This study examined the gendered impact of structural disadvantage and economic inequality on two forms of nonlethal victimization (assault and robbery). Compared with research on the gendered impact of structural disadvantage on perpetration, few studies have examined the differential susceptibility of men and women’s risk of victimization. We use data from the City of Los Angeles (2001-2007) to examine the relative influence of neighborhood characteristics on both the gender gap in victimization as well as sex-specific measures of assault and robbery victimization. In general, we largely find that neighborhood disadvantage and economic inequality do little to explain the gender gap in victimization; however, structure plays a more significant role in understanding sex-specific victimization rates, but the relationship varies by crime type.
AlaridL. F.BurtonV. S.CullenF. T. (2000). Gender and crime among felony offenders: Assessing the generality of social control and differential association theories. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 37, 171-199.
2.
AndersonE. (1999). Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
3.
AvakameE. F. (1999). Females’ labor force participation and intimate femicide: An empirical assessment of the backlash hypothesis. Violence and Victims, 14, 277-291.
4.
BaileyW. C.PetersonR. D. (1995). Gender inequality and violence against women: The case of murder. In HaganJ.PetersonR. D. (Eds.), Crime and inequality (pp. 174-205). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
5.
BaronL.StrausM. A. (1987). Four theories of rape: A macrosociological analysis. Social Problems, 34, 467-489.
6.
BaumerE. P. (2002). Neighborhood disadvantage and police notification by victims of violence. Criminology, 40, 579-616.
7.
BellairP. E. (1997). Social interaction and community crime: Examining the importance of neighbor networks. Criminology, 35, 677-703.
8.
BlalockH. M. (1967). Toward a theory of minority-group relations. New York, NY: Capricorn Books.
9.
BlumsteinA. (2000). Disaggregating the violence trends. In BlumsteinA.WallmanJ. (Eds.), The crime drop in America (pp. 13-44). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
10.
BrewerV. E.SmithM. D. (1995). Gender inequality and rates of female homicide victimization across U.S. cities. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 32, 175-190.
11.
BrownmillerS. (1975). Against our will: Men and rape. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
12.
CohenL. E.FelsonM. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588-608.
13.
CooneyM.PhillipsS. (2002). Typologizing violence: A Blackian perspective. International Journal of Sociology and Public Policy, 22, 71-104.
14.
DeWeesM. A.ParkerK. F. (2003). The political economy of urban homicide: Assessing the relative impact of gender inequality on sex-specific victimization. Violence and Victims, 18, 35-54.
15.
FaganA.A.WrightE.M. (2012). The effects of neighborhood context on youth violence and delinquency: Does gender matter?Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 10, 64-82.
16.
GartnerR. (1990). The victims of homicide: A temporal and cross-national comparison. American Sociological Review, 55, 92-106.
17.
GartnerR.BakerK.PampelF. C. (1990). Gender stratification and the gender gap in homicide victimization. Social Problems, 37, 593-612.
18.
GartnerR.McCarthyB. (1991). The social distribution of femicide in urban Canada, 1921-1988. Law and Society Review, 25, 287-311.
19.
GoldbergG. S. (1990). The United States: Feminization of poverty amidst plenty. In GoldbergG. S.KremenE. (Eds.), The feminization of poverty: Only in America? (pp. 17 - 58). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing.
20.
HaynieD.L.ArmstrongD.P. (2006). Race and gender-disaggregated homicide offending rates: Differences and similarities by victim-offender relations across cities. Homicide Studies, 10, 3-32.
21.
HeimerK. (2000). Changes in the gender gap in crime and women’s economic marginalization. In LafreeG. (Ed.), Criminal Justice 2000: The nature of crime: Continuity and change (Vol. 1, pp. 427-483). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
22.
HindelangM. J.GottfredsonM.GarafaloJ. (1978). Victims of personal crime: An empirical foundation for a theory of personal victimization. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
23.
KennedyP. (2003). A guide to econometrics (5th ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT press.
24.
LaFreeG.HunnicuttG. (2006). Female and male homicide victimization trends: A cross-national context. In HeimerK.KruttschnittC. (Eds.), Gender and crime: Patterns in victimization and offending (pp. 195-229). New York: New York University Press.
25.
LaGrangeT. C.SilvermanR. A. (1999). Low self-control and opportunity: Testing the general theory of crime as an explanation for gender differences in delinquency. Criminology, 37, 41-72.
26.
LauritsenJ.Carbone-LopezK. (2011). Gender differences in risk factors for violent victimization: An examination of individual-, family-, and community-level predictors. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 48, 538-565.
27.
LauritsenJ.HeimerK. (2008). The gender gap in violent victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 24, 125-147.
28.
LindhorstT.MancoskeR. (2003). Race, gender and class inequities in welfare reform. Race, Gender & Class, 27-40.
29.
MarvellT. B.MoodyC. E. (1999). Female and male homicide victimization rates: Comparing trends and regressors. Criminology, 37, 879-902.
30.
McNultyT. L. (2001). Assessing the race-violence relationship at the macro level: The assumption of racial invariance and the problem of restricted distributions. Criminology, 39(2), 467-490.
31.
MesserschmidtJ. W. (1993). Masculinities and crime: Critique and reconceptualization of theory. Latham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
32.
MessnerS. F.SampsonR. J. (1991). The sex ratio, family disruption, and rates of violent crime: The paradox of demographic structure. Social Forces, 69, 693-713.
33.
PearceD. (1978). The feminization of poverty: Women, work, and welfare. Urban and Social Change Review, 11, 28-36.
34.
PridemoreW. A.FreilichJ. D. (2005). Gender equity, traditional masculine culture, and female homicide victimization. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 213-223.
35.
RountreeP. W.WarnerB. D. (1999). Social ties and crime: Is the relationship gendered?Criminology, 37, 789-814.
36.
SampsonR. J.GrovesW. B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774-802.
37.
SampsonR. J.RaudenbushS. W.EarlsF. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918-924.
38.
SchwartzJ. (2006a). Effects of diverse forms of family structure on female and male homicide. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(5), 1291-1312.
39.
SchwartzJ. (2006b). Family structure as a source of female and male homicide in the United States. Homicide Studies, 10(4), 253-278.
40.
SmithA.ChiricosT. (2003). Structural antecedents of aggravated assault: Exploratory assessment of female and male victimization. Violence and Victims, 18, 55-70.
41.
SmithD. W.KuchtaE. S. (1993). Trends in the violent crime against women, 1973-1989. Social Science Quarterly, 74, 28-45.
42.
SmithM. D. (1987). Changes in the victimization of women: Is there a “new female victim.”Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 24, 291-301.
43.
SmithM. D.BrewerV. E. (1992). A sex-specific analysis of correlates of homicide victimization in United States cities. Violence and Victims, 7, 279-286.
44.
SteffensmeierD.AllanE. A. (1996). Gender and crime: Toward a gendered theory of female offending. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 459-487.
45.
SteffensmeierD.HaynieD. (2000a). Gender, structural disadvantage, and urban crime: Do macrolevel variables also explain female offending. Criminology, 38, 403-438.
46.
SteffensmeierD.HaynieD. (2000b). The structural sources of urban female violence in the United States: A macrosocial gender-disaggregated analysis of adult and juvenile homicide offending rates. Homicide Studies, 4, 107-134.
47.
TedeschiJ. T.NeslerM. S. (1993). Grievances: Development and reactions. In FelsonR. B.TedeschiJ. T. (Eds.), Aggression and violence: Social interactionist perspectives (pp.13-45). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
48.
ThomasS. L. (1994). Gender and poverty. New York, NY: Garland Publishing.
49.
TittleC. R.WardD. A.GrasmickH. G. (2003). Gender, age, and crime/deviance: A challenge to self-control theory. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 40, 426-453.
50.
TjadenP.ThoennesN. (2000). Full report on the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey (NCJ 183781). Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs.
51.
TrumanJ. L.MorganR. E. (2016). Criminal victimization, 2015. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
