Social Structure and Crime Control Among Macrosocial Units

Recent research, drawing on the conflict perspective, has examined the effect of the racial/economic composition of macrosocial units on the capacity for crime control (arrest rates). The results show that there is considerable variation in arrest rates between cities and that racial/economic composition substantially affects them, independently of reported crime rates. The effects are specified by type of arrest (property and personal) and race of offender (white and non-white).