Extremely Disadvantaged Neighborhoods and Urban Crime

Abstract

Drawing on Wilson (1987), this article assesses two hypotheses concerning the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and crime: (1) extremely disadvantaged neighborhoods have unusually high rates of crime; and (2) local structural disadvantage is equally important in influencing crime in black and white neighborhoods. Hence, racial differences in structural disadvantage account for black-white differences in crime across communities. To test these hypotheses, we examine 1990 census and crime data for load areas in the city of Columbus, Ohio. The analysis lends substantial support for both arguments, particularly for the influence of structural disadvantage on violent crime.