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Societies
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Immigration and Crime
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Immigration and Crime

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 9633

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Raymond E. Barranco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA
Interests: immigration; crime; race/ethnicity; homicide; macro-criminology
Dr. Edward S. Shihadeh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Interests: immigration; crime; race/ethnicity; urban sociology; homicide

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Immigration is a major policy issue in the United States. The current public discourse is shaped heavily by allegations that immigration leads to more crime. The pushback to this view is that anti-immigration sentiments are not security related but are instead rooted in an age-old xenophobia of foreigners, a sentiment easily traced back to the Chinese immigration of the late 19th century. Scholarly research that assesses the empirical evidence about the relationship between immigration and potential criminogenic outcomes, particularly immigration across the U.S.–Mexico border, is key to this debate and dominates the current discourse. This Special Issue seeks submissions (articles, conceptual papers, or reviews) which address the intersection of immigration and crime. Topics may include, but are not limited to, criminal offending, criminal victimization, policing, incarceration, and the effects of immigration policy. Submissions will be peer reviewed and must be original work that has not been published previously. Additionally, the papers must also not be submitted elsewhere while under review for this Special Issue. We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Raymond E. Barranco
Dr. Edward S. Shihadeh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • immigration
  • crime
  • criminology
  • immigration policy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 340 KiB  
Article
Illuminating the Immigration–Crime Nexus: A Test of the Immigration Revitalization Perspective
by Javier Ramos, Cristal Hernandez and Davis Shelfer
Societies 2023, 13(6), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13060137 - 30 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2033
Abstract
Research shows that immigration is often associated with less crime. Yet, what remains unclear is why this is the case. The primary explanation for why immigration reduces crime, according to scholars, is the immigration revitalization thesis. This perspective argues that immigration revitalizes communities [...] Read more.
Research shows that immigration is often associated with less crime. Yet, what remains unclear is why this is the case. The primary explanation for why immigration reduces crime, according to scholars, is the immigration revitalization thesis. This perspective argues that immigration revitalizes communities by promoting local business growth, bolstering social ties, and enhancing conventional institutions (e.g., churches, voluntary organizations), which then reduce crime. These ideas, however, have never been tested. Using longitudinal data from 139 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) between 2000 and 2019, we examine whether the relationship between immigration and violent crime is mediated by changes in the percentage of households headed by married couples, number of ethnic businesses, and/or number of immigrant/ethnic-oriented organizations. The results from the generalized structural equation models (GSEM) and mediation tests offer some support for the immigration revitalization perspective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immigration and Crime)
19 pages, 339 KiB  
Article
Staying under the Radar? Immigration Effects on Overdose Deaths and the Impact of Sanctuary Jurisdictions
by Kelly Pierce, Diana Sun and Ben Feldmeyer
Societies 2023, 13(6), 135; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13060135 - 26 May 2023
Viewed by 1419
Abstract
Growing political and public rhetoric claim that immigration has contributed to drug crime and the overdose crisis of the 21st century. However, research to date has given little attention to immigration–overdose relationships, and almost no work has examined the ways that the sanctuary [...] Read more.
Growing political and public rhetoric claim that immigration has contributed to drug crime and the overdose crisis of the 21st century. However, research to date has given little attention to immigration–overdose relationships, and almost no work has examined the ways that the sanctuary status of locales influences these connections. The current study draws on the immigrant revitalization perspective and Brayne’s (2014) systems avoidance theory to examine the connections between immigrant concentration, sanctuary status, and overdose mortality across MSAs for the 2015 period, overall and across races/ethnicities. The analysis uses data on overdose deaths drawn from the CDC’s Restricted Access Multiple Cause of Death Mortality files, combined with data on characteristics of MSAs drawn from the U.S. Census and other macro-level data sources. Findings reveal that the percent Latinx foreign-born is related to lower levels of overdose deaths overall and for White and Black populations but higher levels of Latinx overdose mortality. Contrary to expectations, sanctuary status has little effect on overdose deaths across most groups, and it does not significantly condition immigration–overdose relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immigration and Crime)
17 pages, 320 KiB  
Article
Immigrant Victimization: Centering Language in Theory, Data and Method
by Meghan Maree Ballard and Charis E. Kubrin
Societies 2023, 13(4), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13040101 - 14 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2382
Abstract
Compared to immigrant criminality, relatively less attention is paid to immigrant victimization, even as extensive scholarship on criminal victimization exists more generally. This is curious in light of research showing that certain immigrant groups are at increased risk of victimization with respect to [...] Read more.
Compared to immigrant criminality, relatively less attention is paid to immigrant victimization, even as extensive scholarship on criminal victimization exists more generally. This is curious in light of research showing that certain immigrant groups are at increased risk of victimization with respect to certain crimes. In this essay, we set out to answer the following questions: How do leading theories of victimization explain the risk of immigrant victimization? Are there aspects of immigrant victimization that would benefit from further theorization and empirical inquiry? How do challenges associated with data collection of immigrant populations impact the advancement of theorizing and research on immigrant victimization? What insights about immigrant victimization may be gained by better integrating theory, data, and method in this research area? To answer these questions, we first provide an overview of classic frameworks used to explain criminal victimization in general, mapping their development to broader discussions in victimology. We then review how victimization theories are used to explain immigrant victimization, discuss the possibility of using culturally integrated theories of offending in immigrant victimization research, and examine data impediments associated with studying immigrant crime victims. With an aim toward integrating theory, data, and method in this research area, we next propose that scholars center language in research on immigrant victimization, offering examples of where such an approach could yield important theoretical and empirical advancements. We conclude by identifying policies and practices that are consistent with this approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immigration and Crime)
12 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Justice System Contact and Health: Do Immigrants Fair Better or Worse than the Native-Born after Arrest, Probation, or Incarceration?
by Casey T. Harris, Michael Nino, Zhe (Meredith) Zhang and Mia Robert
Societies 2023, 13(3), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13030077 - 21 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1514
Abstract
Despite decades of both macro- and micro-level studies showing immigration to be unassociated or negatively linked to crime, research examining the consequences of justice system contact among immigrants has been comparatively underdeveloped. The current study examines whether justice system contact (arrest, probation, and [...] Read more.
Despite decades of both macro- and micro-level studies showing immigration to be unassociated or negatively linked to crime, research examining the consequences of justice system contact among immigrants has been comparatively underdeveloped. The current study examines whether justice system contact (arrest, probation, and incarceration) is linked to poorer health and, in turn, whether there were differences in how justice system contact is related to immigrant versus native-born health. Using data from multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we construct both ordinal and Poisson regression models predicting poor self-rated health and the prevalence of chronic health conditions for both foreign-born and native-born groups, as well as different generations. The findings suggest important differences by nativity, immigrant generation, and type of justice system contact. Despite lower criminality than the native-born, the health of immigrants is deleteriously impacted by some types of justice system contact, especially incarceration, while probation is more strongly linked to poor health among the native-born. Our findings carry implications for the provision of care for individuals with histories of criminal justice involvement, as well as academic research examining the consequences of justice contact and the immigration–crime nexus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immigration and Crime)

Other

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10 pages, 1227 KiB  
Concept Paper
Latino Paradox or Black Exception? Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in the 21st Century
by Edward S. Shihadeh and Raymond E. Barranco
Societies 2023, 13(5), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13050123 - 12 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1706
Abstract
George Floyd’s murder by a Minnesota police officer sparked outrage, protests, and a re-evaluation of racial inequities in America. Within criminology, we argue, that re-evaluation should include the Latino Paradox, the idea that Latino communities are an exception—a paradox—in that, while they face [...] Read more.
George Floyd’s murder by a Minnesota police officer sparked outrage, protests, and a re-evaluation of racial inequities in America. Within criminology, we argue, that re-evaluation should include the Latino Paradox, the idea that Latino communities are an exception—a paradox—in that, while they face economic deprivation, they also possess a magical something that makes them resistant to social problems like crime. Unfortunately, this compels the more delicate question; what is the deficiency in Black communities that makes them so vulnerable to crime? However, as we argue here, the Latino Paradox forces a false comparison. Its assumptions with respect to crime are factually incorrect, it demeans Blacks by neglecting their historical context, it romanticizes the Latino experience, and it misdirects policy making. It also leads to lazy theorizing by suggesting that the Latino Paradox forces a re-evaluation of a major criminology theory, Social Disorganization. Indeed, Social Disorganization Theory can adequately explain past and present links between immigration and crime. In light of these problems, it is time to drop the Latino Paradox as an explanation for the race/ethnic differences in crime. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Immigration and Crime)
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