What was washed away and what remained: an assessment of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on index crimes

ABSTRACT

A substantial body of research has found crime was lower in areas characterized by a stronger community, but research on the importance of community for post-disaster levels of crime suggests a more nuanced relationship. While much of the research on disasters and crime emphasized the importance of collective resources, few studies explicitly assessed the importance of collective resources for crime during the recovery period. Further, recent research suggests crime-specific trends are differentially influenced by disasters. The current study contributes to research on the importance of community for post-disaster crime by examining the association of several forms of collective resources with six Part-1 crimes in New Orleans before, shortly after, and five years following Hurricane Katrina. Our results suggest the relationship of the community with crime is more nuanced than is often tested. We also found the association of neighborhood crime with forms of collective resources varied by crime type and temporally in ways that support some, but not other, existing theories on crime and disasters.

KEYWORDS:

• Disaster
• violent crime
• property crime
• New Orleans

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael S. Barton

Michael S. Barton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research interests include the longitudinal and spatial correlates of crime and health. His recent research has included examinations of the relationship of gentrification with crime, health and educational performance on standardized assessments. His work has appeared in Journal of Criminal Justice, Social Science Research, Homicide Studies, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Deviant Behavior, PLOS One and Urban Studies.

Frederick D. Weil

Frederick D. Weil is an Associate Professor at Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. He has been researching community recovery from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and grassroots mentoring in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Chicago. He earlier conducted research on transitions to democracy in Germany and other countries.

Matthew A. Valasik

Matthew A. Valasik is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research interests include the socio-spatial dynamics of gang behavior (i.e., territoriality, group cohesion, and violence), including comparing and contrasting the attributes of street gangs with other deviant groups (i.e., ISIS, Skinheads, Alt-Right, White Power Groups), and problem-oriented policing strategies (e.g., gang units, civil gang injunctions) used by law enforcement. His work has appeared in Journal of Criminal Justice, Social Science Research, Homicide Studies, Theoretical Criminology, Journal of Youth Studies, Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Deviant Behavior, Statistics and Public Policy, Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, and Crime Science.

Heather M. Rackin

Heather M. Rackin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. Her areas of interest include demography, family, and fertility. She is interested in understanding how structural and schematic factors shape family formation behaviors, how these change over time, and the implications for inequality.

Lynnette Coto

Lynnette Coto is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Sociology at Louisiana State University. Her research interests are in the areas of gender, sexuality, and race. She is primarily a qualitative research scholar, but she has co-authored theoretical research and quantitative research as well. Areas of my current research projects include, hook-up culture, sexual kinks, student-athlete exploitation, and domestic violence in the LBGTQ community. I am also an affiliate Women & Genders Studies, and African and African American Studies Departments.