Immigrant Concentration and Homicide Mortality: A Neighborhood-Level Spatial Analysis

Matt Ruther, University of Pennsylvania

This research investigates the effect of immigrant enclave neighborhoods on patterns of homicide in Los Angeles County. After statistically controlling for neighborhood structural factors related to poverty, employment, age composition and family composition, the study isolates the independent effect that neighborhood immigrant concentration has on rates of lethal violence. The analysis is conducted using homicide death counts from vital statistics records and two methods of identifying and measuring immigrant enclave neighborhoods. The study also incorporates a measure of the spatial relationships between neighborhoods to account for the spatial dependence of homicide events. The results from the analysis suggest that immigrant concentration confers a protective effect against homicide mortality. This association remains after adjusting for the spatial clustering of homicide deaths, and does not appear to be an artifact of the general reduction in homicides that occurred in Los Angeles County during the period of the study.