Urban black violence: The effect of male joblessness and family disruption
Open accessAbstract
This paper examines the relationships among unemployment, crime, and family disruption in the black "underclass." The main hypothesis tested is that the effect of black adult male joblessness on black crime is mediated largely through its effects on family disruption. The study examines race-specific rates of robbery and homicide by juveniles and adults in over 150 U.S. cities in 1980. The results show that the scarcity of employed black men increases the prevalence of families headed by females in black communities. In turn, black family disruption substantially increases the rates of black murder and robbery, especially by juveniles. These effects are independent of income, region, race and age composition, density, city size, and welfare benefits and are similar to the effects of white family disruption on white violence. The paper concludes that there is nothing inherent in black culture that is conducive to crime. Rather, persistently high rates of black crime appear to stem from the structural linkages among underemployment, economic deprivation, and family disruption in urban black communities.
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Black father presence at the neighborhood level strongly predicts black boys' outcomes irrespective of whether their own father is present.
“Black father presence at the neighborhood level strongly predicts black boys' outcomes irrespective of whether their own father is present, echoing the findings of Sampson (1987).”
From Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: an Intergenerational Perspective* (2020) · cites this paper as Sampson (1987)
The association with father presence is driven by a characteristic of the neighborhood in which the child grows up and is not simply a direct effect of the marital status of one's own parents.
“Hence, the association with father presence is driven by a characteristic of the neighborhood in which the child grows up and is not simply a direct effect of the marital status of one's own parents, consistent with Sampson (1987).”
From Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: an Intergenerational Perspective* (2020) · cites this paper as Sampson (1987)
Being raised in a single-parent household has adverse impacts on multiple outcomes.
“Research finds that being raised in a single-parent household has adverse impacts on multiple outcomes.”
From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
Parental supervision and support is a key mechanism that links single-parent households with poorer outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood.
“parental supervision and support is a key mechanism that links single-parent households with poorer outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood [42,43]”
From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
Cites
The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime
Blau, J. R., & Blau, P. M. (1982) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2095046 · Cited by 1,500 · see citing works
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Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. B. (2005) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.325 · Cited by 943 · see citing works
Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: an Intergenerational Perspective*
Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Jones, M. R., & Porter, S. R. (2020) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1093/qje/qjz042 · Cited by 842 · see citing works
The health of men: structured inequalities and opportunities
Williams, D. R. (2008) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.98.supplement_1.s150 · Cited by 485 · see citing works
Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action
Williams, D. R., & Cooper, L. A. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16040606 · Cited by 415 · see citing works
Growing Up Poor: Examining the Link Between Persistent Childhood Poverty and Delinquency
Jarjoura, G. R., Triplett, R. A., & Brinker, G. P. (2002) · Journal of Quantitative Criminology · doi:10.1023/a:1015206715838 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
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The Effect of Marriage, Family, and Religious Ties on African American Suicide Ideology
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Addressing population health and health inequalities: the role of fundamental causes
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- Authors
- Sampson, R. J.
- Corresponding author
- Sampson, Robert J.
- ORCID
- Sampson, Robert J.
- Venue
- American Journal of Sociology
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1987-09
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 348-382
- ISSN
- 0002-9602 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5390
- OpenAlex
- W2060777962
- Cited by
- 929
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 57.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- nrs.harvard.edu
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- American Journal of Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Keywords
- family breakdown, homicide, robbery, youth violence, female-headed households, urban Black communities, structural racism, economic hardship, underemployment, welfare benefits, race and crime
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