Immigrant Culture and Neighborhood Perceived Violent Crime and Violent Victimization: A Multi-Level Test of Enculturation to México, Acculturation to the US, and Support for the Code of the Street

Research on neighborhood immigration and crime rarely tests cultural explanations for the null or inverse associations typically found. We examine if support for the code of the street and measures of immigrant culture (acculturation and enculturation) mediate this relationship. We employ multilevel path modeling and survey data from neighborhoods in El Paso County, Texas, merged with census data. Supporting predictions, enculturation is inversely associated with support for the code of the street and enculturation mediates an indirect relationship between neighborhood immigration and neighborhood violent victimization. However, this relationship does not appear when perceived neighborhood violent crime is used as the dependent variable or the acculturation measure. While the code of the street is positively associated with both perceived neighborhood violent crime and violent victimization, it is not associated with neighborhood immigration and does not serve as a mediator. Implications for cultural explanations of the neighborhood immigration-crime association are discussed.