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Cited by 1,500Crime Patterns and InterventionsUrban, Neighborhood, and Segregation StudiesCriminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime

Blau, Judith R., Blau, Peter M.·1982·American Sociological Review
DOI 10.2307/2095046
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Abstract

The hypothesis tested is that variations in rates of urban criminal violence largely result from differences in racial inequality in socioeconomic conditions. Data on the 125 largest American metropolitan areas (SMSAs) are used to ascertain whether this hypothesis can account for three correlates of violent crime differently interpreted in the literature. Criminal violence is positively related to location in the South, which has been interpreted as the result of the Southern tradition of violence. It is positively related to the proportion of blacks in an SMSA, which has been interpreted as reflecting a subculture of violence in ghettos. And it is positively related to poverty, which has been interpreted as the emphasis on toughness and excitement in the culture of poverty. The analysis reveals that socioeconomic inequality between races, as well as economic inequality generally, increases rates of criminal violence, but once economic inequalities are controlled poverty no longer influences these rates, neither does Southern location, and the proportion of blacks in the population hardly does. These results imply that if there is a culture of violence, its roots are pronounced economic inequalities, especially if associated with ascribed position.

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  • Institutional subculture is a major contributing factor to patterns of police officers' attitudes and behaviors, including use of force, complaints against the police, or injuries in the line of duty.

    “a major contributing factor to patterns of police officers ' attitudes and behaviors, including the use of force, complaints against the police, or injuries in the line of duty, is the institutional subculture (Blau and Blau 1982; Galliher 1971; Herbert 1998; Sherman 1980; Waddington 1999).”

    From Paradoxical effects of self-awareness of being observed: testing the effect of police body-worn cameras on assaults and aggression against officers (2018) · cites this paper as Blau and Blau 1982

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Authors
Blau, J. R., & Blau, P. M.
Venue
American Sociological Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
1982-02
Volume
47
Issue
1
Pages
114
ISSN
0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2307/2095046
OpenAlex
W1998194071
Cited by
1,500
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 54 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 55 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 41
FWCI
99.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
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
violent crime, racial inequality, socioeconomic disparities, metropolitan structure, Southern United States, Black population, poverty, culture of poverty, subculture of violence, ascribed status

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