Urban Disadvantage and Types of Race-Specific Homicide: Assessing the Diversity in Family Structures in the Urban Context

Abstract

The family is a mechanism of social control and is essential for reducing crime in urban areas. Recent urban disadvantage and violence research has shifted attention to family disruption as a predictor of crime. Unexplored by this literature is the impact of diversity in family structures on violence. Because the family has taken on multiple forms in urban areas, the authors incorporate this literature into the study of types of race-specific homicide. They estimate constructs of family structure, separate from family disruption, on race-specific family-, acquaintance-, and stranger-related homicide rates. The results indicate that measures of family structure differ both theoretically and empirically from constructs of family disruption. Moreover, when controlling for urban disadvantage, family types do not contribute to homicide in the same manner as family disruption, with differences emerging along racial lines. The authors call for a more inclusive look at the family in the study of urban violence.