Latino Immigrant Acculturation and Crime
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Keywords
Immigration, Crime, Arrest, Acculturation, Latino
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-013-9203-9
Abstract
Recent debate on the future of immigration policy in the United States has spawned much discussion on social costs and consequences for immigrants, such as employment, education, health care, and most notably, crime. Although recent Latino immigrants are often portrayed as outsiders in popular media, their successful acculturation into the American way of life may present more crime-related risk rather than less. This study examines arrest records for Latinos in two southwestern American cities to determine the extent to which Latino acculturation is related to arrests and convictions for both misdemeanors and felonies after controlling for certain legal and extra-legal factors. Results indicate that acculturation is consistently and positively associated with all four crime-related outcomes in this sample. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
American Journal of Criminal Justice, v. 39, p. 315-330
Scholar Commons Citation
Alvarez-Rivera, Lorna L.; Nobles, Matt R.; and Michelle Lersch, Kim, "Latino Immigrant Acculturation and Crime" (2014). School of Information Faculty Publications. 583.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/si_facpub/583
