, eventually culminating in a formalization of her theory. Second, the article brings contemporary social scientific ideas to bear on her theory to modify and extend its empirical utility. Third, the article considers the implications this theoretical exercise has for an increasingly vibrant and creative sociology of suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent gang participation has been noted as a major public health concern. Therefore, researchers have placed a growing emphasis on identifying processes that propel adolescents toward gang membership. Previous studies have highlighted as relevant risk factors victimization experiences as well as neighborhood conditions, which reflect sociopolitical and socioeconomic disparities and precipitate social disorganization. However, research to date has not considered potential dynamic interrelations among these risk factors, which are suggested by an integrated trauma-informed developmental-ecological perspective. Additionally, given that minoritized youth are disproportionately represented in gangs and differentially exposed to many of the risk factors for gang membership, it is important to examine whether gang membership pathways are similar or distinct across racial and ethnic groups. In order to address these gaps, the present study examined longitudinal self-report data, including neighborhood conditions (Baseline), direct and witnessed victimization (12-month follow-up), and gang membership versus nonmembership (24-month follow-up) gathered from 1,284 adolescents identified as serious offenders (22% non-Hispanic White, 36% Latinx, and 43% African American) who participated in the Pathways to Desistance Study. Findings from structural equation modeling showed that pathways toward gang membership were similar across racial and ethnic groups. Results further demonstrated that neighborhood conditions increased the likelihood of adolescent gang participation through direct and witnessed victimization. These findings highlight the value of examining gang membership from an integrated trauma-informed developmental-ecological frameworks. Further, these findings emphasize the need for prevention and intervention initiatives at different levels of the social ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years, suicide rates have grown across most demographic groups in the United States, making the sociological study of suicide as imperative now as it was in Durkheim's day. For the most part, however, sociologists study suicide solely using Durkheim's analytic strategy. The following article recovers a text on suicide long since forgotten by sociology. Divided into three parts, the article begins first by revisiting Ruth Cavan's social disorganizational theory of suicide, eventually culminating in a formalization of her theory. Second, the article brings contemporary social scientific ideas to bear on her theory to modify and extend its empirical utility. Third, the article considers the implications this theoretical exercise has for an increasingly vibrant and creative sociology of suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study, using the multiple disadvantage model (MDM), sought to identify factors (disadvantaging social disorganization, social structural, social integration, health/mental health, co-occurring substance use, and substance treatment access factors) in young adults' binge drinking reduction and cessation in the United States. Methods: We extracted data on 942 young adult binge drinkers (25–34 years, 47.8% female) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), carrying out a temporal-ordered causal analysis, meaning the evaluation of select variables' impacts on an outcome at a subsequent time. Results: MDM found a relatively high reduction likelihood for non-Hispanic African Americans and respondents with relatively more education. MDM found a relatively low reduction likelihood accompanying an alcohol-related arrest, higher income, and greater number of close friends. Change to nondrinking was found more likely for non-Hispanic African Americans, other non-Hispanic participants having minority ethnicity, older respondents, those with more occupational skills, and healthier respondents. Such change became less likely with an alcohol-related arrest, higher income, relatively more education, greater number of close friends, close friends' disapproval of drinking, and co-occurring drug use. Conclusions: Interventions incorporating a motivational-interviewing style can effectively promote health awareness, assessment of co-occurring disorders, friendships with nondrinkers, and attainment of occupational skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like the Christian belief system, the mentalities of the multiple Christian communities established in the United States have been changing over time due to very different factors: popular manifestations of religiosity, alterations in the ecclesiastical organization motivated by social and cultural fragmentation, the claims of confessional minorities, doctrinal reforms, rigorous reactions, personalist leadership in evangelization and the effects of the new dynamics of electronic communication. This article tries to establish a period of great transformation at a social and cultural level, which stretches from the great transformation of the decade before the Civil War until the end of World War II. Broadly speaking, almost all the ecclesiastical organizations linked to the ramification of Reformed Protestantism expanded geographically and demographically, and this trend also led to an intense propagation of the moral principles and biblical interpretations of this Protestant confessional bloc. On the other hand, the ecclesiastical organizations linked to the main line of Protestantism lost an important part of their social mass while they retained their social influence and their capacity for cultural leadership. The institutional complexity and diversity of Christian thought, from different conjunctural approaches, are addressed in all the thematic sections of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug overdoses in the United States have been dramatically increasing since the late 1990 s. Research has been successful in identifying individual-level correlates of overdoses, but often fails to examine contextual effects. Using data from one police department, the U.S. Census, and ReferenceUSA, we test the effects of block group (N = 34) and parcel (N = 21,489) variables reflective of social disorganization and availability-proneness theories on drug overdoses taking place in one non-urban jurisdiction over four years (N = 396). Furthermore, we test the ability of mental health and social-community service providers to mitigate the harmful effect of poverty. Because effects may vary across intent or outcome, accidental, intentional, and fatal overdoses were modeled independently. Based on multilevel analysis (HLM7), several variables were positively associated with overdoses; however, service providers in high poverty areas, as well as bars in general, elicited negative associations. Lastly, contextual effects varied based by type of overdose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of social disorganization theory focus on urban communities. In addition, these studies largely ignore more intimate crimes, such as intimate partner violence. Yet, results from extant studies are often generalized to explain all types of crime in all types of communities, thus potentially ignoring the dynamics surrounding intimate crimes and rurality. The current study expands on previous research in two ways. First, this study examines whether characteristics of social disorganization can predict assault across various victim–offender relationships. Second, this study applies social disorganization predictors to both metropolitan (or urban) and nonmetropolitan (or rural) counties. The sample consisted of 690 counties located across 13 different states. Results from the Poisson regression models indicate higher levels of ethnic heterogeneity and concentrated disadvantage were associated with increased rates of assault across various victim–offender relationships. Furthermore, the measures of social disorganization functioned in the expected direction in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. These results highlight the importance of controlling for community structures when examining rates of violence, including intimate partner violence. Programs and policies designed to reduce intimate partner violence should include neighborhood components as these affect rates of violence within a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification and investigation of human trafficking cases has lagged behind what prevalence estimates of the scope of the crime have suggested. Previous research has identified the importance of formalized responses to human trafficking for the successful identification of these cases, but little is known about the factors predicting the creation of specialized human trafficking units. The current study uses both primary and secondary data and a theoretical framework informed by structural contingency and representative bureaucracy to identify predictors of specialized human trafficking units in large municipal police departments in the United States. Penalized maximum likelihood estimation revealed only agency size and social disorganization were significant predictors of these specialized units. Directions for future research are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serial forced displacement, the 'repetitive, coercive upheaval of groups', is examined as a key feature of the ongoing Maafa or Afrikan Holocaust and explored as a primary source of the disruption of Ubuntu in Black communities in the United States. According to Fullilove (2016), disconnecting people from their land, their culture, history, traditions, values, and relationships creates 'root shock' which undermines natural tendencies to exhibit respect, compassion, caring, cooperation, and support of one's fellow human beings, or what South Afrikan people refer to as 'Ubuntu.' African philosophy suggests that Ubuntu is a common moral position passed down over generations by Afrikan people. Its presence has been noted in segregated Black communities, which is illustrative of the retention of Ubuntu amongst Afrikan Americans. American housing policies at the federal, state, and local levels, along with private development initiatives that have led to gentrification of many Black neighbourhoods, are identified as the main culprits in the diminishment of Ubuntu through the uprooting and destruction of numerous thriving Black communities. It is suggested that these housing policies are the most recent examples of serial forced displacement and are at the root of much of the community disorganization, health disparities, violence, and family instability observed in many low-income Black neighbourhoods. The development of cultural standards that prescribe cultural policies which are designed to restore Ubuntu in Black communities is recommended as a palliative for ameliorating the dehumanizing environment created by serial forced displacements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent upturn in U.S. homicide rates may have resulted from increases in the number of serious violent incidents, growth in the percentage involving firearms, or increases in lethality. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) suggest that the national homicide increase was not driven by increases in serious violence or the proportion of these crimes involving firearms, but may be related to a longer-term increase in lethality. In St. Louis, the increase was concentrated in communities that previously had the highest violence rates, but changes in the structural conditions and population composition were unrelated to the upsurge in homicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• DoD 1033 Program has transferred nearly 6 billion dollars in surplus equipment. • Police participation in the 1033 Program leads to lower charitable giving for non-white households. • Overall charitable giving declines 7.4% per million dollars of surplus military equipment transferred. • Reduced giving to needy, educational, and religious organizations. • Results robust to variety of measures of material militarization. Expansion of police militarization in the U.S. raises questions about how such policing affects society and minority communities. We estimate the impact of one particular aspect of police militarization—the Department of Defense's Excess Property Program 1033—on civic engagement—which we capture primarily by examining charitable giving among households—via an instrumental variables approach. The instrument stems from plausibly exogenous variation in federal defense spending, which affects awareness of military culture and capabilities, and thus encourages the adoption of military equipment and tactics by local police departments. Estimates show that the 1033 Program has a fragmenting effect on society: As the transfer of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement increases, black households reduce their total charitable donations more than all other households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the discussion of frontier violence in two ways: first, by providing an account of homicide rates and characteristics for a large sub-region of the Great Plains heretofore unstudied in terms of homicide rates, and second by offering an integrated theory of frontier violence. I argue that the "farmer's frontier" of northwest Nebraska was as deadly violent as almost any region of the West yet studied and that structural factors—particularly social disorganization and the predominance of a violent subculture—offer the most promising explanations for why the Nebraska panhandle frontier (and the West in general) initially experienced exceptionally high homicide rates but eventually settled into one of the most peaceful places on earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite media coverage of isolated incidents of violent crime perpetuated by undocumented immigrants in cities with sanctuary policies, there is scant systematic research on the relationships between the adoption of sanctuary policies, unauthorized immigration, and crime. We compile city-level data from official sources and use fixed-effects negative binomial regression to examine whether the adoption of city-level sanctuary policies and the concentration of unauthorized Mexican immigrants are associated with homicide and robbery incidents in 107 U.S. cities, across three decades. We find evidence that the adoption of sanctuary policies is associated with a reduction in robberies but not homicide. In contrast, an increase in the relative size of a city's unauthorized Mexican immigrant population corresponds with a reduction in homicide; however, only in sanctuary cities. Lastly, shifts in violence during our study period are consistently related to social structural characteristics of cities, which are findings consistent with social disorganization theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major theme in the sociological literature is the observation that social integration may provide protective effects against a range of negative outcomes in society, from poor mental and physical health, to elevated levels of crime and homicide rates. In light of these observations, the current study attempts to analyze the connection between social integration and mass shootings by drawing on two popular theoretical perspectives: social disorganization theory and social capital theory. According to the findings, elevated rates of poverty and single-parent households increase residential instability, while residential instability in turn augments mass shootings. Furthermore, a young population and ethnic heterogeneity dampens civic engagement, while civic engagement in turn decreases mass shootings. Overall, these findings suggest that the protective effects of social integration may help guard against mass shootings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoclassical economic theory delivered upon its promise. It showed how the liberation of markets from government constraints could bring about a rapid expansion in the production of consumer goods. That was a major accomplishment. However, it came with a price in terms of social fragmentation, economic inequality, and a planetary ecosystem that is now overwhelmed by human activity. Continuing to follow the course plotted by conventional economics is a path to disaster. The world needs alternatives. Marxism has been tried and found wanting in many respects, including its abysmal environmental record. This article offers help from an unlikely source: insights of Reformed Protestantism that can be traced back to John Calvin in the 16th century. Although Calvin and Calvinism are better known for a harsh view of human sinfulness, Calvin also contributed to the development of liberal democracies by advocating representative government, universal education, and greater participation by more people. Reformed theology emphasizes the importance of widespread participation in decisions, including economic decisions, at every level of society, and provides a positive role for institutions, including government, to protect the common good. It also points toward the need to situate economic policy in the larger domains of social and ecological health. Above all, it denies the validity of any economic system that deifies economics as such, and provides criteria for judging the effectiveness of economic systems as well as the evils of externalizing social and environmental costs in the name of a false efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has examined the impact of community-oriented policing (COP) on crime extensively. While the implementation of community policing has been considered mainly within the context of large police agencies, there is a paucity of research on how COP impacts crime reduction efforts in smaller locales. This study explores the effects of the degree of community policing implementation within smaller agencies and cities on crime. As part of the discussion on the impact of COP implementation, this paper also considers the impact of social disorganization on crime in the United States. The aim is to gain further insight into what variables may be influencing crime rates in contexts that garner less attention from researchers. The findings indicate that COP implementation does not significantly explain the variation of crime rates. Still, the statistically significant results on several social disorganization factors reflect the need to incorporate social disorganization theory with practice in order to maximize community-policing success. The implications of these results for police practice as well as directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior research on prescription drug misuse has focused on identifying individual risk factors. While a few studies examine differences in misuse based on geographic residence, there is a lack of research that examines the relevance of neighbourhood characteristics.Methods: The current research used data from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, a sample of respondents that was generalizable to the non-institutionalised population of the United States. Logistic regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics (e.g., social disorganisation, social capital, and social participation) and prescription drug misuse (e.g., any misuse, pain reliever misuse, sedative/tranquiliser misuse, and stimulant misuse) among adolescent respondents ages 12-17.Results: Findings show that neighbourhood characteristics were significantly associated with any prescription drug misuse and also the misuse of prescription opioids. Adolescents in socially disorganised neighbourhoods and also those in neighbourhoods with lower levels of social capital were more likely to report prescription drug misuse. Interestingly, adolescents with greater levels of social participation were more likely to report prescription drug misuse.Conclusion: These findings were largely consistent with prior research examining the significance of neighbourhood characteristics in relation to crime and deviance. In order to adequately address the ongoing prescription drug epidemic in the United States, policy makers must address the neighbourhood characteristics that are known to be associated with prescription drug misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending disorganization and immigrant revitalization perspectives beyond the contexts dominating prior research, this study examines whether and how immigration may be uniquely linked to crime in rural versus urban communities over the 1990–2010 period. Drawing on the Uniform Crime Reports offenses known database and the United States Census, we find that increases in immigration are negatively associated with violence. However, this relationship varies considerably across urban and rural locales. Our analysis reveals that immigration has no effect on crime in the most rural communities, but buffers against it in the most urban ones. Additional regional variation in these urban and rural differences is also revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing polarization of congressional voting has been linked to legislators' inability to reach consensus on many pressing economic issues. We examine two potential factors driving polarization: greater income inequality and the increasingly fragmented state of American media. Using cointegration techniques, we find evidence indicating that media fragmentation has played a more important role than inequality. Periods of rising media fragmentation are followed by increased polarization. If recent patterns of media structure and income inequality persist, a polarized policymaking environment will likely continue to impede efforts to address major challenges, such as the long-run fiscal imbalances facing the United States. ( JEL D72, D31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theft, burglary, and vehicle theft are among the most frequently committed and least commonly cleared Part I offenses in the United States, but have received disproportionately little attention in the clearance literature. This study contributes to recent efforts to remedy this shortage by presenting offense-specific analyses of burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft clearance rates in a sample of 110 large US cities. Data were gathered from the Uniform Crime Report, the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, and the American Community Survey. Independent variables comprised social disorganization measures (e.g. residential instability, poverty, etc.) and policing variables, including the use of broken windows policing. Although broken windows policing is related to higher clearance rates in a few prior studies, that effect was not observed in the present work. Racial diversity and police spending per capita (which were negatively associated with clearance rates) were the only variables that were significantly associated with the clearance of all three crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has established economic disadvantage as one of the strongest, most robust predictors of urban violence, the conditions under which this relation holds need further elaboration. This study examines the disadvantage-violence link across age-specific transitional periods from adolescence to adulthood and provides theoretical arguments for why the strength of this relation should decline with age. Using 90 of the largest cities in the United States, the present study analyzes the impact of economic disadvantage and other urban conditions (residential instability, family disruption, and population heterogeneity) on age-specific homicide counts from 1984 to 2006. The analytical strategy incorporates temporal trends by using negative binomial fixed-effects regression models. The results reveal a consistent decline from adolescence to adulthood in the strength of the estimated effects of economic disadvantage, residential instability, and family disruption on homicide trends. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for future research and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been little research on citizens' attitudes about policing in rural communities in the USA, and existing studies do not examine the effects of community characteristics on these attitudes. We extend this work theoretically and analytically by considering the effects of community context, police organisation and individual characteristics on attitudes about police. Using data for a large sample of citizens residing in 98 small towns in Iowa, we employed multilevel ordered logistic regression techniques to model citizens' rating of police protection and degree of trust in the police. At the community level, social disorganisation was negatively associated with both outcome variables, and social integration was positively related to trust in the police. Town police departments were viewed more favourably than county sheriff's offices for both police protection and trust. Individual-level perceptions of social integration and community safety were positively related to both outcome variables. Respondents' sociodemographic characteristics had relatively few significant effects. A statistical interaction between social disorganisation and individual perceptions of social integration was observed for trust in the police, with higher levels of perceived social integration attenuating the negative effect of social disorganisation. In sum, contextual, organisational and individual predictors all had important effects on attitudes about police in this study. These findings demonstrate that theories emphasising community context are essential to a more complete understanding of crime-related attitudes in rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article asks if an “air of injustice,” created by the disproportionate (and often negative) encounters with police in African American communities, leads to violence? An integrated theoretical model drawing upon social disorganization, collective efficacy, and macro strain theories as well as the recent theory of African American offending, is presented as a new theory of violence in African American communities. The primary tenants are then assessed with the community survey of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Findings support the integrated model and significance of an “air of injustice” as an additional predictor of neighborhood violence beyond community characteristics and social conditions, particularly for African American communities. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in US history, high unemployment has placed millions of Americans in precarious financial positions. More than ever, Americans are opting out of traditional financial services, relying instead on “fringe lenders” such as check cashers, payday lenders, and pawnshops to manage their finances. Given their tremendous growth and the concern that consumers who are least able to pay for high-cost, high-risk financial products are most likely to use them, fringe lenders have been the subject of controversy and the focus of much research. Largely unknown, however, are the effects of fringe lenders on the communities where they are located. Given their spatial concentration in low-income neighborhoods with greater concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities—areas with typically more crime—of concern is whether fringe lenders themselves are criminogenic. We consider this by examining the impact of several types of fringe lenders on neighborhood crime rates in Los Angeles. Our findings reveal that the presence of fringe banks on a block is related to higher crime levels, even after controlling for a range of factors known to be associated with crime rates. The presence of a fringe bank also impacts crime, particularly robbery, on adjacent blocks. Whereas we find that pawnshops have little impact on crime levels, payday lenders and check cashers have a much stronger impact. Finally, we discover there are moderating effects, as the fringe lender–crime relationship is considerably reduced if the lender is located in a higher population density area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although children with autism spectrum disorder are frequently included in mainstream classrooms, it is not known how their social networks change compared to typically developing children and whether the factors predictive of this change may be unique. This study identified and compared predictors of social connectivity of children with and without autism spectrum disorder using a social network analysis. Participants included 182 children with autism spectrum disorder and 152 children without autism spectrum disorder, aged 5–12 years in 152 general education K-5 classrooms. General linear models were used to compare how age, classroom size, gender, baseline connectivity, diagnosis, and intelligence quotient predicted changes in social connectivity (closeness). Gender and classroom size had a unique interaction in predicting final social connectivity and the change in connectivity for children with autism spectrum disorder; boys who were placed in larger classrooms showed increased social network fragmentation. This increased fragmentation for boys when placed in larger classrooms was not seen in typically developing boys. These results have implications regarding placement, intervention objectives, and ongoing school support that aimed to increase the social success of children with autism spectrum disorder in public schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is a race-specific analysis of homicide victimization risk in the United States. It contributes to the literature by examining risk factors at multiple levels using data from the National Health Interview Survey, National Death Index, and Census. The direct association between community resource deprivation and victimization is racially invariant. For Blacks, however, low income increases victimization risk and this association is exacerbated in disadvantaged communities, whereas income tends to have a protective effect across levels of aggregate resource deprivation among Whites. This suggests racial variance in how community characteristics moderate the association between family income and homicide victimization risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on micro-institutional change typically characterizes agents as being involved in social conflicts to defend the institutional status quo or to mobilize against it. However, agency inside organizations can be precipitated by the need to resolve practice dilemmas in uncertain and ambiguous institutional contexts. The findings from a comparative case study of two public schools in the United States undergoing state-mandated reform demonstrate that, when agency is born of uncertainty and ambiguity rather than political conflict and struggle, micro-institutional change depends on the dynamics of agents’ peer learning in communities of practice. In some cases, agents’ communities are organized to effectively seed new ideas and generate social pressures needed to encourage the uptake of new ideas. In other cases, the pattern of agents’ interactions in communities results in persistent cognitive and social disorganization so that newly seeded ideas cannot take root or spread. I refer to the particular dynamics by which peer learning in communities of practice results in micro-institutional persistence or change as collaborative institutional agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighborhoods are salient contexts for youth that shape adolescent development partly through informal social controls on their behavior. This research examines how immigrant concentration within and beyond the residential neighborhood influences adolescent alcohol use. Residential neighborhood immigrant concentration may lead to a cohesive, enclave-like community that protects against adolescent alcohol use. But heterogeneity in the immigrant concentrations characterizing the places residents visit as they engage in routine activities outside of the neighborhood where they live may weaken the social control benefits of the social ties and shared cultural orientations present in enclave communities. This study investigates whether the protective influence of residential neighborhood immigrant concentration on adolescent alcohol consumption diminishes when youth live in communities where residents collectively are exposed to areas with more diverse immigrant concentrations. This study tests this contention by analyzing survey and geographic routine activity space data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, and the 2000 census. The sample includes 793 adolescents (48.7 % female, 16.5 % foreign-born Latino, 42.5 % US-born Latino, 11.0 % black, 30 % white/other) between the ages of 12 and 17 who live in 65 neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. Immigrant concentration among these neighborhoods derives primarily from Latin America. The results from multilevel models show that immigrant concentration protects against adolescent alcohol use only when there is low neighborhood-level diversity of exposures to immigrant concentration among the contexts residents visit outside of their residential neighborhood. This research highlights the importance of considering the effects of aggregate exposures to non-home contexts on adolescent wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory has provided a framework to examine the relationship between community-level structural variables and neighborhood crime. Although empirical support for the theory has been widely demonstrated using property and violent crime data, the body of literature examining the theory's applicability to intimate partner violence (IPV) is more limited. Further, much of the existing literature in this area applies the theory's macro-level variables to individual outcomes instead of assessing community effects. Using negative binomial regression to analyze incident data from the Austin (TX) Police Department and demographic information from the United States Census Bureau, this study assesses the relationship between concentrated disadvantage, racial/ethnic heterogeneity, residential instability, and the geographic distribution of IPV incidents in a major U.S. city with no racial or ethnic majority. The independent variables of interest were constructed using principal axis factoring, and a spatial lag variable was included in the model to control for spatial clustering. The analysis showed that concentrated disadvantage was significantly, positively associated with annual counts of IPV incidents in neighborhoods, as was the control variable total crime reports. These results demonstrate that the geographic distribution of IPV is influenced by community factors. They underscore the importance of considering community-wide prevention and intervention efforts in tandem with individual services to those impacted by IPV.

Objectives: We argue that the model underlying broken windows policing requires a developmental sequence involving reductions in fear of crime and eventual enhancement of community social controls. We investigate whether existing evaluation studies provide evidence on these mechanisms. Methods: Drawing from a larger systematic review of disorder policing, we identify six eligible studies. We use narrative review and meta-analytic methods to summarize the impacts of these interventions on fear of crime and collective efficacy (a proxy for community social controls). Findings: Disorder policing strategies do not have a significant impact on fear of crime in a meta-analysis of six studies. In the one study measuring collective efficacy, there is also not a significant outcome. Conclusions: Existing broken windows policing programs do not show evidence of influencing the key mechanisms of the broken windows model of crime prevention, though evidence is currently not persuasive. We outline four key directions for improving research in this area, namely, (1) explore the mechanisms underlying the model, not just test crime outcomes; (2) use measures of disorder distinct from crime; (3) employ longitudinal designs to better fit the developmental nature of the mechanism; and (4) include observational analyses to examine the complex nature of feedback mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the integration of ecocities research with a major criminological approach to the examination of crime and social control, social disorganization theory. Social disorganization theory draws attention to the relationship between community organization, formal and informal community social control and crime. That research has drawn inspiration from other disciplines. In the current analysis, we review ecocity theory and illustrate how ecocity's theoretical structure contributes to promoting the forms of community social organization that social disorganization theory has examined in relation to the distribution of crime in urban areas. This integration is useful to the extent that ecocity models have been implemented in real world conditions, and thus possess the potential to reduce crime through community reorganization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using surveys collected from a sample of households nested within “naturally occurring” neighborhoods in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the 2007–2009 economic recession, this study examines the associations between real and perceived measures of neighborhood distress (foreclosure rate, physical decay, crime) and residents’ reports of neighborhood quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Consistent with social disorganization theory, both real and perceived measures of neighborhood disorder were negatively associated with quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Residents’ perceptions of neighborliness partially acted as a buffer against the effects of neighborhood distress, including housing foreclosures, on quality of life, and neighborhood satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research Summary We develop a set of hypotheses informed by a social disorganization framework and test them using newly available data on nearly 600 terrorist attacks in U.S. counties from 1990 to 2011. Our results show that terrorist attacks were more common in counties characterized by greater language diversity, a larger proportion of foreign-born residents, greater residential instability, and a higher percentage of urban residents. Contrary to the social disorganization perspective but in keeping with most prior research, terrorist attacks were less common in counties marked by high levels of concentrated disadvantage. More generally, we found steady declines in the number of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil from 1990 to 2011. We discuss the implications of the results for theory, future research, and policy. Policy Implications Terrorism, like ordinary crime, is highly concentrated. Of the 3,144 counties in the United States, only 250 (7.95%) experienced a terrorist attack from 1990 to 2011; 5 counties (0.002% of total U.S. counties) accounted for 16% of all attacks. Moreover, counties at greatest risk of terrorist attack have identifying characteristics. Just as random preventive patrol policing has generally been replaced by more targeted strategies, efforts to counter terrorism might benefit from strategies that target certain counties: those with high population heterogeneity and great residential instability that are highly urban. And just as targeting particular neighborhoods raises equity concerns in policing, policies aimed at counties with particular characteristics pose a challenge for countering terrorist attacks. However, unlike the situation in policing ordinary crime, high-terrorism-risk counties are generally not characterized by economic disadvantage or a large proportion of racial and ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We advance social disorganization theory by examining homicides disaggregated by motive and gang relation and by using data from El Paso, Texas-a predominantly Latino city with high levels of immigration and poverty. Methods We analyze homicide data from the El Paso Police Department's detective logs, 1985-1995, as well as data from the 1990 U.S. Decennial Census. Results Key measures of social disorganization tend to be associated with homicide but these relationships vary across type of homicide. Immigration and percent African American show no connection with any homicide measure, while percent Latino is only positively associated with gang-related homicides. Conclusion Overall, social disorganization is useful in understanding homicide in El Paso, but race/ethnicity and immigration do not operate as predicted. These results add important knowledge to a growing literature regarding the neighborhood-level associations between immigration, Latinos, and crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research revisits prior work by Neapolitan (2005) on the quality and use of race-specific homicide data. Neapolitan reported that correlations between Black homicide offending rates based on arrest data and rates based on data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) for samples of large U.S. cities are only moderately strong. He proposed that, given these findings, the respective rates cannot be regarded as valid indicators of the same concept. We extend Neapolitan’s research by estimating regression models to determine the extent to which conclusions about the structural covariates of Black homicide offending rates differ depending on the specific measure of the dependent variable. In addition, we have computed three different Black homicide offending rates with the SHR data: (1) A rate based on single victim/single offender incidents; (2) a rate based on all offenders of known race; and (3) a rate based on the number of Black offenders when the race of offender has been imputed. Our analyses reveal that, consistent with Neapolitan’s findings, the correlations between the Black offending rate based on the arrest data and the various SHR-based rates are only moderately strong. In the regression analyses, explained variance is comparatively low in the model with the Black offending rate based on arrest data. However, the regression coefficients do not diverge much across models. Overall, our results suggest that empirical findings and substantive conclusions about city-level covariates of Black offending rates might be less sensitive to the selection of data source than is often assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the distribution of police response time to in-progress burglaries differ according to the level of social disorganization across different neighborhoods. Design/methodology/approach – Using 2006 calls for service data collected from the Dallas and Houston Police Departments and from the 2000 US Bureau of Census statistics, the effects of social disorganization on police performance were examined through multilevel analysis of the distribution of police response time patterns across different neighborhoods in Dallas and Houston. Findings – The analysis of the DPD and HPD in-progress calls produced somewhat consistent findings on the relationship between the level of social disorganization and police response time. Concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential stability are important predictors of the distribution of police response time patterns in Dallas and Houston. Practical implications – Neighborhood social disorganization is related to the distribution of agency response time patterns. Detailed response time analysis is crucial for agencies to improve police performance and the community-police relationship. Originality/value – In the policing literature, researchers have tended to neglect rapid response when examining many aspects of policing. The present study expands on existing research by examining the theoretical link between the level of neighborhood social disorganization with the distribution of rapid police response to in-progress burglary in two cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]