Criminologists have consistently found that neighborhoods with more immigrants do not have more crime, but in fact often have less crime. Criminologists have proposed that voluntary organizations can help neighborhoods deal with problems that can result in more crime. One possibility for why some immigrant neighborhoods have lower crime rates is that they have voluntary organizations that help organize the community. We test this possibility with longitudinal data in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and find evidence that such organizations do indeed seem to be beneficial for some neighborhoods over time.

You can access the article by lab alumnus Young-An Kim, Dr. John R. Hipp, and Dr. Charis E. Kubrin in the journal Crime & Delinquency entitled, “Immigrant Organizations and Neighborhood Crime”. 

Urban Scholars define the 3 D’s of ecological environments as density, diversity and design. This study constructs measures of these features and assesses how they are related to levels of crime across street segments in Southern California.

You can access the article by lab alumnus Young-An Kim and Dr. John R. Hipp in the Journal of Criminal Justice entitled, “Density, Diversity, and Design: Three Measures of the Built Environment and the Spatial Patterns of Crime in Street Segments.”. 

This study proposes a new strategy for measuring gentrification in neighborhoods. It uses a latent class analysis strategy to determine different types of gentrifying neighborhoods based on various characteristics. The study demonstrates that gentrification is not a “one size fits all” type of process, and it can look different across various neighborhoods.

You can access the article by Seth Williams and Dr. John R. Hipp in the journal Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space entitled, “The shape of neighborhoods to come: Examining patterns of gentrification and holistic neighborhood change in Los Angeles County, 1980–2010”. 

This study encourages researchers to turn away from the common variable-centered approach– adopting instead a “neighborhood-centered” approach– to consider how neighborhood structural forces of interest in social disorganization theory combine into unique constellations or patterns 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.

You can access the article by Dr. Charis E. Kubrin, Nicholas Branic, and Dr. John R. Hipp in the journal Crime & Delinquency entitled, “(Re)conceptualizing Neighborhood Ecology in Social Disorganization Theory: From a Variable-Centered Approach to a Neighborhood-Centered Approach”.