Gender inequality, concentrated disadvantage, and homicide victimization: a sex and race specific analysis of homicide victimization rates in large U.S. cities

Abstract

This dissertation is designed to extend prior research on the structural correlates of homicide victimization among demographic subgroups in large U.S. cities. The present study draws on two broad theoretical traditions - the concentrated disadvantage perspective and gender inequality perspectives. Using Supplementary Homicide Reports data for 1990, race- and sex-specific homicide victimization measures were constructed for 120 U.S. cities. Due to the extremely rare prevalence of homicide victimization among some demographic subgroups, Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression techniques are used to test a series of hypotheses regarding the effects of concentrated disadvantage and gender inequality on homicide victimization for four groups: white women, white men, black women, and black men. The results from these analyses yield several significant findings. First, concentrated disadvantage has a strong positive effect on rates of homicide victimization for all four demographic groups, although the effects are generally more pronounced for males than for females, and for whites than for blacks. Second, the effects of gender inequality on homicide victimization are generally very modest, but are more pronounced for blacks than for whites. Further, the results indicate that, contrary to the inequality hypothesis, lower levels of gender inequality appear to be associated with higher levels of female homicide victimization. This finding is consistent with a growing body of research that has found that in communities where women experience greater inequality, their rates of victimization are lower. However, it should be noted that the effects of gender inequality on rates of homicide victimization are generally diminished by the effects of concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future macro-level research on group-specific homicide victimization are discussed.