Beyond the Dichotomy: Understanding the Masking Effect of Binary Measures of “Status” on Foreign Nationals’ Lifetime Victimization Outcomes

Abstract

Research on foreign nationals’ crime and victimization outcomes heavily relies on binary “immigration status” measures that fail to account for the legal parameters of U.S. citizenship and immigration laws. This study demonstrates the potential misclassification of foreign-born U.S. citizens, the sanitization of foreign nationals’ heterogeneity, and the masking effect the use of binary measures has on outcomes compared to legally informed proxy statuses. Using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys data, this study compares lifetime measures of witnessing violence and sexual victimization outcomes between birthright citizens and five proxy “statuses” as well as intra-group comparisons across foreign nationals. Three weighted multiple logistic regression models were estimated per outcome. The results reveal that using a dichotomized “U.S.-born/foreign-born” measure masks substantive differences in the outcomes. Subanalyses of foreign nationals also suggest that intragroup differences are concealed. The methodological, theoretical, and policy implications of this work are discussed.