Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gentrification and Change in Neighborhood Crime

北卡罗莱纳州立大学的克里斯汀·威廉姆斯社会科学家早就认识到社区结构和犯罪率之间的关系。对社区和犯罪的研究有助于了解社区内的变化如何影响犯罪活动和社会控制的行使，特别是在撤资，恶化和解体期间的社区过渡。然而，当这些地区经历中产阶级化或中产阶级居民的涌入以及社区物质和社会环境的显著转变时，当地犯罪率会发生什么变化，人们知之甚少。现有的文献提供了不一致的结果。这种经验上的模糊性很可能是当前学术界的几个方法论缺陷的结果，包括在绅士化的定义和衡量方式上缺乏一致性，以及未能考虑绅士化过程的影响对周边地区的影响。这项博士研究采用了城市社会学对中产阶级化的定义，以定量地探讨再投资活动如何影响邻里和周边社区的犯罪水平。然后，注意力转移到确定解释城市再投资的犯罪相关后果的关键机制。依靠居民和社区领导人在一个绅士化地区提供的叙述，本研究的重点是社区关系，警务实践和犯罪报告模式之间的相互作用，阐明绅士化转化为犯罪波动的方式。 关于城市再投资和犯罪之间关系的研究的缺乏使得城市和社区无法解决其边界内和周围的中产阶级化的影响。通过评估中产阶级化对社区犯罪的影响程度，这项研究将突出再投资对社区及其周边地区的潜在威胁。同样，通过关注将绅士化与犯罪结果联系起来的机制，这项研究将强调绅士化转化为犯罪变化的原因，从而揭示转型社区最需要关注的邻里动态。这项研究提供了关于这些问题的见解，这些见解可以有益于当地警察部门，社区组织，城市规划者，长期居民和正在使社区中产阶级化的居民。具体来说，这项研究的结果将使这些群体能够预测，准备，并应对社区的潜在犯罪问题，这些社区已经中产阶级化，目前

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