Vanessa Mak Socio 101 – Sociological Review # 1

2005 – 00875

A Review of –
Black Neighbors, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of
Neighborhood Crime by Lincoln Quillian and Devah Pager
University of Wisconsin – Madison
American Sociological Review, 2001, Vol. 107 (November : 717-67)

I. Objectives
1. To determine if the presence of black people in neighborhoods has correlations with
perceptions of crime in the neighborhood and their implications;
2. To find out to what degree can the relationship between neighborhood racial
composition and perceived crime be explained by other neighborhood conditions;
3. To confirm if the association between neighborhood racial composition and
neighborhood perceptions are dependent on the race of the one who perceives.

II. Background of the Study

Segregation is the physical and social separation of different categories of people,
often on the basis of race (Applebaum 1995). In this study, one example is that of the
worsening residential segregation between Black Americans and White American. Whites
avoid neighborhoods with black people. One of the strongest influences for whites’ aversion
of neighborhoods highly concentrated with black people is that their presence, young black
men specifically, is attributed to the measure of crime in the neighborhood.
The study begins by reviewing social psychological literature regarding stereotypes,
with special focus on ascribed perceptions of groups about neighborhood crimes:
Despite increasing acceptance, most whites do not want to live in neighborhoods in
which no more than 30% of the population is black and more than half of whites would not
want to move into a neighborhood whose population is one-third black or more. Whites avoid
neighborhoods with growing black populations. Very few new whites move into these
neighborhoods and soon, these neighborhoods are prevalent with black people. It is not
immediately a case of racial prejudice, but it also cannot be dismissed that racial prejudice
still plays a part in white avoidance. Black neighborhoods tend to have higher rates of
neighborhood complications, such as high crime rates and faulty housing. These factors
(crime rates and housing degeneration) become bases whether or not to settle down in a
neighborhood.
African-Americans are commonly stereotyped as being more likely to be aggressive
and criminally inclined, particularly young black men. This attitude towards the black
population has persisted on until now. Prejudices, our preconceptions about a individual or
group without complete information (Applebaum 1995), are not easy to dismiss in that
stereotyping blacks as criminals has become a collective notion in the minds of Americans
(Divine and Elliot 1995). A combination of inaccurate negative media depictions of Africans-
Americans, historical stereotypes, and ethnocentric biases are likely combined to form
distorted perceptions in which the association of blackness and criminality is systematically
overestimated (Quillian and Pager 2001).

III. Methodology
Three sources of data are used: the Crime Factors and Neighborhood Decline in
Chicago study (Taub and Taylor, 1995), the Testing Theories of Criminality and Victimization
in Seattle study (Miethe, 1998), and the Crime Changes in Baltimore study (Taylor, 1999).
The Chicago study makes use of telephone surveys conducted with 3, 300 heads of
households in eight Chicago neighborhoods in 1978. About 400 heads of households were
selected in each area, through random dialing, and were enquired about their neighborhood
and what they think about the rate of crime in their area. The study also includes information
about the neighborhoods of the survey respondents, with crime rate data from the Chicago
Police Department and assessments by members of the Crime Factors and Neighborhood
Decline staff.
The Seattle study is based on interviews conducted with 5, 302 residents in 100
neighborhoods in Seattle. The study also includes tract identifiers, which allowed reference to
neighborhood demographic information from census and official crime rate measures from
the Seattle Police Department.
The Baltimore study interviewed 704 respondents in 30 Baltimore neighborhoods in
1994. The study included neighborhood physical condition ratings.
 Only those respondents who identified their race were included in the model. The
perception of the crime level of the respondent’s neighborhood is the main dependent
variable of the study. Only the measures in the three studies that were related to evaluating
the respondents’ perceptions of their neighborhood’s level of crime were used. Such survey
questions as “Is the neighborhood safe from crime?” were considered.
Crime rates are controlled based on official crimes reports to the Chicago, Seattle,
and Baltimore police department) from the three data sets. Number of crimes per 1, 000
people are controlled. The crimes included are homicide, rape, assault, robbery, burglary, and
theft (and arson, in Seattle). Aside from this, reports of rate of victimization per 1, 000 people
is also taken in consideration.
Other factors that may affect people’s perceptions of a neighborhood’s crime
problems are also controlled. At the individual level, factors such as family income of the
survey respondent, respondent’s years of education, and the respondent’s race were
controlled. At the neighborhood level, additional features of the neighborhood’s demographic
and economic composition are controlled. The percentage of the population of all races in the
neighborhood is included. Economic composition is divided into three categories: poor,
middle class, and the affluent. Additionally, the effect of indicators of neighborhood physical
deterioration and neighborhood incivilities are examined.

IV. Findings
In all three studies, the percentage of young black men has been found to exert a
strong influence on respondents’ perceptions of crime in the neighborhood. This association
does not weaken despite controlling for other neighborhood characteristics, including actual
measures of crime rate and visible neighborhood discord.
White and Latino respondents are especially wary of the presence of young men
black in their neighborhood as indicators of higher crime rates. The stereotyped
preconceptions of the white people regarding the black population most likely distort their
evaluations.

V. Conclusion
The research suggests that whites tend to avoid black neighborhoods because of
characteristics that are correlated with race, rather than because of race itself. Prejudice
against blacks and their attribution to crime may be one factor that contributes to the
unavoidable instances of racial segregation in the United States. The distorted perceptions
caused by stereotypes result in racial discrimination in many areas aside from neighborhood
selection.
There are implications for promoting change in the attitudes and views among whites
regarding their treatment of other minority groups. Other implications involve the dissolution
of residential segregation and reinforcement of neighborhood racial integration by decreasing
the correlation between neighborhood racial composition, poverty, and crime rates.

VI. Reaction
The sociological significance of placing people in a particular racial or ethnic
group derives from the fact that, once so labeled, a person is often treated differently
(Applebaum 1995). The treatment may be favorable or unfavorable. Despite the idea that we
are now living in a more globalized world, we still look at each other in terms of similarities
and differences. It cannot be helped that we tend to choose the people we associate with,
because of these similarities and difference. In spite of the clamor for social equality, we
cannot escape differences in treatment. Some are treated better than others. The better
treatment would be access to certain rights and privileges. The not so good treatment would
be physical separation from these people and less benefits. It is the position people have in
society which speaks for the advantages that they can avail. We also cannot escape notions of
superior and inferior groups (not just between races). Also, we are prone to stereotyping and
generalizing. Our preconceptions and prejudices influence our way of viewing the world, in
general. Different groups, not just of ethnicity and religion, in our (Philippine) society suffer
from stereotype labels.
Amongst Filipinos, there is also preferential treatment. Tagalogs seem to enjoy more
privileges than other ethnic groups. On another level, when dealing with foreigners, Filipinos
tend to treat them more favorably than their own kind. We welcome foreigners with open
arms and offer them better services. Even if we do not receive anything in return, it is
because Filipinos have the common idea (however much reality bites) that foreigners, whites
especially, are a better race.
Bibilography:
Applebaum, R.P. and W.J. Chambliss. 1995. Sociology. New York : Harper Collins.