NCJ Number
228166
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 261-273
Date Published
August 2009
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored whether and how the changing face of immigration was related to homicide patterns within the contemporary urban environment.
Abstract
Results show that neighborhoods varied considerably in their initial levels of homicide and in trends in homicide rates over time. Between 1970 and 1990, growth in the foreign-born population was consistent for all neighborhoods, regardless of homicide trajectory membership, reflecting general increases in immigration across the city. However, residential patterns for recent immigrants/migrants varied greatly by local homicide levels and trends. The most dangerous and volatile neighborhoods exhibited net negative growth in recent immigrants/migrants between 1970 and 1990, whereas the safest neighborhoods in Chicago were clear destination for settlement. Moreover, these striking and contrary results held despite the operational overlap in proportion foreign born and proportion recent immigrant/migrant population within neighborhoods. Many of the recent immigrants/migrants were also foreign born, but most of those comprising the foreign born category were not recent immigrants. This suggests that the differences in patterns of growth for foreign born and recent immigrants/migrants by neighborhood homicide trajectory membership were primarily a function of time (recent) of arrival. Data were collected from 12,541 homicides between 1980 and 1995 whose cases were found in the public-use Chicago Homicide Data Set. Figures, notes, and references