Theories explaining the relationship between neighbourhood stressors and depressive symptoms

This study synthesizes the current theoretical knowledge to explain the relationship between neighbourhood stressors and depressive symptoms. The two most relevant sociological theories, social disorganization theory and stress process theory, are identified. The current study carefully reviewed the two theories regarding their historical development and key conceptual aspects, beginning with the theoretical evolution of research on neighbourhood stressors and mental health. This study also provides detailed critiques on each theory and suggests how researchers can apply both theories to their empirical testing. For example, social disorganization theory points out the application of both objective and subjective aspects of neighbourhood stressors. Also, the stress process theory emphasizes the mediating or moderating role of psychosocial resources. In conclusion, this study suggests a conceptual model of neighbourhood stressors, psychosocial resources, and depressive symptoms.

A spatial Analysis of Crime and Neighborhood Characteristics in Detroit Census Block Groups

Crime has an inherent geographical quality and when a crime occurs, it happens within a particular space making spatiality essential component in crime studies. To prevent and respond to crimes, it is first essential to identify the factors that trigger crimes and then design policy and strategy based on each factor. This project investigates the spatial dimension of violent crime rates in the city of Detroit for 2019. Crime data were obtained from the City of Detroit Data Portal and demographic data relating to social disorganization theory were obtained from the Census Bureau. In the presence of spatial spill over and spatial dependence, the assumptions of classical statistics are violated, and Ordinary Least Squares estimations are inefficient in explaining spatial dimensions of crime. This paper uses explanatory variables relating to the social disorganization theory of crime and spatial autoregressive models to determine the predictors of violent crime in the City for the period. Using GeoDa 1.18 and ArcGIS Desktop 10.7.1 software package, Spatial Lag Models (SLM) and Spatial Error Models were carried out to determine which model has high performance in identifying predictors of violent crime. SLM outperformed SEM in terms of efficiency with (AIC:5268.52; Breusch-Pagan test: 9.8402; R2: 16% & Log Likelihood: −2627.26) > SEM (AIC: 5275.24; Breusch-Pagan test: 9.7601; R2: 15% & Log Likelihood: −2630.6194). Strong support is found for the spatial disorganization theory of crime. High percent ethnic heterogeneity (% black) and high college graduates are the strongest predictors of violent crime in the study area.

Debtors’ Blocks: How Monetary Sanctions Make Between-neighborhood Racial and Economic Inequalities Worse

Although recent scholarship has enumerated many individual-level consequences of criminal legal citations and sentences involving fines and fees, we know surprisingly little about the structural consequences of monetary sanctions or legal financial obligations (LFOs). We use social disorganization and critical race theories to examine neighborhood-level associations between and among LFO sentence amounts, poverty, and racial and ethnic demographics. Using longitudinal data from the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, and the American Community Survey, we find LFOs are more burdensome in high-poverty communities and of color, and that per-capita rates of LFOs sentenced are associated with increased future poverty rates across all neighborhoods.

Revising the Critical Gaze: An Inversion of Criminological Theories to Center Race, Racism, and Resistance

<p>We offer a method to invert and redefine three predominant criminological theories from deficit-based to strength-based theories of crime. Using a nine-step protocol, we devised procedures on how to perform theoretical inversions, which include critically assessing the original framework of an identified theory, assuming an opposite frame, listing the original propositions, and applying an opposing frame to revise the original theory’s proposition. Our inversion method produced punitive provocation theory, critical environmental adaptation theory, and socio-structural induction theory, as theoretical inversions of deterrence, social disorganization, and self-control theories. We suggest different measurement options for these new inverted theories, including a focus on the structural antecedents of crime such as racial/ethnic discrimination, exclusion, surveillance practices, and divestment from communities. To ameliorate under-theorizing and create a more equitable and less harmful society, we urge theorists, researchers, and practitioners to adopt a more inclusive, critical, and reflexive approach to understanding human behavior.</p>

The Multilevel Effects of Changes in Disadvantage on Changes in Crime

While social disorganization theory suggests the importance of change, most prior research examining macro-level criminological associations uses cross-sectional data. The current study examines the multilevel relationship between changes in disadvantage and changes in crime over time using four data sources: the National Neighborhood Crime Study, the 2000 U.S. Census, crime-incidents occurring between 2005 and 2009, and the 2005–2009 American Community Survey. Analyzing 6,068 census tracts within 53 large U.S. cities using multilevel models with time nested within tracts nested within cities, I parse out the contribution of changes in tract-level disadvantage from city-level disadvantage to changes in robbery and burglary rates. Results indicate the importance of both static and dynamic associations between disadvantage and crime, at both the neighborhood and city level.

Gang Membership and Gang Crime in New Zealand: A National Study Identifying Spatial Risk Factors

In this exploratory study, we identify the spatial risk factors associated with gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand using social disorganization as a theoretical framework. Gang membership data from the Gang Intelligence Center and gang crime data from New Zealand Police are included in spatial regression models to identify risk factors. Overall marginal support was found for the use of social disorganization constructs to explain gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand. Higher deprivation and higher diversity were both found to be associated with gang membership and gang crime, respectively. Some similarities and notable differences were observed between our results and the mainly U.S.-centric results of past spatial gang research. This study allows for a greater understanding of the generalizability of the social disorganization theory to explain gang membership and gang crime in areas with markedly different cultural perspectives and ethnocentricities to the United States.

(Re)conceptualizing Neighborhood Ecology in Social Disorganization Theory: From a Variable-Centered Approach to a Neighborhood-Centered Approach

Shaw and McKay advanced social disorganization theory in the 1930s, kick-starting a large body of research on communities and crime. Studies emphasize individual impacts of poverty, residential instability, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity by examining their independent effects on crime, adopting a variable-centered approach. We use a “neighborhood-centered” approach that considers how structural forces combine into unique constellations that vary across communities, with consequences for crime. Examining neighborhoods in Southern California we: (1) identify neighborhood typologies based on levels of poverty, instability, and heterogeneity; (2) explore how these typologies fit within a disorganization framework and are spatially distributed across the region; and (3) examine how these typologies are differentially associated with crime. Results reveal nine neighborhood types with varying relationships to crime.