In 2010, the FBI recorded 3,135 racially motivated criminal incidents in the United States, more than the combined number of hate crimes related to religion (1,322) and sexual orientation (1,277).
Neighborhood Watch programs became popular in the 1970s and 1980s; by 2000, roughly 40% of the U.S. residential population was covered by such citizen crime-watching programs. These neighborhood associations typically involve recruiting residents to participate in community meetings and various surveillance tasks around properties and common areas; a block captain and coordinator may take leadership roles and serve as liaisons to the local police.
Racial profiling and discrimination against African-American youth by police are problems that periodically grab national attention. Yet there is seldom subtle discussion of whether such discrimination is more prevalent in predominantly black or white neighborhoods, or in mixed racial settings. Moreover, data from black adolescents themselves who may face these realities are infrequently collected, analyzed and cited.
Research shows that early exposure to violence can lead to problems such as substance abuse and delinquency. However, studies have not always controlled for factors that could lead to the same results, such as poverty and low education levels. Whether or not exposure to violence is truly the chief factor explaining negative cognitive and behavioral outcomes for young people in urban settings has remained an area in need of further inquiry.
The idea that new immigrants are linked to increases in crime levels is a persistent one with a long history in American culture. Many experts say that some Americans link crime with immigration because it gives them an easy scapegoat, and in surveys typically between a quarter to half of Americans believe that immigration makes crime worse.
In the first half of the 20th century, a convergence of social attitudes, market forces and government policy in the United States contributed to significant increases in racial segregation. While segregation continues to be seen as a significant problem, a 2012 analysis of historical U.S. Census data indicates that racial separation has diminished significantly since the 1960s.
Many take for granted the idea that, in all cases, an influx of new immigrants to an area will appear threatening to established residents and such close contact helps explain racial tensions. Though this notion of “racial threat” helped explained previous chapters in American history, it remains an open question whether or not this theory applies to newer situations, with other ethnic dynamics. The most salient such situation now in American life relates to the movement of Latinos into many new areas.
While depression is often linked with physiological factors, the larger human environment appears to contribute to and worsen existing depression. The degree to which this is true, however, and how much impact public health and safety efforts might help mitigate depression in the populace, is less certain.
The economic turmoil of 2007-2009 adversely impacted household earnings across America, but a 2011 research study details the extent to which significant declines in household wealth were concentrated in lower-income and minority populations and those whose wealth was primarily derived from their homes.
