The Historical Context of Neighborhood Racial Diversity and Crime in Philadelphia, PA

• Author: Jeaneé C. Miller
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221110998
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221110998

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2022, Vol. 38(4) 456 –474

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862221110998

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Article

The Historical Context

of Neighborhood Racial

Diversity and Crime in

Philadelphia, PA

Jeaneé C. Miller1

Abstract

Social science theory and research have linked racial diversity to both positive and

negative outcomes for communities. Research has also demonstrated that the effects

of demographic indicators sometimes vary across space and time. This complex web

of results calls for examinations of the spatial and temporal elements at play in

this relationship. Using spatial lag models, I analyze the relationship between racial

diversity—both as a static measurement and as the 20-year change—and crime

in four distinct neighborhood clusters in Philadelphia, PA. I first find evidence of

spatial heterogeneity—that racial diversity predicts lower crime rates in one

community, but higher crime rates in another. Second, the change in racial diversity

influences crime in ways that differ from the static diversity measure. These results

provide support for both competing hypotheses regarding the racial diversity–

crime connection while also underscoring the role of spatiotemporal contexts in

illuminating the dynamism of neighborhood processes.

Keywords

neighborhoods, crime, demography, racial diversity, Philadelphia

Introduction

Social scientists have long examined the issue of racial heterogeneity or diversity and

its connection to crime in communities (Krivo et al., 2009; Kubrin, 2000; Putnam,

1University of Delaware, Newark, USA

*Jeaneé C. Miller is also affiliated to Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Old Dominion

University, Norfolk, VA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jeaneé C. Miller, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE

19716, USA.

Email: jcmiller@udel.edu

1110998CCJXXX10.1177/10439862221110998Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeMiller

research-article2022

Miller 457

2007; Sampson & Groves, 1989; Shaw & McKay, 1942). This topic has become more

salient over time, as gradual changes in the country’s racial composition1 have

increased the likelihood of neighborhood racial diversity. Still, a large portion of

America’s neighborhoods remains racially segregated (Logan & Stults, 2011). As a

result, research on both residential segregation and diversity has proliferated. Early

research on neighborhood racial diversity found that increased diversity was linked to

elevated crime rates (Lander, 1954; Sellin, 1938; Shaw & McKay, 1942). Prominent

theories in this area explained this connection as evidence that residents of racially

diverse communities struggle to coexist in harmony. However, more recent research

on neighborhood racial diversity has produced mixed results (Hipp, 2007; Miethe &

McDowall, 1993; Walsh & Taylor, 2007a; B. D. Warner & Pierce, 1993). This is com-

plicated by the fact that scholars have identified diversity or integration as a remedy to

residential segregation, which has been shown to be harmful for communities (Massey

& Denton, 1993).

The Consequences of Residential Segregation

Massey and Denton’s American Apartheid (1993) and Peterson and Krivo’s Divergent

Social Worlds (2010) are landmark works that established the role of residential segre-

gation in exacerbating social inequality in American society. Although these books

were not the first to highlight the effects of segregation (see, for example, DuBois,

1899, 1903; National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968), they argued that

neighborhood racial composition is a primary factor that influences outcomes in

America’s neighborhoods. Within this vein of research, scholars have established that

minority, especially predominantly Black, neighborhoods are often isolated and are

susceptible to suffering from concentrated disadvantage. The individuals who live in

isolated minority neighborhoods are often shown to experience decreased educational

attainment, limited access to employment, and greater reliance on public assistance

(Krivo et al., 2009; Massey & Denton, 1988). In addition, these neighborhoods have

been found to frequently experience decreased property values, limited access to com-

mercial goods, inferior educational institutions, increased levels of crime, inadequate

collective organization, and insufficient access to healthy foods (Charles, 2003; Galster

& Hill, 1992; Krivo et al., 2009; Kwate, 2008; Massey & Denton, 1993).

Competing Perspectives on Diversity

Given the evidence that establishes the ills of residential segregation, scholars and

policymakers have sought an appropriate solution. In many cases, these experts have

suggested that the most promising response to inequality due to segregation is residen-

tial integration or increased racial diversity (Denton, 2010; Galster, 1992). That said,

research has not definitively established that neighborhood diversity produces positive

outcomes, on average (Oliver, 2010).

Throughout the past several decades, there has been an ongoing debate as to the

merits and drawbacks of neighborhood racial diversity. This debate is multifaceted,