Causes Of Residential Segregation Research Articles

Hating the Neighbors: The Role of Hate Crime in the Perpetuation of Black Residential Segregation

Grounded in group conflict theory and the defended neighborhoods thesis, this nationwide empirical study of cities and their residential segregation levels examines the occurrence of hate crime using data for all U.S. cities with populations over 95,000 and Uniform Crime Reporting data for hate crime, in conjunction with 2000 census data. Hate crime is any illegal act motivated by pre-formed bias against, in this case, a person’s real or perceived race. This research asks: Do hate crime levels predict white/black segregation levels? How does hate crime predict different measures of white/black segregation? I use the dissimilarity index measure of segregation operationalized as a continuous, binary, and ordinal variable, to explore whether hate crime predicts segrega- tion of blacks from whites. In cities with higher rates of hate crime there was higher dissimilarity between whites and blacks, controlling for other factors. The segregation level was more likely to be “high” in a city where hate crime occurred. Blacks are continually multiply disadvantaged and distinctly affected by hate crime and residential segregation. Prior studies of residential segregation have focused almost exclusively on individual choice, residents’ lack of finances, or discriminatory actions that prevent racial minorities from moving, to explore the correlates of segregation. Notably absent from these studies are measures reflecting the level of hate crime occurring in cities. This study demonstrates the importance of considering hate crime and neighborhood conflict when contemplating the causes of residential segregation.

Minority Ethnic Groups in the Dutch Housing Market: Spatial Segregation, Relocation Dynamics and Housing Policy

Ethnic segregation is consolidated by differences between ethnic groups with regard to their moving decision. Using unique registration data on population flows between neighbourhoods, the paper shows that native Dutch living in neighbourhoods where ethnic minorities are overrepresented are more likely to move than minority ethnic residents. Moreover, they move much more often to `White' neighbourhoods. Urban policies in the Netherlands focus on countering this tendency to segregation, but are based on simplified assumptions with regard to the causes of residential segregation. Relatedly, the optimism about the positive effects of social mix is hardly substantiated by empirical research.

Racial Residential Segregation in Urban America

AbstractThere are numerous causes and consequences of racial residential segregation in American metropolitan areas, and a long‐standing literature is filled with debates about them. We provide an overview of the trends and patterns regarding racial residential segregation, focusing primarily on blacks and whites. We pay special attention to the competing arguments about race and class in the context of residential stratification. We then discuss the many causes of residential segregation, and its social and economic consequences. After the overview, we identify key gaps in the literature. We discuss three broad substantive areas of research that expand the study of racial residential segregation: (i) the everyday experiences of race, class, and gender disadvantage as they are related to segregation; (ii) contemporary immigration streams and their impact on black‐white residential dynamics; and (iii) the power of political‐economic forces to transform residentially segregated spaces, with a particular emphasis on processes related to gentrification and home mortgage lending.

Involuntary Isolation: Ethnic Preferences and Residential Segregation

ABSTRACT:In recent years, there has been a substantial amount of empirical work done on the causes of residential segregation. Nevertheless, better understanding of to what extent ethnic groups choose to live in the proximity of each other, or to what extent segregation is forced upon them is imperative. Prior research on self-segregation either focused on discovering underlying motivations for self-segregation, or the effect of stated preferences on observed patterns of segregation, whereas few studies directly link motivations, preferences, and segregation to one another in more detail. This article seeks to clarify mechanisms driving self-segregation, subsequently relating self-segregation to actual residential segregation. The results suggest that preferences for coethnic neighbors, driven mostly by interethnic prejudice, contribute to observed residential isolation to a certain extent. In some cases, perceived and experienced hostility and discrimination toward ethnic minorities stimulate self-segregation as well, while interethnic contact decreases it.

A Model for Inferring the Voluntary and involuntary causes of residential segregation

It is clear that both voluntary and involuntary forces normally contribute to the residential segregation existing between groups. For the most part, the contribution of each dimension has not been determined. Rather, researchers operate as if either one or the other force is operating. In the United States, for example, black-white segregation is assumed to be imposed by whites on blacks, as if the latter were themselves totally indifferent to the racial composition in their areas of residence. On the other hand, it is assumed that segregation between white ethnic groups is at present purely a voluntary matter. In an earlier period, it was assumed that their segregation was both voluntary (reflecting desires to be among copatriots) and involuntary (reflecting the imposition of restrictions on residential movement by other groups as well as economic forces). But it has not been possible for investigators to determine the relative importance of each factor. Using asymmetrical segregation indexes, a rudimentary procedure is proposed for determining the relative importance of voluntary and involuntary forces operating to generate a given level of segregation. Data based on Black, Anglo, and Spanish residential patterns are then considered in terms of the proposed model.

Residential Segregation in United States Cities: A Causal Analysis

This study investigates causes of black residential segregation. The units of analysis are cities and a causal model is specified and evaluated using the technique of path analysis. The principal hypotheses are supported, although there is some interaction with regional location. The data suggest that the relative status of blacks and black population size are important determinants of segregation; these findings are especially interesting given the general belief that black socioeconomic progress is unrelated to changes in segregation, as well as the tendency to ignore absolute size of the black population in analyses of segregation. Also important are percent black and the relative growth rates of the white and black populations; however, the impact of the latter variable was smaller than anticipated in view of the emphasis often given to it. This study is concerned with the causes of residential segregation in large United States cities. The approach is comparative in that we analyze the determinants of intercity variation in residential segregation. A causal model is specified and three basic hypotheses are examined: (1) black-white status differentials affect residential segregation, (2) both the absolute and relative size of black populations have important and independent effects upon segregation, and (3) the rate at which the black population is growing relative to the white rate affects segregation. Despite the attention devoted to the causes and consequences of black segregation, there have been surprisingly few comparative studies using cities as units of analysis. Instead, explanations by social scientists have tended to treat segregation as a qualitative rather than as a continuous variable, and concern has been with specification of the conditions under which it emerges. For example, Warren (1969) argues that black segregation can best be understood as the outcome of internal colonialism, in which white domination of ghetto institutions creates a sense of helplessness and dependency on the part of ghetto residents. Moreover, in those studies where segregation is taken as a variable, it has been treated as a causal factor, and its effects on such dependent variables as assimilation, infant mortality, and fertility differentials analyzed (e.g., Duncan and Lieberson, 1959; Jiobu, 1972; Jiobu and Marshall, 1971; Lieberson, 1963; Marshall and Sinnott, 1971). A major exception is Taeuber and Taeuber (1965a) who examined factors producing changes in segregation levels during the 1940s and 1950s. Also important is Schnore and Evensen's (1966) analysis of city age and segregation levels in southern cities. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES The ecological approach to residential segregation tends to conceptualize it as the spatial expression of intergroup variations in status. Park (1967:68) provides the classic statement of this view: It is because social relations are so frequently and so inevitably correlated with spatial relations; because physical distances, so frequently are, or seem to be, the indexes of social distances, that statistics have any significance whatever for sociology. In a closely reasoned statement of this hypothesis, Lieberson (1963) argues that a group's status is an important determinant of its competitive position. Low-status groups tend to be spatially isolated from higher-status groups, partly because high-status persons avoid locating their residences in the same areas, and partly because low-status groups are less able to compete for the more attractive residential sites occupied by high-status groups. Consistent with this hypothesis Lieberson (1963) shows that intergroup segregation levels in 1930 varied closely with such indicators of group status * We wish to express our appreciation to the anonymous referees who offered numerous and extremely helpful comments. Of course, we alone are responsible for the interpretations as well as any remaining ambiguities or errors.