America’s Safest City: Delinquency and Modernity in Suburbia

A significant body of research emphasizes disproportionate minority confinement in juvenile facilities. Most of the research on this issue has been able to identify the main causes of this trend, including higher arrest and adjudication rates among minority youth residing in impoverished communities. Research and theories explaining juvenile delinquency have typically focused on offending in urban communities. Little research has focused on delinquent behavior among suburban youth. This gap in the literature is addressed in Simon Singer’s America’s Safest City. This book sheds light on the city of Amherst, New York, an affluent suburb, and highlights the reasons for the much lower juvenile arrest rate in this community. America’s Safest City illustrates that delinquency exists in suburban areas; but because of assistance from private agencies, diversion programs, and the lower risk of being adjudicated, juvenile offenders avoid the consequences of being labeled delinquent. Early on in the book, Singer discloses that he came face to face with disproportionate minority youth confinement while conducting research at a maximum-security prison for juveniles. Singer took an interest in the small number of youth who resided in more middle-class communities. Money Magazine identified Amherst as America’s safest city based on limited data. Low arrest rates of juveniles in suburban areas may suggest that delinquent behavior does not exist in suburbia. However, through the collection of both qualitative and quantitative sources, Singer provides the reader with a clear picture of what attributes contribute to the lower reported crime rates in this suburb. A significant portion of the book points out the features and attributes of suburban communities that lower the risk for juvenile delinquent behavior when compared with urban communities. In other words, the text highlights what features of a safe suburban city allow youth to avoid delinquency. Before exploring the patterns of delinquency that exist in Amherst, Singer provides a thorough review of the theoretical and research-based explanations of delinquent offending. He draws on ethnographic studies and infamous cases of violent delinquent offending. Most importantly, throughout the book Singer points out how modernity has changed the conceptualization of delinquency: juveniles are now classified and treated based on severity of offending. A number of actors are now responsible for the adjudication and treatment of juveniles; these actors include teachers, parents, law enforcement, youth activities, and diversion programs. The significance of the book is in the sharing of the delinquent experiences of youth in Amherst. A sample of 26 young adults took part in qualitative interviews, followups to surveys administered during their high school years. This allowed the author to identify what factors may have contributed to successful transitions as adults. The explanation as to how this sample was collected was discussed after the interview data was presented; it would have been more advantageous to introduce this methodology first. The author draws on multiple sources to support his argument about the treatment and portrayal of delinquency in America’s safest city. Data collection techniques appear to have selected a representative sample for this study. Another strength of this study is that the parents of some respondents were also included, which allowed for corroboration when explaining youth behavior. What I found to be most impressive was the author’s ability to gain access to local juvenile arrest data from local law enforcement. 244 Reviews