Do more immigrants equal more crime? Drawing a bridge between first generation immigrant concentration and recorded crime rates

Immigration and its relationship with crime have long been discussed and researched in a variety of manners. There has been focus on a wide spectrum of research questions concerning the issue, such as public perceptions, immigrant perceptions, crime rates and immigration trends. The present article considers the crime rates in the areas of the UK with the highest concentrations of first-generation immigrants. The areas were gathered using census data and crime rates from police recorded statistics. The first-generation immigrants were categorised by their area of origin: Europe, Africa and Asia. Quantitative analysis showed that the areas containing the highest concentration of first-generation immigrants saw a drop in crime compared to the areas with the second highest concentration. Results also showed that certain immigrant groups combined in high concentrations make for lower crime rates. Such findings suggest that there may be a cultural aspect at play, and begs further research

The global crime drop and changes in the distribution of victimisation

Over three decades crime counts in England and Wales, as throughout the Western world, have fallen. Less attention has been paid to the distribution of crime across households, though this is crucial in determining optimal distribution of limited policing resources in pursuing the aim of distributive justice. The writers have previously demonstrated that in England and Wales the distribution of crime victimisation has remained pretty much unchanged over the period of the crime drop. The present paper seeks to extend the study of changes in the distribution of victimisation. Over time using data from 25 countries contributing data to the International Crime Victimisation Survey (ICVS) sweeps (1989–2000). While fragmentary, the data mirror the trends discerned in England and Wales. The trends are not an artefact of the inclusion of particular countries in particular sweeps. The demographic, economical, geographical and social household characteristics associated with victimisation are consistent across time. The suggested policy implication is the need for greater emphasis on preventing multiple victimisation.Non

Are victims of crime mostly angry or mostly afraid?

Analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales identifies anger and annoyance rather than fear as the most common emotional responses to victimisation by crime, despite fear’s pre-eminence in the criminological literature. While the trend since 2003 shows an increase in fear relative to anger, anger remains more common for all crime categories and all levels of victim-rated offence seriousness. The writers contend that the mismatch between the preponderance of anger in victim accounts and the preponderance of fear in the academic literature is convenient for government and police. Subtly setting fear as the default ‘appropriate’ emotion to be evoked by victimisation makes for a populace less inclined to ‘take matters into its own hands’. Plans to develop research on victim anger are outlined.N/

Immigration and the Crime Drop: International Perspectives

Explanations of the remarkable decrease in crime over the last two decades across a number of western countries have been in varying degrees unpersuasive. The article presents an exploratory analysis of possible links between immigration into the UK and crime levels. Drawing on a range of international research the paper suggests that in contrast to the popular opinion that increased immigration is associated with an increase in crime, that not only are the recent waves of immigration not statistically linked to increased rates of crime in the UK and elsewhere, but that the proposition that recent waves of immigration may have contributed to the crime drop is tenable. Possible ways of clarifying the issue are suggested

First generation immigrant judgements of offence seriousness: evidence from the crime survey for England and Wales

This exploratory paper delves into differences and similarities in the rated seriousness of offences suffered by victims of different national origin. The issue is important because a mismatch between police and victim assessments of seriousness is likely to fuel discord. It was found that first generation immigrants did not differ in their rating of the seriousness of offences against the person from either the indigenous population or according to region of birth. However those of Asian origin rated vehicle and property crime they had suffered as more serious than did other groups about crimes they suffered. The anticipated higher seriousness rating of offences reported to the police r was observed for all groups. People of Asian origin reported to the police a smaller proportion of offences they rated trivial than did people in other groups. Analysis of seriousness judgements in victimization surveys represents a much-underused resource for understanding the nexus between public perceptions and criminal justice responses

Whatever happened to repeat victimisation?

Crime is concentrated at the individual level (hot dots) as well as at area level (hot spots). Research on repeat victimisation affords rich prevention opportunities but has been increasingly marginalised by policy makers and implementers despite repeat victims accounting for increasing proportions of total crime. The present paper seeks to trigger a resurgence of interest in research and initiatives based on the prevention of repeat victimisation.N/

An Examination of the Factors Associated with the ‘Crime Drop’ in England and Wales

The explanations of the remarkable decrease in crime that has been reported over the last two decades in a number of western countries thus far are assessed here as having been limited and unconvincing. In the light of these limitations, this thesis explores three under researched factors and their potential impact on recorded and reported crime rates in England and Wales. First, the contribution of security measures to the fall in crime is evaluated. The likely impact of security measures is found to be limited to few crime categories and is seen as an unlikely major determinant of the crime drop. Second, the impact that the recent increase of immigration into the UK may have had on recorded crime levels is examined. European immigrants in particular are found to be associated with lower crime rates, especially with low rates of robberies and assaults. However, the link between immigration and crime is noted to highly fluctuate depending on outside factors and cannot account for the cross-national relative uniformity of the crime drop. Third, changes in volume and distribution of repeat victimisation are explored. Analyses demonstrate that a large proportion of the decrease in crime can be attributed to a drop in repeat events against the same targets. The thesis concludes with suggestions about further research likely to clarify the crime drop and hence to identify mechanisms whereby it might be sustained

Crime Concentrations: Hot Dots, Hot Spots and Hot Flushes

Every research enterprise takes place in a context, political, economic, and technological. So it is with policing research. We begin by sketching out where we think the practice of policing is heading, and what we need to do differently, so as to get to a roughly envisioned future ethically and in good order. A police presence at all places at all times being impossible, the practical issue is where and when to place officers or their technological surrogates. The chapter will consider optimised distribution of effort and resource, given the central aim of fairness in the distribution of crime harm. We will illustrate current levels of inequality of victimisation, and claim that reducing the current concentration, at individual and area levels, should be an explicit underpinning vision for policing. We briefly review the relevant literature and its implications