Neighborhoods, the Decision Process and Crime

Citation

Gibbs, Carole; Rivers, Louie; & Ma, Wenjuan (2019). Neighborhoods, the Decision Process and Crime. American Society of Criminology annual meeting. San Francisco, CA.

Abstract

Concentrated disadvantage is associated with higher crime rates, and the quality of the decision process has been linked to individual delinquency. Despite calls for understanding how particular contexts shape the decision process to produce crime, knowledge of these connections is lacking. Theoretically, living in high-crime, disadvantaged neighborhoods may decrease the quality of the decision process, sometimes referred to as thoughtfully reflective decision making (TRDM). On the other hand, TRDM may not vary by neighborhood, but living in a disadvantaged community may override the protective function of this system of decision making. In our work, we use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health data to examine the relative impact of concentrated disadvantage and TRDM on individual violence in varying neighborhood contexts, and whether this dimension of the decision-making process partially mediates the relationship between neighborhood structure and crime. Implications for theory and policy will be discussed.

Reference Type

Conference proceeding

Book Title

American Society of Criminology annual meeting

Author(s)

Gibbs, Carole
Rivers, Louie
Ma, Wenjuan

Year Published

2019

City of Publication

San Francisco, CA

Reference ID

6608