NCJ Number
247513
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2014 Pages: 88-118
Date Published
February 2014
Length
31 pages
Annotation
To examine the social ecology of homicide in Toronto, Canada.
Abstract
To examine the social ecology of homicide in Toronto, Canada. Using both ordinary least squares regression and negative binomial models, we analyze the structural correlates of 965 homicides occurring in 140 neighborhoods in Toronto between 1988 and 2003. Similar to research in U.S. cities, Toronto neighborhoods with higher levels of economic disadvantage, higher proportions of young and Black residents, and greater residential instability have higher homicide rates. In contrast to U.S. studies, Toronto neighborhoods with higher proportions of residents who are recent immigrants also have higher homicide rates. In multivariate models, only two of these characteristicseconomic disadvantage and the proportion of residents aged 15 to 24are significantly associated with homicide in Toronto's neighborhoods. Despite low levels of both lethal violence and spatial inequality in Toronto, the correlates of homicide in its neighborhoods are similar in some respects to those in U.S. cities. Our findings lend support to the notion of invariance in some ecological covariates of homicide but also highlight the need to be cautious about generalizing from U.S.-based research on the relationship between immigration and homicide. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage.