ABSTRACT
A large and growing literature identifies macro social correlates of violent offending and victimization in neighbourhoods and communities. The chapter reviews studies that link violence rates not only to community poverty levels but to dynamic phenomena such as increasing geographical concentration of poverty in urban areas, inequality between the poor and non-poor, and the possible role of culture in the violence that plagues many poor communities. Studies demonstrate the special vulnerability of urban minorities to fundamental changes in the economies of some central cities and to population changes within specific local community contexts. Robert J. Sampson's study of National Crime Survey data found that measures of poverty and income inequality accounted for less variance in neighbourhood violent crime than did such neighbourhood characteristics as density of housing, residential mobility, and family structure. The chapter concludes with an extended discussion of community values and issues that concern both young people and their elders—values and issues that shape intergenerational relationships.
