The protective impact of immigrant concentration on juvenile recidivism: A statewide analysis of youth offenders

• We examine the effect of neighborhood conditions on juvenile recidivism.
• Disadvantage and immigrant concentration impact the likelihood of reoffending.
• Greater disadvantage is associated with a greater likelihood of recidivism.
• Immigrant concentration is associated with a lower likelihood of reoffending.
• A protective effect of immigrant concentration, albeit modest, is observed among a statewide sample of youth.

PurposeThe majority of existing research on immigration and crime suggests that immigrant concentration has either a null or negative impact on rates of criminal behavior. Far less research has examined the effect of immigration on the future outcomes for youth with prior criminal history. Youth who have had prior contact with the juvenile justice system represent an especially vulnerable population that could be expected to benefit most from the protective effects of immigration as identified in the literature.MethodsWe examine the effect of concentrated immigration on reoffending using a large sample of previously referred youth nested within 3,547 neighborhoods from the state of Florida. Hierarchical logistic regression is used in order to assess the effect of neighborhood conditions on juvenile recidivism, net of commonly considered individual-level attributes.ResultsConsistent with past research on the effect of immigrant concentration, results suggest a general protective effect of immigrant concentration on juvenile reoffending, controlling for levels of neighborhood disadvantage.ConclusionsNeighborhood conditions impact the likelihood of juvenile offending, net of commonly considered individual characteristics. The current study adds to the literature suggesting a protective effect of immigrant concentration on criminal behavior. Study limitations and implications for future research are also discussed.