https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128717719049
Crime & Delinquency
2018, Vol. 64(2) 201–226
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0011128717719049
journals.sagepub.com/home/cad
Article
The Impact of Structural
Disadvantage on the
Gender-Gap and
Sex-Specific Rates
of Nonlethal Violent
Victimization
Ráchael A. Powers
1
, Alyssa W. Chamberlain
2
,
and Lyndsay N. Boggess
1
Abstract
This study examined the gendered impact of structural disadvantage and
economic inequality on two forms of nonlethal victimization (assault and
robbery). Compared with research on the gendered impact of structural
disadvantage on perpetration, few studies have examined the differential
susceptibility of men and women’s risk of victimization. We use data from
the City of Los Angeles (2001-2007) to examine the relative influence of
neighborhood characteristics on both the gender gap in victimization as well
as sex-specific measures of assault and robbery victimization. In general,
we largely find that neighborhood disadvantage and economic inequality do
little to explain the gender gap in victimization; however, structure plays a
more significant role in understanding sex-specific victimization rates, but
the relationship varies by crime type.
Keywords
victimization, gender, social disorganization, structural inequality, poverty
1
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
2
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Corresponding Author:
Ráchael A. Powers, Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler
Ave., SOC 107, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
Email: powersr@usf.edu
719049CAD XX X 10.1177/0011128717719049Crime & DelinquencyPowers et al.
research-article 2017