Open AccessPuerto Rican Victimization and Crime on the Mainland
Author(s) -
Wallis E. Adams,
Irina Todorova,
Luis M. Falcón
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
hispanic journal of behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1552-6364
pISSN - 0739-9863
DOI - 10.1177/0739986314564149
Subject(s) - acculturation , psychology , fear of crime , immigration , social psychology , context (archaeology) , criminology , poison control , developmental psychology , geography , medicine , environmental health , archaeology
This study addresses criminal victimization and contact with police among older Puerto Ricans living in Northeastern United States. Framing their experiences within the context of immigration, we assess the role that acculturation and perceived stress play on Puerto Rican crime and victimization. Data from the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS; N = 1,504) were analyzed using multiple logistic regressions. The experience of criminal victimization by Puerto Ricans is associated with higher educational attainment, increased perceived stress, and also with psychological acculturation. Contact with police is associated with linguistic, but not psychological, acculturation. Our findings give strength to the argument that exposure to crime and the criminal justice system increases with acculturation and that this argument is relevant to Puerto Ricans. Thus, the association between acculturation, criminal victimization, and police contact depends on the conceptualization of acculturation used. The relationship between stress, acculturation, and crime among Latinos is complex and warrants further assessment.