The Spatial Distribution and Social Context of Homicide in Toronto’s Neighborhoods

AuthorSara K. Thompson,Rosemary Gartner
DOI10.1177/0022427813487352
Date01 February 2014
Published date01 February 2014
Subject MatterArticles
Article
The Spatial
Distribution and
Social Context of
Homicide in
Toronto’s
Neighborhoods
Sara K. Thompson
1
and Rosemary Gartner
2
Abstract
Objectives: To examine the social ecology of homicide in Toronto, Canada.
Method: Using both ordinary least squares regression and negative binomial
models, we analyze the structural correlates of 965 homicides occurring in
140 neighborhoods in Toronto between 1988 and 2003. Results: Similar to
research in U.S. cities, Toronto neighborhoods with higher levels of eco-
nomic disadvantage, higher proportions of young and Black residents, and
greater residential instability have higher homicide rates. In contrast to U.S.
studies, Toronto neighborhoods with higher proportions of residents who
are recent imm igrants also h ave higher hom icide rates. I n multivariat e
models, only two of these characteristics—economic disadvantage and the
proportion of residents aged 15 to 24—are significantly associated with
homicide in Toronto’s neighborhoods. Despite low levels of both lethal
1
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
2
Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Sara K. Thompson, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ryerson University, 350
Victoria St., Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
Email: skthompson@ryerson.ca
Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency
2014, Vol 51(1) 88-118
ªThe Author(s) 2013
Reprints and permission:
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DOI: 10.1177/0022427813487352
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violence and spatial inequality in Toronto, the correlates of homicide in its
neighborhoods are similar in some respects to those in U.S. cities.
Conclusion: Our findings lend support to the notion of invariance in some
ecological covariates of homicide but also highlight the need to be cautious
about generalizing from U.S.-based research on the relationship between
immigration and homicide.
Keywords
homicide, neighborhoods and crime, spatial analysis, comparative
criminology
It is fitting that Chicago, the birthplace of theory and research on the social
ecology of crime, has been the site of more studies of how neighborhood
context shapes homicide and other crimes than any other city in the world
(e.g., Block and Block 1992; Browning, Feinberg, and Dietz 2004; Bursik
and Grasmick 1993; Sampson 2012; Shaw 1929; Zimmerman and Messner
2011). In the last few years, ‘‘neighborhood effects’’ research on homicide
has been extended to other American cities, such as New York, St. Louis,
Columbus, Miami, and San Diego (Hannon 2005; Kubrin 2003; Lee, Mar-
tinez, and Rosenfeld 2001; Martinez, Stowell, and Cancino 2008; Peterson,
Krivo, and Harris 2000). The findings from this research are remarkably
consistent across regions of the country, cities of different sizes, and levels
of homicide: Urban neighborhoods in the United States characterized by
high levels of economic disadvantage, racial isolation and inequality, and
single-parent families and that border on neighborhoods with high levels
of violent crime have higher homicide rates (Kirk and Laub 2010; Messner
and Zimmerman 2012; Peterson and Krivo 2010).
How well findings from this research on neighborhood context and
homicide, or violent crime in general, generalize to cities outside the United
States is a question that has been raised only relatively recently. Most nota-
bly, Sampson (2006:52) expressed concern ‘‘that most of our knowledge
has been gained from U.S. cities.’’ Sampson and Wikstro¨m (2008) subse-
quently responded to this concern in a study comparing neighborhood
correlates of violent victimization in Stockholm and Chicago. They found
strong similarities in the social structural characteristics of neighborhoods
associated with violence in ‘‘two cities with vastly different makeup and
history’’ (p. 117). Other research on the community correlates of violent
offending and victimization outside the United States has also yielded
Thompson and Gartner 89

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