Social context and geographic patterns of homicide among US black and white males (original) (raw)
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Criminology, 1999
This research examines the differential effects of structural conditions on race-specific victim and offender homicide rates in large U S . cities in 1990. While structural theories of race relations and criminological explanations are reviewed, particular attention is given to those structural theories that highlight racial competition, economic and labor market opportunity, and racial segregation as essential for an examination of racially disaggregated homicide offending. The effects of these and other structural conditions are estimated for four racially distinct homicide offending models-black intraracial, white intraracial, black interracial, and white interracial homicides. The results suggest that the structural conditions that lead to race-specific victim and offender homicide rates differ significantly among the four models. Economic deprivation and local opportunity structures are found to influence significantly the rates of intraracial homicide offending, while racial inequality contributes solely to black interracial homicide rates. In addition, our findings indicate that blacks and whites face different economic and social realities related to economic deprivation and social isolation. The differential impact of these structural conditions and other labor market factors are discussed.
Homicide in the South: Higher Rates Among Whites and Fewer Racial Disparities
Southern medical journal, 2018
Describe southern US homicide rates in whites and blacks between 1999 and 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Multiple Cause of Death Files provided mortality rates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for non-Hispanic whites (NHW) as well as non-Hispanic blacks and African Americans (NHB). Overall, age-adjusted (1 to ≥85 years) homicide was significantly higher in the South (7.6/100,000, 95% CI 7.6-7.7) than the rest of the United States (4.9/100,000, 95% CI 4.8-4.9) even though the southern rate among NHB (18.7/100,000, 95% CI 18.5-18.8) was lower than the rest of the United States (23.3/100,000, 95% CI 23.1-23.5). The overall southern NHB:NHW mortality rate ratio was 5.1 and 10.6 in the rest of the nation. Homicide rates among NHW men were higher in the South than in each of the other US Census areas, whereas corresponding rates among NHB men were lower. For both men and women the NHB:NHW mortality rate ratio was lower in the South than in any other region. In addi...
Social Science Research, 2013
Researchers tend to capture the multiple disadvantages facing urban areas by using an allencompassing disadvantage index, which combines poverty, joblessness and other economic predictors into a single index. While the use of this index is important for conceptual and methodological reasons, questions remain about whether these city characteristics differ in magnitude and significance when influencing race-specific homicide rates and whether or not there effects exhibit stability or vary over time? This article examines how discrete measures of disadvantage differ in their importance for race-specific groups over three critical time points : 1980, 1990, and 2000. After accounting for problems associated with statistical inferences, cross sectional, Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) analyses reveal that family disruption and poverty status were among the strongest predictors of race-specific homicide rates. Wald tests for the equality of coefficients confirmed significant differences in the influence of many discrete measures of disadvantage for white and black males, but the number of differences declined from 1980 and into the 2000s. That is, along with the crime drop, our research reveals increasing racial parity in structural predictors over time.
2001
The purpose of this research is to estimate the differential impact of structural conditions on race-and relationship-specific homicide rates for U.S. cities in 1990. The structural conditions commonly employed in race-specific homicide research are examined, such as job accessibility, economic deprivation, racial segregation, and racial inequality. Furthermore, four relationship categories of homicide-acquaintance, family, stranger, and intimate-are disaggregated by racial group. The detailed relationship-specific homicide rates are compared to a baseline homicide rate to determine whether structural factors associated with urban disadvantage similarly influence homicide rates across relationship types. The results indicate that differences emerge in the impact of structural conditions on homicides disaggregated by race-and relationship-specific categories. Theoretical explanations consistent with criminology and race-relations literature are discussed, as well as the potential benefits and implications for studies that pursue more meaningful and detailed classifications in homicide offending.
Homicide, Structural Factors, and the Racial Invariance Assumption*
Criminology, 1999
Structural theories in criminology generally assume that the effects of structural conditions on homicide are the same for all race-groups. However, previous homicide research testing this assumption contains methodological shortcomings and has produced inconsistent findings. Therefore, the validity of the "racial invariance assumption" remains highly questionable. Using 1990 data for 125 U.S. cities, this study addresses some of the limitations of previous research in an effort to provide a more definitive examination of race differences in the effects of important structural factors on homicide rates. Contrary to the expectations of the structural perspective, the results from this study reveal substantial and statistically significant race differences. Specifically, the associations between homicide and several measures of socioeconomic deprivation (e.g., poverty, unemployment, income inequality, female-headed households, deprivation index) are found to be stronger among whites than blacks. A primary implication of these results is that the current versions of many structural theories need revision in order to account for observed race differences in the effects of structural factors and to explain fully the black-white gap in homicide rates.
Journal of Urban Health, 2008
Homicide is one of the leading causes of death among African-American and Hispanic men. We investigated how neighborhood characteristics associated with social disadvantage explain racial/ethnic homicide gaps in 10 U.S. cities. The test hypotheses were that (1) higher concentrations of African-Americans and Hispanics would be associated with higher homicide rates and (2) the relationship between racial/ethnic concentration and homicide would be attenuated after adjusting for neighborhood characteristics (e.g., unemployment, median household income, low educational attainment, and female headship). The test hypotheses were examined using separate Poisson regression models, which adjusted for spatial autocorrelation. Homicide rates were greater in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of African-Americans and Hispanics than in other groups, and the association of neighborhood racial/ethnic concentration with homicide was reduced after adjusting for neighborhood social disadvantage variables, especially percent female head of household and percent persons with less than a high school education. We also found that the relationship between neighborhood racial/ethnic concentration and homicide was explained more by social disadvantage variables in some cities than in others. Based on our findings, policy makers may wish to consider implementation of policies that (1) expand early childhood education programs and higher education opportunities and (2) encourage economic and community development initiatives in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Young African-American Males: Continuing Victims of High Homicide Rates in Urban Communities
2000
To measure the extent of the progress that has been made in the fight against violent crime over the past decade and to get some perspective on the progress that must still be made, this analysis examines the data for one of the most vulnerable groups in the United States, young African American males who reside in eight of the largest U.S. cities. The analysis of 1991 and 1997 homicide data from these communities finds that, despite some progress, urban black males continue to face a high risk of dying from homicide, even after accounting for the recent fall in homicide rates. Based on 1998 murder rates, the average 15-year-old male faced a 1 in 185 probability of being murdered before reaching age 45, but 1 in 12 young African American males in the District of Columbia could expect to be murdered before age 45, and 1 in every 53 young black males in Brooklyn, New York, could expect to be murdered by that age. In spite of this gloomy picture, the large-scale reductions in black homicide rates achieved in Brooklyn, New York, have undercut an older academic prejudice that fighting crime is beyond the competence of public authorities or the capacities of the police. The report does not draw definitive conclusions about why homicide rates have declined, but the evidence does suggest that law enforcement policies may be contributing. An appendix discusses the estimation of homicide probabilities for 1998. (SLD)
Race, socioeconomic status, and domestic homicide, Atlanta, 1971-72
American Journal of Public Health, 1984
It has been assumed that, under comparable socioeconomic conditions, Blacks are more likely than Whites to commit violent acts. To test this assumption, 222 intra-racial domestic homicides (186 Black and 36 White victims) committed in Atlanta, 1971-1972, were subjected to analysis. A domestic homicide was defined as a criminal homicide committed in a residence by a relative or acquaintance of the victim. When Black and White populations were unmatched, the relative risk of intra-racial domestic homicide in Black populations was 5.8 (95 per cent C.
Economic Segregation, Race, and Homicide*
Social Science Quarterly, 2006
Objective. Prior research assessing the association between structured inequality and homicides has produced inconsistent findings, particularly in regard to establishing an association between economic disadvantage and black homicide rates. In this study, we employ a measure of the spatial distribution of income, Jargowksy's (1996) economic segregation measure, to assess overall and race-specific homicide rates. Methods. Using cross-sectional Census data and Supplemental Homicide Report data across 166 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the present analysis uses negative binomial regression models to examine the association between economic segregation and homicide rates. Results. We find that both economic segregation and absolute deprivation (i.e., the overall extent of economic disadvantage) are robust predictors of black, white, and overall homicide rates. However, an alternative measure of economic segregation, a measure capturing poverty concentration, was not found to be a significant predictor of black homicide rates. Conclusion. We suggest that further studies should consider the extent of isolation across the income continuum, instead of focusing solely on poverty concentration.