Advancing the Understanding of Immigration, Crime, and Crime Reporting at the Local Level with a Synthetic Population, United States, 2019 (ICPSR 39318)
This study investigated the complex relationship between unauthorized immigration and crime at the local level. Through a mix of data fusion, synthetic population modeling, and detailed crime reporting from selected jurisdictions, the study sought to produce nuanced insights to challenge prevailing assumptions about immigration and crime, ultimately aiding in informed policy-making and resource allocation.
This study employed crime and crime reporting data from ten jurisdictions across the United States paired with synthetic data which estimated the unauthorized immigrant population. This research aimed to provide an in-depth analysis at the census tract level. Analyses focused on unauthorized immigration and its correlation with drug, property, and violent crime rates, while accounting for crime reporting in traditional and emerging immigrant destinations along with sites with low foreign populations.
Assessing the Relationship Between Immigration Status, Crime, Gang Affiliation, and Victimization, Arizona, 2007-2023 (ICPSR 39107)
Over the last several years, the topic of immigration has gained increased attention from politicians, policymakers, and the media. This attention has centered on the prevalence of undocumented immigrants entering and residing within the United States, concern over increasing crime rates involving undocumented immigrants, and the appropriateness of the various policies aimed at controlling the influx of undocumented immigrants into the country. The recent wave of immigration from Latin America has led to a renewed public outcry and overall concerns regarding the relationship between immigration, crime and gang involvement, and the safety of the American public.
Thus, the goal of this project was to conduct a multi-methodological study to examine immigrants' involvement in crime, gang membership, and experiences with violent victimization. In addition, this project examined alcohol and drug use among immigrants. This project relied on data collected in Maricopa County, Arizona. Specifically, this project relied on
- analyses of previously collected quantitative self-report data from a sample of recently booked arrestees,
- analyses of quantitative self-report data collected from a community sample of immigrants (of different immigration statuses) and US-born citizens, and
- analysis of qualitative data collected from a community sample of immigrants (of different immigration statuses) and US-born citizens.
The results provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between immigration status and crime, gang involvement, and victimization as well as an understanding of immigrants' alcohol and drug use, relative to US-born citizens.
The Changing Geography of American Immigration and its Effects on Violent Victimization: Evidence from the National Crime Victimization Survey, [United States], 1980-2012 (ICPSR 36579)
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This project used data from multiple sources-the area-identified National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS, 2008-2012), and data from other public data sources such as the American Community Survey (ACS) and the decennial Census data-to study how the changing geography of American immigration has influenced violent victimization among different racial and ethnic groups, particularly Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites.
This collection includes three Stata data files:
- "Data_File1_county_foreignborn_1980_2010.dta" with 6 variables and 3,103 cases
- "Data_File2_county_variables_2007_2012.dta" with 19 variables and 18,618 cases
- "Data_File3_tract_variables_2007_2012.dta" with 16 variables and 440,083 cases.
The area-identified NCVS data are only accessible through the Census Research Data Centers and could not be archived.
Crime and Victimization on the United States-Mexico Border: A Comparison of Legal Residents, Illegal Residents and Native-Born Citizens, Texas, 2019-2023 (ICPSR 39110)
Illegal Immigration and Crime in San Diego and El Paso Counties, 1985-1986 (ICPSR 9330)
Immigration, Marriage and Desistance from Crime, 1997-2009 [United States] (ICPSR 34687)
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This study is an analysis of 13 waves of data retrieved from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 survey (NLSY97) in order to examine the influence of marriage on immigrant offending trajectories from adolescence to young adulthood. There were three specific research questions considered:
- Are second generation immigrants entering into marriage at a slower pace than their first generation immigrant peers?
- What role does marriage play in understanding immigrant offending?
- Is the relationship between marriage and offending affected by immigrant generation or country/region of birth (i.e., nativity)?
Distributed here is the code used for the secondary analysis and the code to compile the datasets.
Impact of Immigration on Ethnic-Specific Violence in Miami, Florida, 1997 (ICPSR 3872)
New Directions in Research on Immigration and Crime, United States, 2000-2020 (ICPSR 39266)
Pretrial Release of Latino Defendants in the United States, 1990-2004 (ICPSR 25521)
The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of Latino ethnicity on pretrial release decisions in large urban counties. The study examined two questions:
- Are Latino defendants less likely to receive pretrial releases than non-Latino defendants?
- Are Latino defendants in counties where the Latino population is rapidly increasing less likely to receive pretrial releases than Latino defendants in counties where the Latino population is not rapidly increasing?
The study utilized the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) Database (see STATE COURT PROCESSING STATISTICS, 1990-2004: FELONY DEFENDANTS IN LARGE URBAN COUNTIES [ICPSR 2038]). The SCPS collects data on felony cases filed in state courts in 40 of the nation's 75 largest counties over selected sample dates in the month of May of every even numbered year, and tracks a representative sample of felony case defendants from arrest through sentencing. Data in the collection include 118,556 cases.
Researchers supplemented the SCPS with county-level information from several sources:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program county-level data series of index crimes reported to the police for the years 1988-2004 (see UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS: COUNTY-LEVEL DETAILED ARREST AND OFFENSE DATA, 1998 [ICPSR 9335], UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM DATA [UNITED STATES]: COUNTY-LEVEL DETAILED ARREST AND OFFENSE DATA, 1990 [ICPSR 9785], 1992 [ICPSR 6316], 1994 [ICPSR 6669], 1996 [ICPSR 2389], 1998 [ICPSR 2910], 2000 [ICPRS 3451], 2002 [ICPSR 4009], and 2004 [ICPSR 4466]).
- Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Survey of Jails, Jurisdiction-Level data series for the years 1988-2004 (see ANNUAL SURVEY OF JAILS: JURISDICTION-LEVEL DATA, 1990 [ICPSR 9569], 1992 [ICPSR 6395], 1994 [ICPSR 6538], 1996 [ICPSR 6856], 1998 [ICPSR 2682], 2000 [ICPSR 3882], 2002 [ICPSR 4428], and 2004 [ICPSR 20200]).
- Bureau of Justice Statistics National Prosecutors Survey/Census data series 1990-2005 (see NATIONAL PROSECUTORS SURVEY, 1990 [ICPSR 9579], 1992 [ICPSR 6273], 1994 [ICPSR 6785], 1996 [ICPSR 2433], 2001 census [ICPSR 3418], and 2005 [ICPSR 4600]).
- United States Census Bureau State and County Quickfacts.
- National Center for State Courts, State Court Organization reports, 1993 (see NCJ 148346), 1998 (see NCJ 178932), and 2004 (see NCJ 212351).
- Bureau of Justice Statistics Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties reports, 1992 (see NCJ 148826), 1994 (see NCJ 164616), 1996 (see NCJ 176981), 1998 (see NJC 187232), 2000 (see NCJ 202021), and 2002 (see NJC 210818).
The data include defendant level variables such as most serious current offense charge, number of charges, prior felony convictions, prior misdemeanor convictions, prior incarcerations, criminal justice status at arrest, prior failure to appear, age, gender, ethnicity, and race. County level variables include region, crime rate, two year change in crime rate, caseload rate, jail capacity, two year change in jail capacity, judicial selection by election or appointment, prosecutor screens cases, and annual expenditure on prosecutor's office. Racial threat stimuli variables include natural log of the percentage of the county population that is Latino, natural log of the percentage of the county population that is African American, change in the percentage of the county population that is Latino over the last six years and change in the percentage of the county population that is African American over the last six years. Cross-level interaction variables include percentage minority (Latino/African American) population zero percent to 15 percent, percentage minority (Latino/African American) population 16 percent to 30 percent, and percentage minority (Latino/African American) population 31 percent or higher.
Social Bonds Across Immigration Generations and the Immigrant School Enclave: A Multilevel Longitudinal Study of Student Violence, School Disorder, and Dropping Out, United States, 2002 (ICPSR 35647)
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they there received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except of the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompany readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collections and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This study consists of a secondary analysis of data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS) to investigate associations between immigration, misbehavior, victimization, disorder, and educational failure (i.e., dropping out). Six research questions that were addressed in this study include: do school social bonds vary across immigration generations? Second, is student violence (i.e., misbehavior and victimization) explained by school social bonds across generations? Third, are student violence and school disorder related to the children immigrants' likelihood of dropping out? Fourth, are strong school social bonds mitigating the likelihood of dropping out for the children of immigrants? Fifth, are immigrant school enclaves associated with increased school social bonds among adolescents, decreased student violence and school disorder, and lower levels of dropping out? Sixth, does the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender moderate the relationship between student violence and school social bonds for the children of immigrants?
There are no data files available with this study. Only the syntax file used by the researcher is provided.
Understanding the Fear of Street Gangs: The Importance of Community Conditions [Santa Ana, California, 1997] (ICPSR 32161)
This study was designed as an exploratory study to understand fear of gang crime among residents living in an urban area plagued by gangs. During the Summer of 1997, six focus groups were conducted in Santa Ana, California -- two in lower income neighborhoods, two in middle income neighborhoods, and two in upper income neighborhoods. After the focus groups ended, participants were asked to take disposable cameras with them and take pictures of examples of neighborhood factors that prompted them to fear gangs and then mail them back to me in a postage-paid envelope.
The research questions guiding this study were: How do the fear-of-crime perspectives apply to fear of gang crime specifically? When worrying about gang crime, do different people focus primarily on different problems (e.g., some diversity or some disorder), or do the same people think about all of these factors? Findings first showed that all four theoretical perspectives on fear of crime applied to the same people at once, rather than to different people (e.g., some being worried about racial and ethnic differences but others about disorder). Second, findings illustrated specifically how these residents connected the factors into one thought process leading to fear of gangs. Residents in these groups clearly believed that ethnic and cultural diversity, or in this case, recent "illegal" Latino immigrants, brought disorder, which in turn caused community decline and brought gangs. This thought process led to personal fear of gang-related victimization. Their beliefs about these causal connections were primarily influenced by their knowledge and observations that gangs in the area were Latino; by direct observation of area diversity disorder, and decline; and by experience living in their changing neighborhoods over time. In addition, beliefs were fueled by indirect victimization, or knowledge gained primarily through acquaintances such as neighbors and community policing officers.