The Emotional Guardianship of Foreign-Born and Native-Born Hispanic Youth and Its Effect on Violent Victimization

Despite numerous tests of routine activities theory, attempts to explain the relationship between Hispanic immigration and victimization are quite minimal. As such, this study seeks to determine whether differences in violent victimization between native-born Hispanic and foreign-born Hispanic youth are attributable to variations in target suitability and emotional guardianship. This study expands routine activities theory’s concept of capable guardianship by basing its operationalization on measures related to family ties and is thus termed emotional guardianship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the results show native-born Hispanic youth were more likely to be violently victimized than their foreign-born Hispanic counterparts. However, once components of routine activities theory and neighborhood safety were entered into the model, the Hispanic youth’s birth status was no longer significant. Prior delinquency also had the strongest direct effect on violent victimization and served to mediate the relationship between emotional guardianship and violent victimization.