Latino Nativity Variations Link to Street Violence in Drug Markets

Abstract

The Latino paradox is defined as “Latinos do[ing] much better on various social indicators, including violence, than blacks and apparently even whites, given relatively high levels of disadvantage.” We do not know, however, if the Latino paradox is masquerading what is known as criminal social capital. This study defined geographic drug markets with drug sales crime data in Philadelphia. Multilevel negative binomial models showed census block group street violence levels varied significantly across drug markets. Although each additional 100 native-born Latinos was associated with expected street violent crime counts 8% lower, each additional 100 foreign-born Latinos was associated with expected street violent crime counts 28% lower, controlling for nearby street violence and structural predictors.