Neighborhood Racial Segregation Research Articles

Life course neighborhood social determinants of health and longitudinal changes in cognition in three Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center cohorts

AbstractBackgroundSeminal studies on exposure to life course social determinants of health, such as neighborhood racial segregation and neighborhood poverty, suggest detrimental associations with poorer cognitive function. We aimed to test the opposite by examining the relationship between self‐reported exposure to health‐promoting neighborhood environments over the life course and cognitive function among older adults.MethodParticipants were persons living without dementia at three US Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (University of California, Davis in Sacramento (UCD); Washington University in Saint Louis (WU); and Wake Forest University in Winston‐Salem (WFU)). An ancillary study (K01AG063895, PI: Besser) included the Life Course Sociodemographics and Neighborhood Questionnaire (LSNEQ) comprised of indices like neighborhood measures of socioeconomic status (NSES), walking and biking frequency, and greenness from childhood, midlife, and late life. LSNEQ data were linked with late‐life cognitive test z‐scores (Animals and Vegetables Category Fluency, Trail Making Parts A and B) from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set. Multivariable linear mixed effects models tested associations between the LSNEQ index scores (composite values over childhood and mid‐ and late‐life) and baseline and longitudinal change in cognitive function controlling for demographics, Center, and baseline global Clinical Dementia Rating (0 or 0.5).ResultThe sample (n = 322) included 65% women, 17% Black, 76% White, and 7% other/mixed racialized group participants and was, on average, 70±7 years old and followed for 2.5±3.2 years. Life Course NSES was lower for UCD (mean = 12.7, SD = 3.5) versus WU (mean = 13.9, SD = 3.2) and WFU (mean = 14.3, SD = 3.2). Life Course Neighborhood Walking and Biking frequency did not differ by Center. Life Course Neighborhood Greenness differed across Centers, and was lowest for WU (mean = 4.8, SD = 1.3) and highest for WFU (mean = 5.6; SD = 1.2). In multivariable analyses, greater Life Course Neighborhood Walking and Biking was associated with higher baseline Trail A scores (estimate = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.08‐1.58) and slower decline on Animals over time (estimate = 0.024, 95% CI = 0.002‐0.045). Greater Life Course Neighborhood Greenness was associated with slower decline on Vegetables over time (estimate = 0.035, 95% CI = 0.001‐0.069).ConclusionThese preliminary findings suggest self‐reported, life course neighborhood exposures and behaviors (i.e., greenness and neighborhood walking/biking) may be associated with better cognition and slower decline in later life.

Abstract 15337: Study of Relationship Between Neighborhood Racial Segregation and Heart Failure Mortality

Background Upstream factors, including socioeconomic status, healthcare access, structural environment, contribute to the presence of disparities in cardiovascular outcomes. The impact of neighborhood-level racial segregation on cardiovascular outcomes is not well understood. Research Question The goal of this study was to evaluate the association between neighborhood racial segregation and heart failure mortality. Methods/ Approach This is a retrospective, cohort study performed at Kaiser Permanente Southern California that included patients hospitalized for heart failure between January 2010 and December 2017. Data regarding demographics, comorbidities, and outcomes, was linked to the diversity index from the US Census Bureau. This is a measure of racial segregation, the likelihood that any two people from an area will be from different race/ ethnicity groups. The cohort was divided into tertiles by diversity index. Mortality rates for each racial group was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity and mortality. Results/ Data There were 19,322 patients included in our analysis. After adjusting for demographics, socioeconomic markers, neighborhood characteristics, and comorbidities, higher mortality was noted for Black patients compared to White patients in the least diverse tertile (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 1.42 [1.15-1.74]). In the most diverse tertile, no significant difference between Black and White patients was observed (adjusted OR [95% CI] 1.02 [0.83-1.26]). Asian and White patients did not show a difference in mortality across tertiles. Hispanic patients had a statistically significant decreased mortality in the two more diverse tertiles. Conclusion: Heart failure mortality is lower in Black patients in more diverse neighborhoods. Further work is needed to look at the pathway that connects racial segregation to heart failure outcomes.

Neighborhood Racial Segregation Predict the Spatial Distribution of Supermarkets and Grocery Stores Better than Socioeconomic Factors in Cleveland, Ohio: a Bayesian Spatial Approach

IntroductionThe food environment influences the availability and affordability of food options for consumers in a given neighborhood. However, disparities in access to healthy food options exist, affecting Black and low-income communities disproportionately. This study investigated whether racial segregation predicted the spatial distribution of supermarkets and grocery stores better than socioeconomic factors or vice versa in Cleveland, Ohio.MethodThe outcome measure was the count of supermarket and grocery stores in each census tract in Cleveland. They were combined with US census bureau data as covariates. We fitted four Bayesian spatial models. The first model was a baseline model with no covariates. The second model accounted for racial segregation alone. The third model looked at only socioeconomic factors, and the final model combined both racial and socioeconomic factors.ResultsOverall model performance was better in the model that considered only racial segregation as a predictor of supermarkets and grocery stores (DIC = 476.29). There was 13% decrease in the number of stores for a census tract with a higher majority of Black people compared to areas with a lower number of Black people. Model 3 that considered only socioeconomic factors was less predictive of the retail outlets (DIC = 484.80).ConclusionsThese findings lead to the conclusion that structural racism evidenced in policies like residential segregation has a significant influence on the spatial distribution of food retail in the city of Cleveland.

Design of the Think PHRESH longitudinal cohort study: Neighborhood disadvantage, cognitive aging, and Alzheimer’s disease risk in disinvested, Black neighborhoods

BackgroundBlack Americans have disproportionately higher rates and earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) relative to White Americans. We currently lack a comprehensive understanding of how the lived experience and broader societal factors, including cumulative exposure to structural racism and the mechanisms underlying the risks, may contribute to elevated ADRD risk in Black Americans.MethodsThe Think PHRESH study builds on existing, community-based research infrastructure, from the ongoing Pittsburgh Hill/Homewood Research on Neighborhood Change and Health (PHRESH) studies, to examine the contributions of dynamic neighborhood socioeconomic conditions across the lifecourse to cognitive outcomes in mid- and late-life adults living in two historically disinvested, predominantly Black communities (anticipated n = 1133). This longitudinal, mixed-methods study rests on the premise that neighborhood racial segregation and subsequent disinvestment contributes to poor cognitive outcomes via factors including (a) low access to educational opportunities and (b) high exposure to race- and socioeconomically-relevant stressors, such as discrimination, trauma, and adverse childhood events. In turn, these cumulative exposures foster psychological vigilance in residents, leading to cardiometabolic dysregulation and sleep disruption, which may mediate associations between neighborhood disadvantage and ADRD risk. This premise recognizes the importance of potential protective factors that may promote cognitive health, including neighborhood social cohesion, safety, and satisfaction. The proposed study will leverage our existing longitudinal data on risk/protective factors and biobehavioral mediators and will include: (1) up to three waves of cognitive assessments in participants ages 50 years + and one assessment in participants ages 35–49 years; clinical adjudication of ADRD will be completed in participants who are 50+, (2) extensive surveys of risk and protective factors, (3) two assessments of blood pressure and objectively measured sleep, (4) a comprehensive assessment of life and residential history; and (5) two rounds of in-depth qualitative interviews to reveal lifecourse opportunities and barriers experienced by Black Americans in achieving optimal cognitive health in late life.DiscussionUnderstanding how structural racism has influenced the lived experience of Black Americans, including dynamic changes in neighborhood conditions over time, is critical to inform multi-level intervention and policy efforts to reduce pervasive racial and socioeconomic disparities in ADRD.

Abstract P263: Associations Between Dimensions of the Social Environment and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Introduction: Although the social environment, including social contacts, norms and support, likely has a significant impact on cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk, a comprehensive summary of the available evidence is lacking. Hypothesis: Exposure to unfavorable social environments is associated with greater CMD risk. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between social environmental characteristics and risk factors of CMD. We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection from inception to 16 February 2021. Studies that used a risk factor of CMD, e.g., lipids, HbA1c or blood pressure as outcome and social environmental factors such as area-level deprivation, neighborhood racial segregation or social network size as independent variables were included. Titles and abstracts were screened in duplicate. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Data appraisal and extraction were based on the study protocol published in PROSPERO (CRD42021223035). Data were synthesized through vote counting and random effects meta-analyses, the latter if three or more associations investigated the same exposure-outcome combination. Results: A total of 168 studies reporting on 1050 associations were included in this review. Social and Economic Disadvantage was the most studied exposure (45%), followed by Social Relationships and Norms (35%), with less evidence for other social environmental dimensions. Four meta-analyses based on 24 associations suggested that an unfavorable social environment was associated with increased risk of cardiometabolic risk factors, with three of them being statistically significant. For example, individuals that experienced more economic and social disadvantage had a higher CVD risk scores (OR=1.54, 95%CI: 1.35;1.84). Meta-analyzed sex-specific associations showed inconsistent results. Of the 458 associations included in the vote counting, 323 (71%) pointed towards unfavorable social environments being associated with higher CMD risk. Conclusion: Higher economic and social disadvantage seem to contribute to unfavorable CMD risk factor profiles, while evidence for other dimensions of the social environment is limited.

Abstract 11549: Neighborhood Racial Segregation and Access to Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries

Introduction: Lower rates of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) among Black individuals have been observed, the drivers of this disparity remain poorly understood. We studied the association between county-level racial segregation and rates of aortic stenosis (AS) diagnosis and management. Methods: We identified Black and white Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas between 2016 and 2019. Using the American Community Survey’s residential segregation index (SI), a measure of geographic distribution of Black and white residents ranging from 0 (complete integration) to 100 (complete segregation), we determined segregation in each beneficiaries’ county of residence. We calculated population-level rates of AS diagnosis and TAVI using validated ICD-10 codes. Using hierarchical modeling, we determined the association between racial segregation and rates of AS diagnosis, TAVI receipt, and 30-day mortality. Results: A total of 29,264,075 beneficiaries were included in the analysis. Living in a high-segregation county (SI>60) was associated with increased rates of AS diagnosis overall (adjusted OR 1.03 95%CI 1.02-1.03) but no difference in TAVI. However, among Black beneficiaries, increasing county-level segregation was associated with decreased rates of AS diagnosis and TAVI; the opposite association was observed among white beneficiaries ( Figure 1 ). Among those with an AS diagnosis, the interaction between Black race and segregation, and lower rates of TAVI persisted (interaction p-value 0.003). Segregation and race were not independently associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusions: Living in a high-segregation county is independently associated with decreased population-level rates of AS diagnosis and receipt of TAVI for Black, but not white, individuals. Among Black people living in high-segregation counties, disparities in TAVI rates are associated with decreased AS diagnosis and access to TAVI.

Measuring the Effect of Neighborhood Racial Segregation on Fetal Growth.

Prior studies of neighborhood racial segregation and intrauterine growth have not accounted for confounding factors in early life. We used the Life-Course Influences on Fetal Environment Study of births to Black women in metropolitan Detroit, 2009-2011, (N = 1,408) to examine whether health and social conditions in childhood and adulthood confound or modify the association of neighborhood segregation (addresses during pregnancy geocoded to census tract racial composition) and gestational age-adjusted birthweight. Before adjusting for covariates, women living in a predominantly (≥75%) Black neighborhood gave birth to 47.3 grams (95% CI: -99.0, 4.4) lighter infants, on average, compared with women living in <75% Black neighborhoods. This association was confounded by adulthood (age at delivery, parity, neighborhood deprivation) and childhood (parental education, neighborhood racial composition) factors and modified by adulthood socioeconomic position. These findings underscore the complex relationship between neighborhood racial segregation and birth outcomes, which would be enhanced through a life course framework.

Do Black Lives Matter in the American Public's Mitigation Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Analysis of Mask Wearing and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Deaths from COVID-19.

BackgroundMask wearing has varied considerably throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has been most often associated with political affiliation and specific health beliefs. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mask usage, neighborhood racial segregation, and racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths.MethodsWe used linear regression to assess whether the racial/ethnic composition of deaths and residential segregation predicted Americans’ decisions to wear masks in July 2020.ResultsAfter controlling for mask mandates, mask usage increased when White death rates relative to Black and Hispanic rates increased.ConclusionsMask wearing may be shaped by an insensitivity to Black and Hispanic deaths and a corresponding unwillingness to engage in health-protective behaviors. The broader history of systemic racism and residential segregation may also explain why white Americans do not wear masks or perceive themselves to be at risk when communities of color are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Single-family rentals and neighborhood racial integration✰

Neighborhood racial segregation continues to be a major social problem within America's metropolitan areas. One factor possibly accounting for segregation is the inability of minority households to afford housing in White neighborhoods, where housing units historically have been largely owner-occupied single-family homes. In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the housing makeup of many of these neighborhoods, with single-family rentals increasing in share. Rentals lower the cost of neighborhood entry. Our results, which suggest that these rentals reduce neighborhood racial segregation for Blacks, support policies that seek to maintain and grow single-family rentals within White neighborhoods.

Abstract P881: Geospatial Analysis of Community and Patient Risk Factors for Poor Functional Outcome in Stroke

Introduction: Low neighborhood socioeconomic status has been associated with increased stroke risk, but it is not clear if this association is independent of individual socioeconomic status and clinical risk. Neighborhood racial segregation as defined by a racial isolation index (RI) has been shown to be associated with increased risk of stroke mortality. Using geospatial mapping techniques, we sought to determine the impact of neighborhood socioeconomic status and racial isolation on post-stroke functional outcome. Methods: Using our center’s prospective stroke registry, we matched charts for ischemic stroke patients seen between 1/1/2008 and 12/31/2018 with address data obtained from our hospital EMR for geospatial mapping. Racial Isolation (RI) and Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI) were calculated using census data. To assess the relationship between neighborhood factors and functional outcome, we used geographically weighted regression models. We fitted univariate and multivariate multinomial logistic regression models for functional outcome, and linear regression models for the percentage of poor functional outcome (defined as mRS 4-6). Significance was determined to be p &lt; 0.05. Results: We included 5204 patients across 786 county census tracts. NDI (range -1.75 to 3.79) and RI (range 0 to 1) both appear to correlate visually with stroke rates of our patients across individual census tracts (Figure 1). Hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia rates at individual and census tract level were significantly associated with poor functional outcome. NDI was not (OR 1.00 95% CI 0.99 - 1.00), but RI trended significant (OR 1.04 95% CI (0.99 - 1.09). Overall explanatory power was limited, warranting further investigation. Conclusions: Patient’s individual risk factors increased likelihood of poor functional outcome, but community segregation and socioeconomic deprivation indices are not predictors of poor functional outcome.

Beyond Residential Segregation: Mobility-Based Connectedness and Rates of Violence in Large Cities

A longstanding finding is that neighborhood racial segregation is linked to violence. In this paper, we look beyond neighborhoods of residence to consider the everyday mobility of urbanites in their daily rounds. Analyzing estimates of neighborhood mobility from largescale social media data in the 50 largest American cities, we find that residential segregation by race is not only associated with higher violence but also lower equitability of travel across neighborhoods and a lower concentration of visits to common hubs. Further, the interaction of equitable and concentrated mobility is significantly associated with rates of violence, controlling for both racial and income segregation, education, city size, and density. There is little evidence, however, that patterns of everyday mobility mediate the influence of residential racial segregation. Both dimensions of the structural connectedness of cities—one rooted in place of residence, and the other encompassing interneighborhood exposure based on travel throughout the metropolis—are implicated in violence.

Personal and Neighborhood Attributes Associated with Cervical and Colorectal Cancer Screening in an Urban African American Population.

IntroductionAssessing individual social determinants of health in primary care might be complemented by consideration of population attributes in patients’ neighborhoods. We studied associations between cervical and colorectal cancer screening and neighborhood attributes among an African American population in Philadelphia.MethodsWe abstracted demographic and cancer screening information from records of patients seen during 2006 at 3 federally qualified health centers and characterized patients’ census tracts of residence by using census, survey, and other data to define population metrics for poverty, racial segregation, educational attainment, social capital, neighborhood safety, and violent crime. We used generalized estimating equations to obtain adjusted relative risks of screening associated with individual and census tract attributes.ResultsAmong 1,708 patients for whom colorectal cancer screening was recommended, screening was up to date for 41%, and among 4,995 women for whom cervical cancer screening was recommended, screening was up to date for 75%. After controlling for age, sex (for colorectal cancer screening), insurance coverage, and clinic site, people living in the most racially segregated neighborhoods were nearly 10% more likely than others to be unscreened for colorectal cancer. Other census tract population attributes were not associated with differences in screening levels for either cancer.ConclusionsThe association between lower rates of colorectal cancer screening and neighborhood racial segregation is consistent with known barriers to colonoscopy among African Americans combined with effects of segregation on health-related behaviors. Recognition of the association between segregation and lower colorectal cancer screening rates might be useful in informing and targeting community outreach to improve screening.

The Impact of Rental Housing on Neighborhood Racial and Social Integration

Neighborhood racial segregation continues to be a major social problem within America's metropolitan areas. One factor possibly accounting for segregation is the inability of minority households to afford housing in White neighborhoods, where housing units historically have been largely owner-occupied single-family homes. In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the housing makeup of many of these neighborhoods, with single-family rentals increasing in share. Rentals lower the cost of neighborhood entry. Our results, which suggest that these rentals reduce neighborhood racial segregation for Blacks, support policies that seek to maintain and grow single-family rentals within White neighborhoods.

Dual-process theory of racial isolation, legal cynicism, and reported crime

Why is neighborhood racial composition linked so strongly to police-reported crime? Common explanations include over-policing and negative interactions with police, but police reports of crime are heavily dependent on resident 911 calls. Using Sampson's concept of legal cynicism and Vaisey's dual-process theory, we theorize that racial concentration and isolation consciously and nonconsciously influence neighborhood variation in 911 calls for protection and prevention. The data we analyze are consistent with this thesis. Independent of police reports of crime, we find that neighborhood racial segregation in 1990 and the legal cynicism about crime prevention and protection it engenders have lasting effects on 911 calls more than a decade later, in 2006-2008. Our theory explains this persistent predictive influence through continuity and change in intervening factors. A source of cumulative continuity, the intensification of neighborhood racial concentration and isolation between 1990 and 2000, predicts 911 calls. Likewise, sources of change-heightened neighborhood incarceration and home foreclosures during the financial crisis in 2006-2008-also predict these calls. Our findings are consistent with legal cynicism theory's focus on neighborhood disadvantage, racial isolation, and concerns about police protection and crime prevention; they correspond less with the emphasis of procedural justice theory on police legitimacy.

Race, Space, and Cumulative Disadvantage: A Case Study of the Subprime Lending Collapse.

In this article, we describe how residential segregation and individual racial disparities generate racialized patterns of subprime lending and lead to financial loss among black borrowers in segregated cities. We conceptualize race as a cumulative disadvantage because of its direct and indirect effects on socioeconomic status at the individual and neighborhood levels, with consequences that reverberate across a borrower's life and between generations. Using Baltimore, Maryland as a case study setting, we combine data from reports filed under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act with additional loan-level data from mortgage-backed securities. We find that race and neighborhood racial segregation are critical factors explaining black disadvantage across successive stages in the process of lending and foreclosure, controlling for differences in borrower credit scores, income, occupancy status, and loan-to-value ratios. We analyze the cumulative cost of predatory lending to black borrowers in terms of reduced disposable income and lost wealth. We find the cost to be substantial. Black borrowers paid an estimated additional 5 to 11 percent in monthly payments and those that completed foreclosure in the sample lost an excess of $2 million in home equity. These costs were magnified in mostly black neighborhoods and in turn heavily concentrated in communities of color. By elucidating the mechanisms that link black segregation to discrimination we demonstrate how processes of cumulative disadvantage continue to undermine black socioeconomic status in the United States today.

The intersection of neighborhood racial segregation, poverty, and urbanicity and its impact on food store availability in the United States

BackgroundFood store availability may determine the quality of food consumed by residents. Neighborhood racial residential segregation, poverty, and urbanicity independently affect food store availability, but the interactions among them have not been studied. PurposeTo examine availability of supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores in US census tracts according to neighborhood racial/ethnic composition, poverty, and urbanicity. MethodsData from 2000 US Census and 2001 InfoUSA food store data were combined and multivariate negative binomial regression models employed. ResultsAs neighborhood poverty increased, supermarket availability decreased and grocery and convenience stores increased, regardless of race/ethnicity. At equal levels of poverty, Black census tracts had the fewest supermarkets, White tracts had the most, and integrated tracts were intermediate. Hispanic census tracts had the most grocery stores at all levels of poverty. In rural census tracts, neither racial composition nor level of poverty predicted supermarket availability. ConclusionsNeighborhood racial composition and neighborhood poverty are independently associated with food store availability. Poor predominantly Black neighborhoods face a double jeopardy with the most limited access to quality food and should be prioritized for interventions. These associations are not seen in rural areas which suggest that interventions should not be universal but developed locally.

Patterns of Racial Diversity and Segregation in the United States: 1990–2010*

The growing ethnic and racial diversity of the United States is evident at all spatial scales. One of the striking features of this new mixture of peoples, however, is that this new diversity often occurs in tandem with racial concentration. This article surveys these new geographies from four points of view: the nation as a whole, states, large metropolitan areas, and neighborhoods. The analysis at each scale relies on a new taxonomy of racial composition that simultaneously appraises both diversity and the lack thereof (Holloway, Wright, and Ellis 2012). Urban analysis often posits neighborhood racial segregation and diversity as either endpoints on a continuum of racial dominance or mirror images of one another. We disturb that perspective and stress that segregation and diversity must be jointly understood—they are necessarily related, although not as inevitable binary opposites. Using census data from 1990, 2000, and 2010, the research points to how patterns of racial diversity and dominance interact across varying spatial scales. This investigation helps answer some basic questions about the changing geographies of racialized groups, setting the stage for the following articles that explore the relationship between geography and the participation of underrepresented groups in higher education.

The Racially Fragmented City? Neighborhood Racial Segregation and Diversity Jointly Considered

This article reflects on the racial configuration of urban space. Previous research tends to posit racial segregation and diversity as either endpoints on a continuum of racial dominance or mirror images of one another. We argue that segregation and diversity must be jointly understood; they are necessarily related, although not inevitably as binary opposites. Our view is that the neighborhood geographies of U.S. metropolitan areas are simultaneously and increasingly marked by both racial segregation and racial diversity. We offer an approach that classifies neighborhoods based jointly on their compositional diversity and their racial dominance, illustrated by an examination of the neighborhood racial structure of several large metropolitan areas for 1990 and 2000. Compositional diversity increased in all metropolitan areas in ways rendered visible by our approach, including a sharp reduction in the number of highly segregated white neighborhoods, transitioning mostly into moderately diverse yet still white-dominated neighborhoods, and a fourfold increase in the number of highly diverse neighborhoods. Even so, many highly segregated spaces remain, especially for whites and blacks. Latino-dominated spaces show a mix of persistence and emergence. Although compositional diversity is increasing, highly diverse neighborhoods are still rare and are the least persistent of all racial configurations. Our approach clearly demonstrates the “both/and”-ness of segregation and diversity.

Assessing Neighborhood Racial Segregation and Macroeconomic Effects in the Education of African Americans

The “underclass” debate of the 1980s often concerned the relative importance of neighborhood racial and economic isolation to the educational challenges facing many African Americans. This review organizes the neighborhood effects research that has emerged since that time according to these differing perspectives. The review’s triangulated approach assesses (a) the association of a neighborhood’s racial segregation and low level of economic resources to less academic success, (b) whether certain neighborhood social processes lower children’s educational performance, and (c) if residential opportunity leads to improvements in educational performance after children leave impoverished and segregated neighborhoods for integrated and middle-class areas. The analysis reveals that the education of African Americans appears less affected by neighborhood conditions than the two perspectives suggest, at least as they are currently conceptualized and measured. The results are contextualized with the author’s identification of areas in the field where more research is needed, the problems and promise associated with particular analytical strategies, and other social, school-based, and human development dynamics that complicate the estimation of neighborhood influences in education.

Is Crime Contagious?

Understanding whether criminal behavior is “contagious” is important for law enforcement and for policies that affect how people are sorted across social settings. We test the hypothesis that criminal behavior is contagious by using data from the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) randomized housing mobility experiment to examine the extent to which lower local area crime rates decrease arrest rates among individuals. Our analysis exploits the fact that the effect of treatment group assignment yields different types of neighborhood changes across the five MTO demonstration sites. We use treatment by site interactions as instruments for measures of neighborhood crime rates, poverty, and racial segregation in our analysis of individual arrest outcomes. We are unable to detect evidence in support of the contagion hypothesis. Neighborhood racial segregation appears to be the most important explanation for across‐neighborhood variation in arrests for violent crimes in our sample, perhaps because drug market activity is more common in high‐minority neighborhoods.