Neighborhood Crime Research Articles

The Historical Context of Neighborhood Racial Diversity and Crime in Philadelphia, PA

Social science theory and research have linked racial diversity to both positive and negative outcomes for communities. Research has also demonstrated that the effects of demographic indicators sometimes vary across space and time. This complex web of results calls for examinations of the spatial and temporal elements at play in this relationship. Using spatial lag models, I analyze the relationship between racial diversity—both as a static measurement and as the 20-year change—and crime in four distinct neighborhood clusters in Philadelphia, PA. I first find evidence of spatial heterogeneity—that racial diversity predicts lower crime rates in one community, but higher crime rates in another. Second, the change in racial diversity influences crime in ways that differ from the static diversity measure. These results provide support for both competing hypotheses regarding the racial diversity–crime connection while also underscoring the role of spatiotemporal contexts in illuminating the dynamism of neighborhood processes.

Objective and Subjective Neighborhood Crime Associated with Poor Sleep among Young Sexual Minority Men: a GPS Study.

Sleep disparities in sexual minority male (SMM) populations have received relatively little attention but they may be critical to explaining other health disparities seen among SMM, via neural or hormonal pathways. Recent research suggests that crime may be a psychosocial stressor that contributes to sleep disparities but that finding has been based on subjective measures of crime. We conducted the P18 Neighborhood Study of 250 SMM in New York City, including 211 with adequate GPS tracking data. We used the GPS tracking data to define daily path area activity spaces and tested the associations of violent crime in those activity spaces and in the subject's residential neighborhood, perceived neighborhood safety, and witnessing crime with a subjective measure of sleep. Using quasi-Poisson regression, adjusted for individual and neighborhood socio-demographics, we found that SMM who witnessed more types of crime experienced significantly more nights of poor sleep over the course of a month (RR: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.05-1.27, p-value: < 0.01). We did not find any associations between violent crime rates in either the activity area or residential area and sleep. Our findings support the conclusion that personal exposure to crime is associated with sleep problems and provide further evidence for the pathway between stress and sleep. The lack of association between neighborhood crime levels and sleep suggests that there must be personal experience with crime and ambient presence is insufficient to produce an effect.

Associations Between Food Insecurity and Neighborhood Safety, Social Cohesion, Social Control, and Crime Among Mothers of Preschool-Aged Children.

Food insecurity has myriad associations with poor health, and low-income communities have higher than average prevalence of food insecurity. Living in a supportive neighborhood social environment may protect against food insecurity, while adverse neighborhood social conditions, such as crime, may increase the likelihood of food insecurity. To examine associations between food insecurity and neighborhood social factors among families with young children, we administered a cross-sectional survey to 300 mothers and female caregivers of Medicaid-enrolled two- to four-year-old children in Philadelphia. We used multivariable regression to examine associations between food insecurity and perceived neighborhood safety, social cohesion, informal social control, and crime, adjusted for demographics, socioeconomic status, and neighborhood characteristics. Lower food insecurity prevalence was associated with higher perceived neighborhood safety and social cohesion, and lower police-recorded violent crime rates. Future work to increase food security among low-income households may benefit from targeting the neighborhood social environment.

Subway Station and Neighborhood Crime: An Egohood Analysis Using Subway Ridership and Crime Data in New York City

In the current study, we examine the effects of the number of subway stations as well as magnitude of subway ridership on crime in 1/4-mile egohoods in New York City, while accounting for structural characteristics and land uses. Longitudinal analyses are conducted using a set of negative binomial regression fixed effects models. We found that the number of subway stations have crime-enhancing effects for robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and larceny, but crime-reducing for motor vehicle theft. We found mixed findings for subway ridership across different crime types. We also found that the effects of subway stations are moderated by the proportion of retail land use in place. The findings provide evidence that subway stations and ridership have important consequences for the spatial patterns of crime.

Framework towards Residential Neighbourhood Crime Prevention in South Western Nigeria

The need to curb the soaring trend of residential neighbourhood crime, considering its negative impact on the neighbourhood in general and property value in particular is not to be given the expected attention in academia and government settings. However, the consequences of residential neighbourhood crime are found to be devastating. Hence, this study proposes a Socio-Environmental Design Factors (SEDeF) model for residential neighbourhood crime toward improving property value in Nigeria. Purposive and systematic sampling techniques were adopted, while logistic regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and achieve the set objectives. The findings showed that social risk factors (poverty, unemployment, juvenile delinquencies, illiteracy, and homelessness) and the environmental design factors (natural access control, surveillance, efficient maintenance, territorial functioning, and target hardening) are capable of influencing residential neighbourhood crime in Nigeria. The results of the analysis find the set hypotheses to be significant. This is shown through the regression weights and p-values of the influence of the social risk factors and environmental design factors on residential neighbourhood crime to be 0.69 (0.000) and 0.14 (0.000), respectively. Also, the impact of residential neighbourhood crime on property value gives regression weight and p-value at 0.47 and 0.000, respectively. The model fitness is further guaranteed by the R 2, which stands at 52%. The interpretation of these results is that applying social development programmes to tackle the social risk factors and purposeful manipulation of the residential neighbourhood through design could go a long way to decrease neighbourhood crime and boost property values. This research serves as an awakening call to the Nigerian government, policymakers, and researchers to tackle property crime to ensure housing sustainability and property value appreciation, among others.

Social determinants of depression among mid-to-older aged Australians: A prospective study of the effects of neighbourhood disadvantage and crime

BackgroundFew studies examining social determinants of depression have incorporated area level objectively measured crime combined with self-report measures of perceived crime. How these factors may interrelate with neighbourhood disadvantage is not well understood, particularly in Australia, where mental health disorders are of major concern. This study examined relationships between area-level objective crime, self-reported perceptions of crime, neighbourhood disadvantage and depression, and potential mechanisms by which these variables indirectly lead to depression. MethodsThis study used data from the HABITAT Project, a representative longitudinal study of persons aged 40–65 years residing in 200 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Australia, during 2007–2016. A prospective sample of residentially stable persons who reported depression at two years (n =3120) and five years (n=2249) post-follow-up was developed. Area level objective crimes were categorised as either crimes against the person, social incivilities or unlawful entry. Logistic regression was used to establish relationships with depression, followed by a decomposition analysis to establish potential mechanisms. ResultsNeighbourhoods in the highest quartile of crimes against the person had an increased risk of individuals reporting depression at all periods of follow-up. Associations were also found between unlawful entry and depression. Decomposition analysis indicated a positive and significant total effect of crime against the person on depression for all periods of follow-up, while an indirect effect of perceived crime was found to partially explain this relationship at 2-years after baseline (prop. Mediated = 46.5%), and at either or both periods of follow-up (prop. Mediated = 53.7%), but not at 5-years follow-up. DiscussionNeighbourhoods with the highest levels of crime against the person may influence depression over time through a pathway of perceived crime. Perceived crime, particularly in areas of high crime against the person should be considered as part of a multi-faceted strategy aimed at improving population mental health.

Perceived neighborhood crime and health: a multilevel analysis for Turkey

PurposeCrime has notable impacts on health outcomes of individuals through various pathways. This study aims to explore relationships between perceived neighborhood crime and health statuses of individuals in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThis study combines individual- and household-level data from a national household survey and regional-level data for empirical analyses. A multilevel estimation framework is used for quantification of associations between a perceived neighborhood crime indicator and an individual-level health status index.FindingsEmpirical findings indicate that perceived neighborhood crime level has a negative relationship with health indexes of Turkish individuals. Additionally, health index is significantly associated with individual- and household-level covariates.Practical implicationsPublic policies for health and safety improvements should consider heterogeneities in characteristics of individuals and households in developing regions of the world.Originality/valueEarlier findings on associations of crime and health measures mostly rely on evidence from developed regions of the world. This research complements the related literature by providing empirical analysis of associations between perceived neighborhood crime and health outcomes for a developing country, Turkey.

Association Between Community-Level Violent Crime and Cardiovascular Mortality in Chicago: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Background Violent crime has recently increased in many major metropolitan cities in the United States. Prior studies suggest an association between neighborhood crime levels and cardiovascular disease, but many have been limited by cross-sectional designs. We investigated whether longitudinal changes in violent crime rates are associated with changes in cardiovascular mortality rates at the community level in one large US city-Chicago, IL. Methods and Results Chicago is composed of 77 community areas. Age-adjusted mortality rates by community area for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and coronary artery disease from 2000 to 2014, aggregated at 5-year intervals, were obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Vital Records. Mean total and violent crime rates by community area were obtained from the City of Chicago Police Data Portal. Using a 2-way fixed effects estimator, we assessed the association between longitudinal changes in violent crime and cardiovascular mortality rates after accounting for changes in demographic and economic variables and secular time trends at the community area level from 2000 to 2014. Between 2000 and 2014, the median violent crime rate in Chicago decreased from 3620 per 100 000 (interquartile range [IQR], 2256, 7777) in the 2000 to 2004 period to 2390 (IQR 1507, 5745) in the 2010 to 2014 period (P=0.005 for trend). In the fixed effects model a 1% decrease in community area violent crime rate was associated with a 0.21% (95% CI, 0.09-0.33) decrease in cardiovascular mortality rates (P=<0.001) and a 0.19% (95% CI, 0.04-0.33) decrease in coronary artery disease mortality rates (P=0.01). There was no statistically significant association between change in violent crime and stroke mortality rates (-0.17% [95% CI, -0.42 to 0.08; P=0.18]). Conclusions From 2000 to 2014, a greater decrease in violent crime at the community area level was associated with a greater decrease in cardiovascular and coronary artery disease mortality rates in Chicago. These findings add to the growing evidence of the impact of the built environment on health and implicate violent crime exposure as a potential social determinant of cardiovascular health. Targeted investment in communities to decrease violent crime may improve community cardiovascular health.

Recreating Human Mobility Patterns Through the Lens of Social Media: Using Twitter to Model the Social Ecology of Crime

Studies of neighborhood crime are often limited in their ability to account for the dynamic nature of human mobility, a central tenet of prominent theoretical perspectives on the spatial distribution of crime. Yet, recent work indicates the utility of social media data for estimating the size and composition of such ambient population. In the present study, we assess whether four Twitter-derived measures are associated with crime counts across 2,348 block groups. Specifically, we focus on the density of Twitter users (and tweets), as well as the proportion of Twitter users (and tweets) that are “insiders.” We inferred Twitter users’ “insider” location from the block group in which they tweeted most frequently.

While Some Things Change, Do Others Stay the Same? The Heterogeneity of Neighborhood Health Returns to Gentrification

Gentrification is associated with decreases in neighborhood poverty and crime, increases in amenities and services, among other benefits—all identified as structural determinants of health. However, gentrification is also associated with population-level replacement of the existing community, or threats thereof. Combining census data from the ten largest MSAs in the U.S. with tract-level estimates from the CDC-PLACES Project from 2013–14 to 2017–18, we explore how the changing socioeconomic conditions in gentrifying neighborhoods correlate with changes in neighborhood health. We find significant differences between gentrifying and non-gentrifying neighborhoods in their associations with neighborhood health. The sociodemographic changes occurring in gentrifying neighborhoods generally correspond with simultaneous decreases in aggregate health risk behaviors and negative health outcomes. However, these changes are heterogeneous and complex. Whether and how neighborhood health changes alongside other components of neighborhood change depends on whether gentrification occurs in majority Black, Hispanic, or White neighborhoods. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that the changes accompanying gentrification extend to neighborhood health, but the direction of influence varies by neighborhood composition, type of sociodemographic change, specific health outcome, and spatial spillover. We discuss theoretical implications for future work addressing the mechanisms driving changes in neighborhood health, and potential approaches that differentiate policy responses.

Assessing the impacts of alcohol outlets on crime as a natural experiment: agglomeration, churning and spatial effects.

Retail alcohol outlets appear to open in neighborhoods with low land and structure rents near sources of demand; they may 'agglomerate', open near to one another or 'churn', replace one another, over time. We used the turnover in numbers of outlets over time to measure agglomeration and churning and the impacts of openings and closings of outlets on neighborhood crime. Interrupted quasi-experiments using spatial panel population data from 3768 synthetic block areas over 6years. City of Oakland, CA, USA. City population. Census-based socio-demographic estimates and counts of openings and closings of bars/pubs, restaurants and off-premises outlets related to assault, burglary and robbery crime incidents across synthetic Census blocks. Bayesian space-time models were used to assess agglomeration and churning and measure impacts of openings/closings on crime. Churning was substantial; openings followed closings for all outlets [bars/pubs, relative risk (RR) = 50.9, 95% credible interval (CI) = 3.0-449.9; restaurants, RR = 3.1, CI = 1.5-6.1; off-premises, RR = 23.5, CI = 2.0-129.8]. Bars/pub and restaurant openings agglomerated with other outlets (e.g., RR = 1.02, CI = 1.00-1.03 and RR = 1.01, CI = 1.00-1.01), but off-premises outlets did not. Covarying out effects related to outlet densities, bar/pub openings were related to a 3.5% increase in assaults (RR = 1.04, CI = 1.01-1.06) and 6.9% increase in robberies (RR = 1.07, CI = 1.03-1.11). Restaurant openings were related to a 5.3% increase in burglaries (RR = 1.05, CI = 1.04-1.06). Openings and closings of off-premises outlets were unrelated to all three crime types. Retail alcohol outlets appear to follow a pattern of opening near to one another and replacing each other over time. Bar, pub and restaurant openings appear to be related to increases in neighborhood crime.

Associations between the neighbourhood social environment and preschool children’s physical activity and screen time

BackgroundThe neighbourhood social environment (NSE) has been associated with physical activity and screen time behaviours in adults and youth however less is known about this relationship in preschool-aged children (2–5 years). This study seeks to explore associations between the NSE and the physical activity and screen time behaviours of preschool-aged children.MethodCross-sectional data was collected in 2019. Parents (n = 214) of preschool-aged children (m = 3.8 ± 0.8 years), from 187 different Australian postcodes representing all states and territories were invited to complete an online survey where they answered questions about their NSE (perceived social cohesion, social interaction, sense of community, social norms and neighbourhood crime) and proxy-reported their child’s usual physical activity and screen time (minutes/day). Two hierarchical linear regressions were run separately to assess relationships between NSE predictor variables and physical activity and screen time. Three logistic regressions were run to determine associations between NSE constructs and the likelihood of meeting: 1) physical activity (≥ 180 min/day including ≥ 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity), 2) screen time (≤ 60 min/day) and 3) both physical activity and screen time guidelines. Child age, gender, childcare attendance, and neighbourhood level socioeconomic status (SES) were controlled for in all analyses.ResultsSocial interaction was associated with increased daily physical activity (b = 17.76, 95%CI = 0.81, 34.71), decreased daily screen time (b = -12.77, 95%CI = -23.23, -2.23) and improved the likelihood of meeting physical activity (OR = 1.81, 95%CI = 1.20, 2.75) and combined physical activity and screen time guidelines (OR = 1.51, 95%CI = 1.03, 2.21). Higher neighbourhood crime was associated with a lower likelihood of meeting screen time guidelines (OR = 0.47, 95%CI = 0.47, 0.99). Social cohesion, sense of community and social norms were not statistically significant predictors of daily physical activity, screen time or meeting guidelines.ConclusionSocial interaction showed the most consistent associations with physical activity and screen time. Future research should consider potential mediators of this relationship, including parental facilitation of children’s outdoor time. Improving understanding of the relationship between the NSE and physical activity and screen time in young children can help to guide community-based initiatives striving to optimise behavioural, health and social outcomes.

Insights into the challenges and facilitators to physical activity among brooklyn teens enroled in a weight management programme.

PurposeA qualitative study was carried out to explore obese adolescents' understanding of physical activity, perceptions of the ideal body type and to identify facilitators of and barriers to physical activity.MethodsTwenty‐two adolescents 12–18 years of age and 14 of their parents were recruited from an obesity intervention programme in Brooklyn, New York, from June to November 2017. Data were collected using focus groups and individual semi‐structured interviews, followed by interpretative phenomenological analysis of the transcripts.ResultsThe adolescents wanted to ‘lose some weight’, but not to be ‘thin’ or ‘look hungry’. Most females desired a ‘slim‐thick’ figure, which was ‘a flat stomach with big thighs, and curvy’. Fun and support from parents, peers and programme staff facilitated achieving their physical activity goals. Barriers included low self‐efficacy, inactive families, fear of neighbourhood gangs and crime and perceptions that the parks were small and overcrowded, with limited physical activity options for adolescents.ConclusionThese findings highlight the need to consider local norms concerning body image when designing obesity interventions. To effectively reduce childhood obesity in New York City, policy should prioritize the promotion of public safety, improvement of neighbourhood parks and increase options for physical activity.Patient or Public ContributionThe voices and narratives of patients and their families informed this study.

The effect of neighbourhood and spatial crime rates on mental wellbeing

This paper attempts to provide new evidence on the indirect cost of neighbourhood crime rates on mental wellbeing of residents. Crime places a heavy burden on the economy, and it receives significant attention from the public. Yet, the connection between crime and health for victims and non-victims is not well captured in the literature. Using spatial methodology, we differentiate the effect on mental wellbeing of residents due to the crime rates in their immediate neighbourhood (local) and crime rates in the surrounding areas (spatial). The main innovation of the paper is to use these crime rates at small geographical level (around 8500 residents) to better translate the changes in crime in the neighbourhoods and their effects on a person’s mental wellbeing. This is different to other studies that looked at crime incidences in larger geographical units. Our estimation results show that the increase in local and spatial crime rates against the property negatively affect the mental wellbeing of residents. The negative impact of spatial crime rates against the person is also present and is 6.7 times larger than the effect of property crime rates.

Neighborhood Contexts and Alcohol Use Disorder Among Mexican Americans Living in the US-Mexico Border Region.

This study assessed contributions of exposure to neighborhood stressors (violent victimization, witnessing crime, greater alcohol and drug availability) to variation in alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms among drinkers in three cities in Texas, USA. We used data from interviews conducted from 2011 to 2013 with Mexican-origin adults (ages 16-65) in the US-Mexico Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions who were past-year drinkers (N = 1960; 55% male) living in two cities in the Texas-Mexico border region (Laredo, n = 751 and Brownsville/McAllen, n = 814) and one interior comparison site (San Antonio, n = 771). Analyses (conducted in 2018 and 2019) examined overall and gender-stratified multilevel mediated effects of each border site (versus San Antonio) on AUD symptoms through the neighborhood-level factors, adjusting for individual- and neighborhood-level covariates. Overall, drinkers in Laredo reported more AUD symptoms than drinkers in the other cities, and their neighborhoods had more witnessing of crime and greater perceived drug availability, as well as higher levels of disadvantage and a lower proportion non-Hispanic White residents, than neighborhoods in San Antonio. Witnessing neighborhood crime was associated with increased AUD symptoms, while neighborhood disadvantage and proportion non-Hispanic White residents each were negatively associated with AUD symptoms. Perceived neighborhood insecurity, crime victimization, perceived neighborhood drug availability and neighborhood alcohol availability (off- and on-premise) were not significantly associated with AUD symptoms. Stratified models suggested possible gender differences in indirect effects through witnessing neighborhood crime. Reducing witnessing of neighborhood crime may help reduce AUD symptoms among adults living in the US border region.

Residence in High-Crime Neighborhoods Moderates the Association Between Interleukin 6 and Social and Nonsocial Reward Brain Responses

BackgroundResidence in high-crime neighborhoods, especially in childhood, is linked to mental health issues later. Detecting distinct neurobiological processes underlying the effects of this environmental stressor may be critical to identifying prevention and intervention targets. This study examined the relationships of levels of a circulating inflammatory protein with social and monetary reward–related brain function among adolescents who lived in high- versus low-crime neighborhoods during childhood. MethodsA total of 70 participants (mean age = 16.3 years; 57% female) completed measures of inflammatory markers, depression history, and health and 2 functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks assessing responsivity to monetary and social rewards. Multivariate linear regression tested whether individuals with higher interleukin 6, an inflammatory cytokine, who also lived in neighborhoods with higher crime had distinct orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens activation to monetary reward and social acceptance. ResultsFor adolescents who lived in neighborhoods with more crime, higher interleukin 6 was associated with higher nucleus accumbens responses to social acceptance. We did not detect significant moderating effects of neighborhood crime rates on the associations of interleukin 6 with orbitofrontal cortex responses to social acceptance or orbitofrontal cortex/nucleus accumbens activation during monetary reward anticipation or outcome. These results were obtained before and after adjusting for neighborhood income and other covariates. We did not detect significant moderating effects of neighborhood income. ConclusionsHigh-threat residence environment and specific demands of the social context in childhood may have shaped the effect of peripheral immune activation on reward-related neural function in adolescence. The prevailing view that inflammation-associated behaviors are characterized by blunted responsiveness to reward may be oversimplistic.

Neighborhood tenure mixing: A brief report on neighborhood crime and the physical condition of the neighborhood environment

ABSTRACT In this brief report, neighborhood tenure mixing is defined as the proportion of owner-occupied versus renter-occupied properties in a neighborhood. The current study examined the association between the proportion of neighborhood tenure mixing, neighborhood crime, and the physical conditions of the neighborhood environment (i.e., incivilities, territoriality, and built environment). Fourteen trained raters (i.e., 7 dyads) used the Revised Block Environmental Inventory to document the physical conditions of one owner-dominated, one renter-dominated, and one mixed neighborhood. Our findings suggest that the highest levels of built environments and territoriality were displayed in neighborhoods where the ownership occupation was between 30 to 50%. Implications for future studies are discussed.

Parental and community risk factors for childhood self-harm thoughts and behaviours

BackgroundChildhood self-harm is rare but increasing in frequency. Little is known about risk factors specifically for self-harm in preteen children. MethodsWe examined self-harm thoughts and behaviours in children aged 3–14 years in association with parental and community-level risk factors, using a large general population-based record linkage sample (n = 74,479). ResultsParental factors were strongly associated with childhood self-harm, with over three-quarters of children with self-harm having a parent with a history of mental disorder and/or criminal offending. Community-level factors (socioeconomic deprivation, remote or regional location, and neighbourhood crime rate) were not associated with childhood self-harm after adjustment for confounding factors. LimitationsMeasures of self-harm thoughts and behaviours derived from administrative data likely underestimate the prevalence of self-harm in the population. ConclusionsIntergenerational transmission of risk factors is likely an important contributor to childhood self-harm.

Expanding and Testing a Latinx Differential Coercion and Social Support Theory of Crime.

We develop and test an extension of differential coercion and social support (DCSS) theory focused on Latinx individuals that employs measures of coercion and social support, both at the individual and environmental levels, that may be especially salient to this population. Data come from Latinx adults (n=863) randomly sampled from El Paso County, Texas and were analyzed using logistic and OLS regression analyses and employed the PROCESS Macro for assessing mediating relationships. Findings show moderate support for hypotheses. Specifically, a structural measure of social support (neighborhood social support) was inversely associated with family violence and mediated relationships between three separate measures of coercion and family violence, supporting predictions. However, two cultural measures of social support (enculturation to Mexico and familismo) did not demonstrate such relationships, failing to support predictions. Additional findings show that two of the three measures of coercion (neighborhood crime and disorder and police harassment) were inversely associated with family violence as predicted, but that a third measure, acculturation to the U.S., was not. Implications for DCSS theory and criminal offending for Latinx are discussed.

Neighborhood crime and infant health

We study the effect of maternal exposure to neighborhood crime during pregnancy on birth outcomes, using geographically detailed data for the city of Detroit. Exposure to homicides has deleterious effects on birth weight particularly at the lower end of the distribution. These effects are localized and weaken when homicides farther away from a mother’s neighborhood are considered. However, we find no discernible impacts of other serious violent or property crimes on infant health. Exposure to two or more homicides has the potential to wipe away positive effects of governmental welfare programs for pregnant women.