Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Sociology (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Sociology and Criminology

Advisor/Mentor

Casey T. Harris

Committee Member

Kevin Fitzpatrick

Second Committee Member

Michael Nino

Keywords

Immigration; Family Structure; Mitigating factors; Crime

Abstract

ABSTRACT Amidst debate about immigration into the United States, many in the public and varying levels of government have questioned its impact on vital social institutions of social control. Public perception often associates immigrants with increased crime, though empirical research reveals a consistently null or negative association at the community-level. Scholars have proposed that immigrants contribute to community revitalization and foster social control, at least some of which may be tied to the ways that immigration reshapes aggregate family structures across the community. However, few empirical studies examine this important relationship. The current study aims to bridge this gap in research examining how immigration and aggregate family structure (e.g., households with single mothers, presence of divorced individuals, individuals living alone, extended family households) relate to crime, accounting for other important socio-structural characteristics. Likewise, we examine the degree to which the immigration-crime association is mediated by aggregate family structure. Using data from over 2,000 census places in the US for the year 2015, we employ ordinary least squares regression analysis to explore how immigration is linked to violence net of and through aggregate family structure. Findings reveal key differences in the prevalence of different aggregate family structural characteristics in low versus high immigration places. In turn, we find immigration is negatively associated with violence, and that aggregate family structure partially reduces the strength of this association, suggesting some degree of mediation. Implications for prior research and policy are discussed.

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