The Neglected Role of Concentration at the Extremes in Tests of the Racial Invariance Thesis

Abstract

Research seeking to test racial invariance in neighborhood violence emphasizes concentrated disadvantage despite the problem of “restricted distributions.” We investigate whether spatial polarization of disadvantage and affluence accounts for racial differences when there are few extremely poor, white neighborhoods for comparison. Drawing on data for Atlanta, GA neighborhoods (N = 314), the analysis evaluates the racial invariance thesis by assessing (1) whether racial/ethnic differences in neighborhood violence are better explained by the index of concentration at the extremes (ICE) than alternative socioeconomic measures, and (2) whether it exerts expected effects on violent crime in white, black, and mixed-race neighborhoods. Findings reveal that heightened violence in black and mixed-race neighborhoods (relative to white) is fully explained by the ICE index, but not by concentrated disadvantage or within-neighborhood inequality (GINI). Theoretically expected effects of the ICE index on violent crime across white, black, and mixed-race neighborhoods are also evident.