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

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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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Background
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Background
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“On the basis of ‘‘homophily’’ ( Blau and Blau 1982; McPherson et al. 2001), they posit that behaviors in a focal area will be influenced by behaviors in socially similar areas because social similarity increases the probability of interactions among individuals.”
Background
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“For example, Shaw and McKay (1942) emphasize neighborhood socioeconomic status and ethnic heterogeneity, while Blau and Blau (1982) highlight relative deprivation and racial and economic inequality.”
Background
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“In this context, we should note that Merton's anomie theory has produced supportive empirical findings (Blau and Blau 1982; Krahn et al. 1986; Messner 1988), that is, when understood as a macro level theory of crime rates (Messner 1988).”
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“The empirical research on the relationship between income inequality and criminal activity in the United States has so far 4 yielded conflicting results (see e.g., Messner and Tardiff, 1986; Williams, 1984; Bailey, 1984; Blau and Blau, 1982; Messner, 1982; Jacobs, 1981; Danziger and Wheeler, 1975).”
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“…norms, and, possibly, neighborhood poverty levels and violence history.16 A well-known study of crime rates in the 125 largest U.S. metropolitan areas found that crime was more a function of the disparity of incomes than the proportion of poor people in the communities (Blau and Blau, 1982).”
Background
The Effectiveness of Community Policing in Reducing Urban Violence
MacDonald, J. (2002) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/001112802237131 · Cited by 151
“1989). Community partnerships in terms of neighborhood watch evaluations are also less than favorable ( Bennett, 1990; Sherman et al..”
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“Our hypothesis in this analysis is that inequality has a stronger effect on crime rates than income levels (Blau and Blau 1982).”
BackgroundMethod
Indicators of gender equality for American states and regions
Sugarman, D. B., & Straus, M. A. (1988) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/bf00302398 · Cited by 125
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Østby, G. (2013) · International Area Studies Review · doi:10.1177/2233865913490937 · Cited by 137
“Blau and Blau, 1982; McCall and Parker, 2005). These accounts broadly point to issues of ‘racial competition’ between ethnic groups as key to understanding the dynamics of urban violence. Østby (2010) explores the effects of HIs on urban violence.”
Background
Social Isolation and Lethal Violence Across the Metro/Nonmetro Divide: The Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Poverty Concentration on Homicide*
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“The economic conflict perspective contends that economic disadvantage in general and ascribed inequalities in particular are associated with a greater reliance on formal social Novak and Chamlin 287 control (Blau & Blau, 1982; Jacobs, 1979; Parker et al., 2005; B. W. Smith & Holmes, 2003).”
Background
Minority Threat, Crime Control, and Police Resource Allocation in the Southwestern United States
Holmes, M. D., Smith, B. W., Freng, A. B., & Muñoz, E. A. (2007) · Crime & Delinquency · doi:10.1177/0011128707309718 · Cited by 123
“…the economic dimension of conflict, indicators of racial and ethnic income inequality are especially significant to the issue of minority threat because economic inequalities may consolidate racial differences (Blau & Blau, 1982) and promote greater social unrest in larger cities (Jackson, 1986).”
Background
Associations between socioeconomic status and psychological therapy outcomes: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
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“Previous studies have also shown associations between neighborhood deprivation and exposure to crime and violence (Blau & Blau, 1982; Fajnzylber, Lederman, & Loayza, 2002; Hsieh & Pugh, 1993).”
Background
Economic Inequality, Legitimacy, and Cross-National Homicide Rates
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“…emerges from the progressive accumulation of competitive advantage (Messner, 1982), the correlation between ascribed and achieved social statuses (Blau & Blau, 1982), the capitalist mode of production (Marx, 1906), or the juxtaposition of blocked opportunities with an overemphasis on success…”
BackgroundInfluential
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Functions of Crime: A Paradoxical Process
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“Moreover, research suggests that income inequality is associated with violent crime, particularly when the inequality is linked to race (e.g., Blau & Blau 1982).”
Background
Mobilizing Law in Urban Areas: The Social Structure of Homicide Clearance Rates
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Economic Assistance to Impoverished Americans
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Race, Social Bonds, and Juvenile Attitudes toward the Police
Wu, Y., Lake, R. L., & Cao, L. (2013) · Justice Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07418825.2013.778325 · Cited by 117
The Effect of Changes in Intraracial Income Inequality and Educational Attainment on Changes in Arrest Rates for African Americans and Whites, 1957 to 1990
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Structural Covariates of Homicide Rates
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Determinantes da criminalidade em Minas Gerais
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ATTRIBUTIONS, AFFECT, AND CRIME: STREET YOUTHS' REACTIONS TO UNEMPLOYMENT*
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FAMILY, ACQUAINTANCE, AND STRANGER HOMICIDE: ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR RATE CALCULATIONS*
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Access to sanitation and violence against women: Evidence from Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data in Kenya.
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“Here it is argued that economic inequality entails conflict of interest over the distribution of resources, which spells a potential for violence—external or internal (Blau and Blau 1982).”
Background
Urbanism, Race, and Crime
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“…poor, citing research that shows that individuals in low income, inner-city communities are more likely to suffer threats to health and safety (Blau and Blau, 1982; Pantazis, 2000), as well as evidence that social support networks are of particular importance for mitigating these threats…”
Background
Neighborhood permeability and burglary rates
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SPREADING THE WEALTH: THE EFFECT OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME AND RACE/ETHNICITY ACROSS HOUSEHOLDS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ON CITY CRIME TRAJECTORIES*
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Rural–urban migration, inequality and urban social disorder: Evidence from African and Asian cities
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“A prominent example of this is Blau and Blau (1982), who in a study of American metropolitan areas found that socioeconomic inequality between races, as well as economic inequality generally, increases rates of urban violence.”
Background
Aiding Peace, Abetting Violence: Third Parties and the Management of Conflict
Phillips, S., & Cooney, M. (2005) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/000312240507000207 · Cited by 113
Regional Differences in the Economic Correlates of the Urban Homicide Rate
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The Enduring Effects of Cohort Characteristics on Age‐Specific Homicide Rates, 1960‐1995
O’Brien, R. M., Stockard, J., & Isaacson, L. (1999) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/210136 · Cited by 112
INTERGROUP AND INTRAGROUP VIOLENCE: IS VIOLENT CRIME AN EXPRESSION OF GROUP CONFLICT OR SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION?*
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“Some authors have argued that high levels of social inequality are associated with homicide because high inequality represents a violation of rules of distributional fairness (Blau & Blau, 1982; Chamlin & Cochran, 2005, 2006; Durkheim, 1947).”
Background
What We Know About Social Structure and Homicide: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature
Pridemore, W. A. (2002) · Violence and Victims · doi:10.1891/vivi.17.2.127.33651 · Cited by 114
“Less than a decade later, Blau and Blau (1982) and Messner (1982) posited that the frustration resulting from the unequal distribution of resources (i.e., relative deprivation), not the absolute deprivation of poverty, was the cause of higher rates of homicide.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluential
Social support and homicide: a cross-national test of an emerging criminological theory
Pratt, T. C., & Godsey, T. W. (2002) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/s0047-2352(02)00192-7 · Cited by 109
Competing Perspectives on Cross-National Crime: An Evaluation of Theory and Evidence
Neuman, W. L., & Berger, R. J. (1988) · Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1988.tb01255.x · Cited by 109
URBAN REVITALIZATION AND SEATTLE CRIME, 1982–2000
Kreager, D., Lyons, C. J., & Hays, Z. R. (2011) · Social problems · doi:10.1525/sp.2011.58.4.615 · Cited by 121
“…theory, McDonald’s (1986) expectations implicated concepts central to social disorganization (Shaw and McKay 1942), routine activities (Cohen and Felson 1979), collective efficacy (Sampson et al. 1997), social learning (Akers 1998), and relative deprivation theories (Blau and Blau 1982).”
Background
Terrorism and Civil War
Sambanis, N. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511754388.007 · Cited by 108
Metropolitan Structure and Criminal Violence
Blau, P. M., & Golden, R. M. (1986) · Sociological Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1986.tb00246.x · Cited by 105
Self-citation
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Ethnic Inequality and the Rate of Homicide
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Violent Pluralism
Arias, E. D., & Goldstein, D. M. (2010) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822392033-001 · Cited by 108
POVERTY, INFANT MORTALITY, AND HOMICIDE RATES IN CROSS‐NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: ASSESSMENTS OF CRITERION AND CONSTRUCT VALIDITY*
Messner, S. F., Raffalovich, L. E., & Sutton, G. M. (2010) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00194.x · Cited by 103
Rethinking Homicide
Miethe, T. D., Regoeczi, W. C., & Drass, K. A. (2004) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511499487 · Cited by 101
Street Youth Violence And Victimization
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“Perceptions of inequality and relative deprivation are said to generate feelings of resentment and hostility, which in turn stimulate impulses that are ultimately expressed as violent crime (Blau & Blau, 1982; Danziger & Wheeler, 1975; Hawkins, 1983).”
Background
The Social Contexts of Racial Discrimination in Sentencing
Myers, M. A., & Talarico, S. M. (1986) · Social Problems · doi:10.1525/sp.1986.33.3.03a00060 · Cited by 100
Socioeconomic Dynamics of Neighborhoods and the Risk of Crime Victimization: A Multilevel Study of Improving, Declining, and Stable Areas in the Netherlands
VAN WILSEM, J., WITTEBROOD, K., & DE GRAAF, N. D. (2006) · Social Problems · doi:10.1525/sp.2006.53.2.226 · Cited by 99
Income Inequality and Crime: A Review and Explanation of the Time?series Evidence
Rufrancos, H. G., & Power, M. (2013) · Sociology and Criminology-Open Access · doi:10.4172/2375-4435.1000103 · Cited by 99
“Runciman [1] and Blau and Blau [2] address the relationship from a sociological perspective yet provide differing explanations.”
Background
Income inequality and firearm homicide in the US: a county-level cohort study
Rowhani‐Rahbar, A., Quistberg, D. A., Morgan, E. R., Hajat, A., & Rivara, F. P. (2019) · Injury Prevention · doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2018-043080 · Cited by 99
State-to-State Differences in Social Inequality and Social Bonds in Relation to Assaults, on Wives in the United States
Straus, M. A. (1994) · Journal of Comparative Family Studies · doi:10.3138/jcfs.25.1.7 · Cited by 98
Perceived and Objectively-Measured Neighborhood Violence and Adolescent Psychological Distress
Goldman-Mellor, S. J., Margerison-Zilko, C. E., Allen, K., & Cerdá, M. (2016) · Journal of Urban Health · doi:10.1007/s11524-016-0079-0 · Cited by 97
Metropolitan Expansion and Black Social Dislocation: The Link between Suburbanization and Center-City Crime
Shihadeh, E. S., & Ousey, G. C. (1996) · Social Forces · doi:10.1093/sf/75.2.649 · Cited by 97
CASTE, CLASS, AND VIOLENT CRIME: EXPLAINING DIFFERENCE IN FEMALE OFFENDING*
Simpson, S. S. (1991) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1991.tb01061.x · Cited by 97
Economic Inequality and Homicide in the Developed Nations From 1975 to 1995
Jacobs, D., & Richardson, A. M. (2008) · Homicide Studies · doi:10.1177/1088767907311849 · Cited by 96
“In comparison to the prior statistical tests of the Blau and Blau (1982) theory about the links between inequality and murder, the findings reported here are based on methods that should produce more accurate and universal results for several important reasons.”
BackgroundResultInfluential
VARIATION IN AFRICAN‐AMERICAN HOMICIDE RATES: AN ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL EXPLANATIONS*
Phillips, J. A. (1997) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1997.tb01229.x · Cited by 97
THE DECLINE OF ELITE HOMICIDE
Cooney, M. (1997) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1997.tb01222.x · Cited by 97
Male street youths' conflict: The role of background, subcultural, and situational factors
Baron, S. W., Kennedy, L. W., & Forde, D. R. (2001) · Justice Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07418820100095091 · Cited by 95
Assessing the Impact of Gender Inequality on Female Homicide Victimization Across U.S. Cities
Vieraitis, L. M., & Williams, M. R. (2002) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778010222182937 · Cited by 95
“…VARIABLES The selection of control variables is based on their theoretical and empirical links to violent crime as reported in previous research (Blau & Blau, 1982; Fowles & Merva, 1996; Kovandzic, Vieraitis, & Yeisley, 1998; Land et al., 1990; Messner, 1982, 1983; Ousey, 1999; Parker, 1989;…”
Method
Street Youth, Gender, Financial Strain, and Crime: Exploring Broidy and Agnew's Extension to General Strain Theory
Baron, S. W. (2007) · Deviant Behavior · doi:10.1080/01639620701233217 · Cited by 92
“In light of the argument that relative deprivation is said to lead to crime through the hostility and resentment that it creates (Baron 2004 2006 ; Blau and Blau 1982 ; Braithwaite 1979 ; Messner and Tardiff 1986 ) respondents were asked, “On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is the worst possible rank in Canadian society…”
Background
Structure, Context, and Agency in the Reproduction of Black-on-Black Violence
Bruce, M. A., Roscigno, V. J., & McCall, P. L. (1998) · Theoretical Criminology · doi:10.1177/1362480698002001002 · Cited by 91
Rethinking Homicide: Exploring the Structure and Process Underlying Deadly Situations
Miethe, T. D., Regoeczi, W. C., & Drass, K. A. (2004) · Cited by 93
Urban crime rates and the changing face of immigration: Evidence across four decades
Adelman, R. M., Reid, L. W., Markle, G. L., Weiß, S., & Jaret, C. (2016) · Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice · doi:10.1080/15377938.2016.1261057 · Cited by 98
“Moreover, blocked economic opportunities may engender frustration that could lead to violence (Agnew, 1992; Blau & Blau, 1982; Tonry, 1997).”
Background
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer: Country- and state-level income inequality moderates the job insecurity-burnout relationship.
Jiang, L., & Probst, T. M. (2016) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000179 · Cited by 96

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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The Cost of Inequality: Metropolitan Structure and Violent Crime

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