Law enforcement experts and observers of immigrant communities have suggested that immigrants are reluctant to report crimes to the police. Various reasons have been advanced to support this idea, ranging from distrust of authorities to fear of retaliation or deportation to lack of confidence in the police. This study examined willingness to report crimes among residents of six ethnic communities in New York City. In spite of the pessimism expressed in the literature, the authors found that large majorities of respondents said that they would report break-ins, muggings, family violence, and (to a lesser extent) drug selling. Persons who said that their ethnic community was likely to work together to solve local problems and those who believed that their community wielded political power were more likely than those whose communities were disenfranchised to say that they would report crimes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bachman, R. (1993). Predicting the reporting of rape victimizations: Have rape reforms made a difference? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 20(3), 254-270.
2.
Bachman, R. (1998). The factors related to rape reporting behavior and arrest: New evidence from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 25(1), 8-30.
3.
Browning, S., Cullen, F. T., Cao, L., Kopache, R., & Stevenson, T. (1994). Race and getting hassled by the police: A research note. Police Studies, 15, 3-22.
4.
Bursik, R. J., Jr., & Grasmick, H. G. (1999). Economic deprivation and neighborhood crime rates, 1960-1980. In F. R. Scarpitti & A. L. Nielsen (Eds.), Crime and criminals: Contemporary and classic readings (pp. 298-308). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
5.
Campbell, A., & Schuman, H. (1972). A comparison of Black and White experiences in the city. In C. M. Haar (Ed.), The end of innocence: A suburban reader. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
6.
Chavis, D. M., & Wandersman, A. (1990). Sense of community in the urban environment: A catalyst for participation and community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 55-82.
7.
Clear, T. R., & Karp, D. R. (1998). The community justice movement. In D. R. Karp (Ed.), Community justice: an emerging field. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
8.
Conaway, M. R., & Lohr, S. L. (1994). Longitudinal analysis of factors associated with reporting crime. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 10(1), 23-39.
9.
Davis, R. C., Erez, E., & Avitabile, N. (1998). Immigrants and the criminal justice system: An exploratory study. Violence and Victims, 13, 21-30.
10.
Davis, R. C., Erez, E., & Avitabile, N. (2001). Access to justice for immigrants who are victimized: The perspectives of police and prosecutors. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 12, 183-196.
11.
Davis, R. C., Smith, B. E., Lurigio, A. L., & Skogan, W. G. (1991). Community response to crack: Grassroots anti-drug programs. Final report of Victim Services (New York) to the National Institute of Justice.
12.
Department of City Planning. (1992). Demographic profiles: A portrait of New York City's community districts from the 1980 and 1990 censuses of population and housing. New York: Author.
13.
Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R. (2001). Factors in underreporting of crimes against juveniles. Child Maltreatment, 6(3), 219-229.
14.
Fishman, G. (1979). Patterns of victimisation and notification. British Journal of Criminology, 19(2), 146-157.
15.
Greenberg, M. S., Ruback, R. B., & Westcott, D. R. (1982). Decision making by crime victims: A multimethod approach. Law & Society Review, 17, 47-84.
16.
Greenberg, M. S., Wilson, C. E., Ruback, R. B., & Mills, M. K. (1979). Social and emotional determinants of victim crime reporting. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42(4), 364-372.
17.
Greenberg, S. W., Rohe, W., & Williams, J. (1982). Safe and secure neighborhoods: Physical characteristics and informal territorial control in high and low crime neighborhoods. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.
18.
Hadar, I., & Snortum, J. R. (1975). The eye of the beholder: Differential perceptions of police by the police and the public. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2, 37-54.
19.
Hahn, H. (1969). Violence: The view from the ghetto. Mental Hygiene, 53, 509-512.
20.
Harlow, C. W. (1985). Reporting crimes to the police. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
21.
Herbst, L., & Walker, S. (2001) Language barriers in the delivery of police services: A study of police and Hispanic interactions in a midwestern city. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(4), 329-340.
22.
Hillenbrand, S., & Davis, R. C. (1993). Residents' perceptions of drug activity, crime, and neighborhood satisfaction. In R. Davis, A. Lurigio, & D. Rosenbaum (Eds.), Drugs and the community (pp. 5-18). Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.
23.
Horowitz, C. (2001). An examination of U.S. immigration policy and serious crime. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies.
24.
Jacob, H. (1971). Black and White perceptions of justice in the city. Law and Society Review, 5, 69-89.
25.
Jefferson, T., & Walker, M. A. (1993). Attitudes to the police of ethnic minorities in a provincial city. British Journal of Criminology, 33(2), 251-266.
26.
Johnson, T. A. (1993). The public and the police in the city of Chicago. Chicago: Centers for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, Northwestern University.
27.
Junger, M. (1989). Discrepancies between police and self-report data for Dutch racial minorities. British Journal of Criminology, 29(3), 273-284.
28.
Kidd, R. F., & Chayet, E. (1984). Why do victims fail to report? The psychology of criminal victimization. Journal of Social Issues, 40, 39-50.
29.
Kury, H., Teske, R. H. C., & Wurger, M. (1999). Reporting of crime to the police in the federal republic of Germany: A comparison of the old and the new lands. Justice Quarterly, 16(1), 121-151.
30.
Laub, J. H. (1981). Ecological considerations in victim reporting to the police. Journal of Criminal Justice, 9, 419-430.
31.
Mastrofski, S. D., Parks, R. B., Reiss, A. J., & Worden, R. E. (1998, July). Policing neighborhoods: A report from Indianapolis. National Institute of Justice Research in Brief.
32.
Mastrofski, S. D., Parks, R. B., Reiss, A. J., & Worden, R. E. (1999, July). Policing neighborhoods: A report from St. Petersburg. National Institute of Justice Research in Brief.
33.
McCord, W., & Howard, J. (1968). Negro opinions in three riot cities. American Behavioral Scientist, 11, 24-27.
34.
Meeker, J. W., & Dombrink, J. (1988). The undocumented and their legal needs. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 15(2), 105-132.
35.
Neild, R. (1999). Confronting a culture of impunity: The promise and pitfalls of civilian review of police in Latin America. Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America.
36.
Pogrebin, M. A., & Poole, E. D. (1990a). Culture conflict and crime in the Korean American community. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 4(1), 69-78.
37.
Pogrebin, M. A., & Poole, E. D. (1990b). Crime and law enforcement policy in the Korean American community. Police Studies, 13(2), 57-66.
38.
Pogrebin, M. A., & Poole, E. D. (1990c). South Korean immigrants and crime: A case study. Journal of Ethnic Studies, 17(3), 47-80.
39.
Reisig, M. D., & Parks, R. B. (2000). Experience, quality of life, and neighborhood context: A hierarchical analysis of satisfaction with the police. Justice Quarterly, 17, 607-629.
40.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
41.
Scaglion, R., & Condon, R. (1980). Determinants of attitudes toward city police. Criminology, 17, 485-494.
42.
Skogan, W. G. (1978). Citizens' satisfaction with police services: Individual and contextual effects. Policy Studies Journal, 6, 469-479.
43.
Skogan, W. G. (1984). Reporting crime to the police: The status of world research. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 21(2), 113-137.
44.
Sorenson, S. A., & Telles, C. A. (1991). Self-reports of spousal violence in a Mexican-American and non-Hispanic White population. Violence and Victims, 6(1), 3-15.
45.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1980). Census of population and housing. Washington, DC: Author.
46.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1990). Census of population and housing. Washington, DC: Author.
47.
Webb, V. J., & Marshall, C. F. (1995). The relative importance of race and ethnicity on citizen attitudes toward the police. American Journal of Police, 14(2), 45-46.
48.
Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (1999). Race, class, and perceptions of discrimination by the police. Crime and Delinquency, 45, 494-507.
49.
Yoshioka, M. R., DiNoia, J., & Ullah, K. (2001). Attitudes toward marital violence: An examination of four Asian communities. Violence Against Women, 7(8), 900-926.
