Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gentrification and Change in Neighborhood Crime

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SES-1334165Stacy De CosterKristin WilliamsNorth Carolina State UniversitySocial scientists long have recognized a relationship between community structure and crime rates. Research on communities and crime has informed understanding of how changes within neighborhoods affect criminal activity and the exercise of social controls, particularly communities' transition during times of disinvestment, deterioration, and disorganization. Little is known, however, about what happens to local crime rates as these areas undergo the process of gentrification or the influx of middle-class residents and marked transformation of the neighborhood physical and social milieus. The existing literature that does exist provides inconsistent findings. Such empirical ambiguity is likely the result of several methodological shortcomings in the current scholarship, including a lack of consistency in the way that gentrification is defined and measured and the failure to consider that the effects of the gentrification process reverberate to surrounding areas. This doctoral research employs a definition of gentrification informed by urban sociology to explore quantitatively how reinvestment activity shapes crime levels within the neighborhood as well as in peripheral communities. The attention then shifts to identifying key mechanisms that explain the crime-related consequences of urban reinvestment. Relying on narratives offered by residents and community leaders in a gentrifying area, this study focuses on the interplay among community relationships, policing practices, and crime reporting patterns to elucidate the ways in which gentrification translates into crime fluctuations. Broader Impacts The paucity of research regarding the relationship between urban reinvestment and crime renders cities and neighborhoods unable to address the effects of gentrification within and around their boundaries. By assessing the degree to which gentrification affects community crime, this research will highlight the potential threat of reinvestment to communities and areas around their peripheries. Likewise, by affording attention to the mechanisms linking gentrification to crime outcomes, this research will underscore the reasons why gentrification translates into crime changes and, thus, will shed light on the neighborhood dynamics most in need of attention in transitioning communities. This research offers insights regarding such issues in ways that can be beneficial to local police departments, community organizations, city planners, long-term residents, and residents who are gentrifying the neighborhoods. Specifically, the findings of this study will allow these groups to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to potential crime problems in neighborhoods that have been gentrified, are currently