Blau J, Blau P. The costs of inequality: metropolitan structure and violent crime. American Sociological Review 1982; 47: 114-129

This study by sociologists looked at the variation in violent crime rates with the degree of economic inequality in the largest metropolitan areas of the US. They discovered that income inequality in a metropolis substantially raises its rate of criminal violence. Although violent crime has been linked to poverty, if the rates of crime are statistically controlled for the amount of economic inequality in a metropolis, the association between such violent crime and poverty disappears. The authors look at other such associations, and find that pronounced economic inequalities lie at the root of violent crime.

Abstract

The hypothesis tested is that variations in rates of urban criminal violence large result from differences in racial inequality in socioeconomic conditions. Data on the 125 largest American metropolitan areas (SMSAs) are used to ascertain whether this hypothesis can account for three correlates of violent crime differentially interpreted in the literature. Criminal violence is positively related to location in the South, which has been interpreted as the result of the Southern tradition of violence. It is positively related to the proportion of blacks in an SMSA, which has been interpreted as reflecting a subculture of violence in ghettos. And it is positively related to poverty, which has been interpreted as the emphasis on toughness and excitement in the culture of poverty. The analysis reveals that socioeconomic inequality between races, as well as economic inequality generally, increases rates of criminal violence, but once economic inequalities are controlled poverty no longer influences these rates, neither does Southern location, and the proportion of blacks in the population hardly does. These results imply that if there is a culture of violence, its roots are pronounced economic inequalities, especially if associated with ascribed position.

Keywords

• income inequality
• metropolitan areas (SMA), cities
• race
• violent crime