Why Some Immigrant Neighborhoods are Safer than Others: Divergent Findings from Los Angeles and Chicago

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 641, No. 1, p. 148, May 2012

26 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2012

See all articles by Charis E. Kubrin

Charis E. Kubrin

University of California, Irvine

Hiromi Ishizawa

George Washington University

Date Written: April, 16 2012

Abstract

Contrary to popular opinion, scholarly research has documented that immigrant communities are some of the safest places around. Studies repeatedly find that immigrant concentration is either negatively associated with neighborhood crime rates or not related to crime at all. But are immigrant neighborhoods always safer places? How does the larger community context within which immigrant neighborhoods are situated condition the immigration-crime relationship? Building on the existing literature, this study examines the relationship between immigrant concentration and violent crime across neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Chicago — two cities with significant and diverse immigrant populations. Of particular interest is whether neighborhoods with high levels of immigrant concentration that are situated within larger immigrant communities are especially likely to enjoy reduced crime rates. This was found to be the case in Chicago but not in Los Angeles, where neighborhoods with greater levels of immigrant concentration experienced higher, not lower, violent crime rates when located within larger immigrant communities. We speculate on the various factors that may account for the divergent findings.

Keywords: immigration, crime, neighborhoods, spatial analysis

Suggested Citation

Kubrin, Charis and Ishizawa, Hiromi, Why Some Immigrant Neighborhoods are Safer than Others: Divergent Findings from Los Angeles and Chicago (April, 16 2012). Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 641, No. 1, p. 148, May 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2040854

Charis Kubrin (Contact Author)

University of California, Irvine ( email )

Department of Criminiology, Law and Society
Social Ecology II, Rm 3379
Irvine, CA 62697-3125
United States

Hiromi Ishizawa

George Washington University ( email )

2121 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
United States

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