Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Foreign-born arrestees and recidivism: a multilevel analysis of arrest data from a Florida county Sheriff’s office

  • Published:
Crime, Law and Social Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using approximately 30,000 arrest records from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida and neighborhood characteristics from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, this study examines the relationship between foreign-born status and recidivism. In addition, we investigate whether any plausible relationship between foreign-born status and recidivism is conditioned by neighborhood characteristics. The results from hierarchical logistic regression analyses reveal that foreign-born offenders are less likely to recidivate than native offenders. Furthermore, the negative effect on recidivism for foreign-born offenders is amplified in neighborhoods with higher socioeconomic inequality. We discuss implications for policy and future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. When cross-referencing arrestees, we included arrestees that resided at the same zip code over the 2010–2015 period. Arrestees that moved during this period were excluded from the study. The full sample yielded results that were parallel to those presented in the study. At the same time, we acknowledge the possibility that the arrestee may have recidivated while they were not living at the place of residence declared in the dataset. For instance, the arrestee may have resided temporarily with their relatives or friends in a different zip code when reoffending while keeping their initial zip code as their official place of residence. Equally important is the fact that many reoffending individuals may have never been reported to the police. For example, undocumented foreign-born individuals may carefully avoid law violations or participate less in legal activities such as driving due to fear of deportation (Wong, Hickman, and Suttorp-Booth 2015). Thus, we must remain open to the possibility that some of the effects reported in this study are, at least in part, due to reporting bias. Finally, as noted before, our study also does not account for potential arrests outside of the PCSO’s jurisdiction. However, prior research suggests that recidivism is geographically concentrated and that reoffenders are likely to return to the criminogenic neighborhoods they left behind (e.g., La Vigne et al., 2003). Accordingly, we believe that our study reflects the actual processes in place. Yet, the extent to which the recidivism and place of residence synch up temporally and geographically cannot be untangled empirically with the data at hand. As such, we urge future work to probe this topic further, for example, by utilizing detailed survey data or detailed qualitative and/or ethnographic work.

  2. In the case of the race variable, Hispanic was included within the original data as a type of race instead of ethnicity. Because we did not have additional information on the racial background of Hispanic arrestees (e.g., Hispanic black, Hispanic white), we continued the use of Hispanic as a race instead of as an ethnicity.

  3. Additional analysis showed Hispanics constitute the largest share of foreign-born population in the sample, whereas Asians constitute a relatively minor share. A substantial share of foreign-born persons are White, which prompted us use the label “foreign-born arrestees” rather than, for example, “foreign-born Latino arrestees” (see Appendix A).

References

  • Alper, M., Durose, M. R., & Markman, J. (2018). Update on prisoner recidivism: A 9-year follow-up period (2005–2014). Retrieved June 12, 2018 from http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6266

  • Arbach-Lucioni, K., Redondo-Illescas,S., Singh, J. P., & Andrés-Pueyo, A. (2014). Violent crimes in native and foreign national offenders. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 42, 162–173.

  • Bersani, B. E. (2014). An examination of first and second generation immigrant offending trajectories. Justice Quarterly, 31, 315–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedict, W. R., & Huff-Corzine, L. (1997). Return to the scene of the punishment: Recidivism of adult male property offenders on felony probation, 1986–1989. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 34, 237–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boston Globe. (2016). Criminal immigrants reoffend at higher rates than ICE has suggested. Retrieved June 12, 2018 from https://www.bostonglobe.com

  • Blau, P. M. (1977). A macrosociological theory of social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 26–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colby, S. L., & Ortman, J. M. (2015). Projections of the size and composition of the US population: 2014 to 2060. US Census Bureau, 9.

  • Desmond, S. A., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). The power of place: Immigrant communities and adolescent violence. The Sociological Quarterly, 50, 581–607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12, 121–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2013). Summary reporting system user manual (criminal justice information services division, uniform crime reporting program, version 1.0). U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hickman, L. J., & Suttorp, M. J. (2008). Are deportable aliens a unique threat to public safety? Comparing the recidivism of deportable and nondeportable aliens. Criminology and Public Policy, 7, 59–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickman, L. J., Wong, J. S., & Suttorp-Booth, M. (2014). Is previous removal from the United States a marker for high recidivism risk? Results from a 9-year follow-up study of criminally involved unauthorized immigrants. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27, 378–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipp, J. R. (2007). Income inequality, race, and place: Does the distribution of race and class within neighborhoods affect crime rates? Criminology, 45(3), 665–97.

  • Ibañez, G. E., Agudo, M., Martin, S. S., O’Connell, D. J., Auf, R., & Sheehan, D. M. (2017). Offending behavior, drug use, and mental health among foreign-born versus US born Latino criminal justice clients. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 19, 674–685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubrin, C. E., & Desmond, S. A. (2015). The power of place revisited: Why immigrant communities have lower levels of adolescent violence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 13, 345–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubrin, C. E., & Steward, E. A. (2006). Predicting who reoffends: The neglected role of neighborhood context in recidivism studies. Criminology, 44, 165–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Vigne, N. G., Mamalian, C. A., Travis, J., & Visher, C. (2003). A portrait of prisoner reentry in Illinois. Urban Institute.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Los Angeles Times. (2016). Transcript: Donald Trump’s full immigration speech, annotated. Los Angeles Times. (http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-donald-trump-immigration-speech-transcript-20160831-snap-htmlstory.html). Accessed 12 Dec 2017.

  • Martinez, R. (2002). Latino homicide: Immigration, violence, and community. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, R. (2006). Coming to America: The impact of the new immigration on crime. In R. Martinez & A. Valenzuela (Eds.), Immigration and crime: Race, ethnicity, and violence (pp. 1–19). New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, R., Stowell, J. I., & Cancino, J. (2008). A tale of two border cities: Community context, ethnicity, and homicide. Social Science Quarterly, 89, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, R., Stowell, J. I., & Lee, M. T. (2010). Immigration and crime in an era of transformation: A longitudinal analysis of homicides in San Diego neighborhoods, 1980-2000. Criminology, 48, 797–829.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mears, D. P. (2002). Immigration and crime: What's the connection? Federal Sentencing Reporter, 14, 284–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mears, D. P., Wang, X., Hay, C., & Bales, W. D. (2008). Social ecology and recidivism: Implications for prisoner reentry. Criminology, 46, 301–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messner, S. F., & Rosenfeld, R. (2007). Crime and the American dream, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

  • Messner, S. F., & South, S. J. (1992). Interracial homicide: A macrostructurals-opportunity perspective. Sociological Forum, 7, 517–536.

  • Miller, W. B. (1990). Why the United States has failed to solve its youth gang problem. In C. R. Huff (Ed.), Gangs in America (pp. 263–287). Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morenoff, J. D., & Astor, A. (2006). Immigrant assimilation and crime: Generational differences in youth violence in Chicago. In R. Martínez Jr. & A. Valenzuela (Eds.), Immigration and crime: Race, ethnicity, and violence (pp. 36–63). New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division. (2007). Cooperation of SCAAP recipients in the removal of criminal aliens from the United States. Audit report 07–07, redacted–public version. Washington, D.C.: Department of Justice.

  • O'Kane, J. M. (1992). The crooked ladder: Gangsters, ethnicity and the American dream. Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oropesa, R. S., & Gorman, B. K. (2000). Ethnicity, immigration, and beliefs about marriage as ties that bind. In L. J. Waite (Ed.), The ties that bind: Perspectives on marriage and cohabitation (pp. 188–211). Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ousey, G. C., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). Exploring the connection between immigration and violent crime rates in U.S. cities, 1980-2000. Social Problems, 56, 447–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, T. C., & Cullen, F. T. (2005). Assessing macro-level predictors and theories of crime: A meta-analysis. Crime and Justice, 32, 373–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A.S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

  • Reid, L. W., Weiss, H. E., Adelman, R. M., & Jaret, C. (2005). The immigration-crime relationship: Evidence across US metropolitan areas. Social Science Research, 34, 757–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J. (2008). Rethinking crime and immigration. Contexts, 7, 28–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Groves, W. B. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 774–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Raudenbush, S. (2005). Social anatomy of racial and ethnic disparities in violence. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 224–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. (1999). Systematic social observation of public spaces: A new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 603–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1942). Juvenile delinquency in urban areas. University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shihadeh, E. S., & Steffensmeier, D. J. (1994). Economic inequality, family disruption, and urban black violence: Cities as units of stratification and social control. Social Forces, 73, 729–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taft, D. R. (1933). Does immigration increase crime? Social Forces, 12, 69–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanton, J., & Lutton, W. (1993). Immigration and rising criminality in the USA. The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 18, 217–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tillyer, M. S., & Vose, B. (2011). Social ecology, individual risk, and recidivism: A multilevel examination of main and moderating influences. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39, 452–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonry, M. (1997). Ethnicity, crime, and immigration. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (pp. 1–29). University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey. (2015). American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, tables B03003, B05012, B19083, S0501, S1201, S2201, and S2301. Retrieved September 1, 2016 from http://factfinder2.census.gov

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2011-2015). American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Retrieved June 12, 2018 from https://factfinder.census.gov

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). Gini Index. Retrieved May 17, 2018 from https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/income-inequality/about/metrics/gini-index.html

  • Vélez, M. B. (2009). Contextualizing the immigration and crime effect: An analysis of homicide in Chicago neighborhoods. Homicide Studies, 13, 325–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vélez, M. B., & Lyons, C. J. (2012). Situating the immigration and neighborhood crime relationship across multiple cities. In C. E. Kubrin, M. S. Zatz, & R. Martínez (Eds.), Punishing immigrants: Policy, politics, and injustice (pp.168–187). NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wadsworth, T., & Kubrin, C. E. (2007). Hispanic suicide in US metropolitan areas: Examining the effects of immigration, assimilation, affluence, and disadvantage. American Journal of Sociology, 112, 1848–1885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X. (2012). Undocumented immigrants as perceived criminal threat: A test of the minority threat perspective. Criminology, 50, 743–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wehrman, M. M. (2010). Race, concentrated disadvantage, and recidivism: A test of interaction effects. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 538–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wildsmith, E. (2004). Race/ethnic differences in female headship: Exploring the assumptions of assimilation theory. Social Science Quarterly, 85, 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, J. S., Hickman, L. J., & Suttorp-Booth, M. (2015). Examining recidivism among foreign-born jail inmates: Does immigration status make a difference over the long term. Global Crime, 16, 265–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, K. T., Baglivio, M. T., Intravia, J., & Piquero, A. R. (2015). The protective impact of immigrant concentration on juvenile recidivism: A statewide analysis of youth offenders. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43, 522–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, K. A., & Rodriguez, N. (2014). A closer look at the paradox: Examining immigration and youth reoffending in Arizona. Justice Quarterly, 31, 882–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Eppes Hall, 112 S. Copeland St, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-1273, USA

    Sylwia J. Piatkowska

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Batten Arts and Letters, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Jocelyn Camacho

Authors
  1. Sylwia J. Piatkowska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jocelyn Camacho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylwia J. Piatkowska.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Piatkowska, S.J., Camacho, J. Foreign-born arrestees and recidivism: a multilevel analysis of arrest data from a Florida county Sheriff’s office. Crime Law Soc Change 77, 479–501 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-10005-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-10005-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation