Citation

Parker KF, Johns T. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 2002; 39(3): 277-303.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

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