The role of community context in hate crimes against Latinos

This research examines the association between community conditions and anti-Latino hate crimes as informed by earlier research. The traditional social disorganization perspective argues that hate crimes against Latinos are more likely in communities characterized by economic disadvantage, residential instability and heterogeneity. On the other hand, the defended communities perspective suggests that hate crimes against Latinos are more prevalent in majority white communities experiencing an in-migration of Latinos. At the same time, the defended communities' perspective suggests that economic strain in majority white communities has a positive affect on hate crimes. Using hate crime data collected from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations from 2003 to 2013, the present study examines the effects of the defended communities in majority black communities given the racial and ethnic landscape of Los Angeles County. The findings confirm that community conditions described by the traditional social disorganization perspective influence racially motivated hate crimes. With the exception of residential stability, economic disadvantage and heterogeneity are significantly associated to anti-Latino hate crimes as described by the traditional social disorganization perspective. In contrast, there is limited evidence to confirm the effect of the demographic change and/or economic conditions on anti-Latino hate crimes or racially motivated hate crimes as suggested by the defended communities' perspective. The analyses call attention to the importance of merging theoretical constructs and examining groups outside of anti-black and anti-white given demographic changes in communities across the United States. The conclusion suggests that research drawn from theories on communities and crime could provide a practical framework for examining hate crimes as they offer important policy implications for local communities.