Date of Award

Summer 8-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology/Criminal Justice

Program/Concentration

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Committee Director

Randy Gainey

Committee Member

Ruth Triplett

Committee Member

Mica Deckard

Committee Member

Thomas R. Allen

Abstract

A growing body of research points out that communities in the most need of assistance are often the ones established by racially biased processes and have not been invested in for generations – with little to no attention ever positively directed toward these spaces. Instead, because of policies and tactics used to label areas as problematic and divest from them, public actors are reluctant to consider the lived-lives, both good and bad, of the residents of these communities when discussing needed changes. Criminologists have long been interested in neighborhood change and its relationship with crime. There has also been theoretical and political interest in the notion that gentrification of an area may reduce crime rates. However, tests of these ideas have produced mixed empirical support due to issues with conceptualization, measurement, and study design. This dissertation explores a reconceptualization and measurement of gentrification, adding elements of “third places” and demolitions to standard measures (e.g., census measures) found in the literature. This work employs hierarchical linear modeling to analyze data over time, providing a systematic analysis of the relationship between gentrification and crime in Norfolk, VA, from 2016 – 2019. By linking these empirical analyses with theoretical and historical context, this study advocates for better community research focused on the interplay of history, social context, systematic empirical research, and generational effects that may play a role in the current neighborhood structure.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/1knh-8q21

ISBN

9798352693261

ORCID

000-0003-1120-4060

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