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Homicide and Social Disorganization on the Border: Implications for Latino and Immigrant Populations
Author(s) -
Emerick Nicholas A.,
Curry Theodore R.,
Collins Timothy W.,
Fernando Rodriguez S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/ssqu.12051
Subject(s) - homicide , immigration , poverty , immigration and crime , criminology , ethnic group , census , race (biology) , inequality , demography , demographic economics , geography , poison control , injury prevention , sociology , political science , medicine , immigration law , population , environmental health , gender studies , economics , mathematical analysis , archaeology , mathematics , anthropology , law
Objective We advance social disorganization theory by examining homicides disaggregated by motive and gang relation and by using data from El Paso, Texas—a predominantly Latino city with high levels of immigration and poverty. Methods We analyze homicide data from the El Paso Police Department's detective logs, 1985–1995, as well as data from the 1990 U.S. Decennial Census. Results Key measures of social disorganization tend to be associated with homicide but these relationships vary across type of homicide. Immigration and percent African American show no connection with any homicide measure, while percent Latino is only positively associated with gang‐related homicides. Conclusion Overall, social disorganization is useful in understanding homicide in El Paso, but race/ethnicity and immigration do not operate as predicted. These results add important knowledge to a growing literature regarding the neighborhood‐level associations between immigration, Latinos, and crime.