The Prevalence and Nature of Intra- and Inter-group Violence In an Era of Social and Demographic Change

Statement of Problem: Though changes in economic inequality and racial/ethnic composition are considered key correlates of violence, little is known -about how these factors have influenced inter~ and intra-group viofemce -during the 2000-2010 decade, a period marked by an overall decline in crime, the "Great Recession," the deepening of racial/ethnic inequality, and heightened racial diversity resulting from various population movements. The goals of the
proposed project are to (1) use the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to explore whether these changes are associated with changes in the prevalence and nature of violence between and among Whites, Blacks,
and Hispanics and (2) construct more accessible NIBRS cross-sectional and ongitudinal databases containing race/ethnic-specific measures of violent victimization, offending, and arrest. Clarifying how these changes have influenced violence is essential for enhancing the efficacy of crime prevention strategies and overlaps with the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) priorities of linking NIBRS to community characteristics to examine the correlates of crime, examining the effects of local policy characteristics on crime, and for assessing the utility of NIBRS for developing policy strategies.
Subjects: Not applicable.
Partnerships: Not applicable.
Research Design and Methods: We propose to use NIBRS extract files (years 2000-2013) to examine the influence of recent social changes on violence for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. We use advanced imputation techniques to account for missingness on race/ethnic variables. To estimate recent social changes, we draw information from the
decennial Census (2000, 2010) and the American Community Survey.
Analysis: First, we examine how both inter- and intra-group violence and key socio-structural characteristics of communities have changed over the past decade. Second, we employ time series methods to examine how these changes have influenced the prevalence and nature of violence between and within each racial and ethnic group. The study will employ sensitivity analyses, including robustness checks for sample selection and model construction.
Products/Reports/Archiving: The study will produce 2-3 articles for presentation at conferences and academic publication, while also submitting reports to law enforcement journals to attract a broader practitioner audience. Additionally, a "Research Brier will be created for practitioners aiming to alleviate associated criminogenic conditions.
To reach wider audiences, findings will be disseminated via creative platforms such as audio and webcasts. Finally, we will provide cross-sectional and longitudinal databases containing race/ethnic-specific measures of violent victimization, offending, and arrest to be archived under the National Institute of Justice's Data Resource program.

This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

ca/ncf