Toward a Theory of Race, Crime, and Urban Inequality (From Crime and Inequality, P 37-54, 1995, John Hagan and Ruth D. Peterson, eds. - See NCJ-157570)

• NCJ Number: 157572
• Author(s): R J Sampson; W J Wilson
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Stanford University Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter proposes a theoretical strategy that incorporates both structural and cultural arguments regarding race, crime, and inequality in American cities.

Abstract

This theory holds that macro-social patterns of residential inequality promote the social isolation and ecological concentration of the urban poor, which leads to structural barriers and cultural adaptations that undermine the social control of crime. An analysis of the empirical and theoretical evidence, based on this framework, leads to the conclusion that community level factors, including the ecological concentration of ghetto poverty, racial segregation, residential mobility, family disruption, and social organization are prime areas in which social policies aimed at crime prevention should focus.