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Formal Social Control in Changing Neighborhoods

Principal Investigator: Tim Thomas

Project Team:

Research area(s): Wellbeing of Families and Households
Community partner(s): Seattle Police Department


Background:

Research Questions:

  • How do stable and changing neighborhood dynamics relate to racial differences in calls to the police?

Summary:

We argue that individual engagement and outcomes of calls to the police are racialized and depend on the racial and socioeconomic history of the neighborhood. Specifically, differences in neighborhood racial trajectories, either stable or changing, may influence current residents’ perceptions of their neighborhood, how they relate to their neighbors, and their utilization of formal social control via complaints to the police.