Crime Victimization Among Immigrant Latino Day Laborers in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Abstract

Reports indicate that the criminal victimization of Latino immigrants in the United States has been increasing yet is often underreported. This may be especially true in new immigrant settlement cities that lack an established Latino community to provide support and feelings of security. New Orleans is an important context to investigate criminal victimization as it has experienced a large demographic shift in Latino composition post–Hurricane Katrina. This ethnographic study elucidates the social processes and structural factors that contribute to the criminal victimization of Latino day laborers (LDLs) in New Orleans. Three emergent social processes associated to criminal victimization are discussed, including: (1) distinct settlement process; (2) chaos of the setting and lifestyle; and (3) high-risk exposure. LDLs’ experiences of crime victimization are also explored. Findings reveal distinct structural factors associated to new immigrant settlement cities that contribute to the heightened vulnerability of LDLs.

Criminal victimization of Latino immigrants in the American is rapidly increasing yet tends to go underreported to authorities (Martinez, Lee, & Nielsen, 2004). Unwillingness to report crime is related to immigrants’ perceived threat of deportation and their general distrust in the United States criminal justice system (Bucher, Manasse, & Tarasawa, 2010). As a result, immigrants are highly vulnerable to criminal victimization by persons engaged in street level crimes. This is particularly the case among Latino immigrant day laborers as a majority of this work force is undocumented, has limited English proficiency, and distrust police or other institutions such as U.S. banks (Valenzuela, 2003). Furthermore, Latino day laborers’ (LDLs) distinct characteristics and life and work circumstances (such as, searching for work in open public places and receiving daily earnings in cash) heighten their vulnerability to crime victimization. Existing research has documented the increased vulnerability immigrants face related to relocation and adaptation to a new area (Lichter & Johnson, 2009). However, limited research provides an understanding of LDLs’ experiences settling in cities with no prior presence of a large Latino immigrant population, referred to as “new settlement destinations.” Within these social environments, LDLs may be exposed to situational and structural risk factors distinct from immigrants living in areas with more established Latino populations. LDLs that are newly arrived in urban areas without an extant Latino population have to contend with not only lack of family but also an absence of social and community networks that can provide support and security.

New Orleans is an important context to investigate the social and structural processes of criminal victimization in new settlements as this area has experienced a large demographic shift in Latino composition post–Hurricane Katrina. The rise in the Latino population can be largely attributed to the rise of demand for cheap labor in the demolition and construction efforts (Valdez, Cepeda, Negi, & Kaplan, 2010). Specifically, reports indicate that the Latino population increased from 4% before Hurricane Katrina to over 20% of the total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, Metropolitan Area Population Estimates; Donato & Hakimzadeh, 2006). The study of criminal victimization within this post-disaster context of New Orleans is especially salient due to the breakdown of the city’s public safety organizations and absence of social support structures. LDLs’ vulnerabilities may also be exacerbated within this context due to the city’s high crime rates, thriving drug markets, and drug use (Valdez et al., 2010). This study is guided by social disorganization theory, a theory often applied to the study of crime and deviance (Sampson & Groves, 1989; Shaw & McKay, 1942). Social disorganization theory postulates that structural characteristics (i.e., poverty, residential instability, overcrowded housing, etc.) have an influence on collective efficacy, social capital, and social ties which in turn explain engagement in risk behaviors and crime (Sampson, Morenoff, & Gannon-Rowley, 2002). Specifically, at the neighborhood level, disorganization may occur when there are deficits in social capital eroding social cohesion tryst and weakening informal social control.

Recent studies have found that immigrant settlement into disadvantaged neighborhoods with other large Latino populations has been associated to lower crimes— even when it is illegal (Sampson, 2008). Similarly, Martinez and Valenzuela (2006) and others have shown that this pattern is stronger in neighborhoods with concentrated immigration even when taking into account a host of control variables, including poverty. It is theorized that this association between immigrants and lowering of crime in historically high-crime neighborhoods can be linked to the development of new forms of social organization and adaptive social structures (Martinez, 2006). However, this postulation remains to be tested in new settlement immigrant cities, such as New Orleans. It is possible that these new settlement cities may lack the established informal and formal control mechanisms that exist in traditional immigration cities (such as, Los Angeles and Houston, among others) that buffer crime perpetration and victimization (Morenoff & Astor, 2003). New Orleans’ postdisaster context whereby the storm destroyed many communities’ social and physical infrastructures (such as churches, businesses, schools, and social services) may have an additionally deleterious impact on the social cohesion and integration of LDLs. Furthermore, the reestablishment of New Orleans’ illegal drug markets almost immediately after the storm, making drugs easily available, may contribute towards the social disorganization factors that LDLs had to contend with (Valdez et al., 2010).

Guided by social disorganization theory (Sampson & Groves, 1989; Shaw & McKay, 1942), this study aims to qualitatively investigate the social processes and structural factors that contribute to the criminal victimization of LDLs. Specifically, we focus on three emergent social processes associated to criminal victimization, including: (1) distinct settlement process; (2) chaos of the setting and lifestyle; and (3) high-risk exposure. LDLs’ experiences with criminal victimization are also explored. This understanding of criminal victimization and associated processes is important as it has the potential to highlight structural and situational factors that lead to the increased vulnerability of LDLs within new immigrant settlement destinations as well as opportunities for intervention and prevention.

Method

Procedures

Data were collected from LDLs as part of a larger National Institute on Drug Abuse funded study conducted in New Orleans in 2008 to 2009. A rapid assessment (RA) methodology was implemented in order to collect data on drug use, crime, and other related immigrant experiences (Fitch, Stimson, & Poznyak, 2004; Rhodes, Stimson, Fitch, Ball, & Renton, 1999). The RA methodology relied on both the collection of qualitative and quantitative data to develop sampling frames and accurately assess the presence of the targeted population. Initially, the research team conducted a field assessment based on direct observations for a period of 6 months in 2008 which was designed to identify key geographical areas (sites) where Latino immigrant day laborers congregated to seek work. Field staff documented the presence of male Latino day laborers by day, time, and place. The field assessment resulted in the identification of four work sites composed exclusively of day laborers (Needle et al., 2003). The sites included three large home improvement stores and one street corner pickup site. These four sites were used to identify, recruit, and qualitatively interview a sample of 77 participants.

A qualitative approach is appropriate as this is a hard-to-reach population that has significant distrust of researchers. In addition, an ethnographic approach allows for an in-depth understanding regarding the experiences of participants as well as emergent factors that may remain unknown with quantitative methods. The inclusion criteria for the study were: male 18 years of age or older; self-identified as being from a Latin American country; self-reported use of illicit drugs during the past year; arrival in New Orleans post-Katrina; and currently living in the New Orleans area (at least 1 year). Interviewers trained in open-ended interviewing technique elicited in-depth qualitative interviews in Spanish lasting 1 to 1.5 hours from each of the participants. All interviews were audio-recorded. Respondents were compensated for their time with US$50 cash. Informed consent materials were read to participants verbatim in Spanish and written informed consent was obtained. Participants were not asked about their immigrant documentation status.

Analysis

Interview data were transcribed in Spanish and analyzed in the source language (Spanish). This method is in accordance to recommendations to conduct analysis in the native language of respondents to maximize accuracy (Lopez, Figueroa, Connor, & Maliski, 2008). This was possible given that the authors are fluent in Spanish and were able to thoroughly review all quotes used in this article to ensure translation accuracy from Spanish to English. The Spanish transcripts were inputted into the NVivo software program for coding by the authors of this article.

As all authors also conducted the face-to-face interviews, a team approach was utilized to analyze the data utilizing thematic analysis. In the first phase, the three researchers read through the data. The second phase involved the development of broad categories. These categories were discussed at length and resulted in three (lack of safety, drugs and alcohol, coping with victimization) categories. In the third phase, themes were extracted within each broad category. Next, the research team discussed and developed consensus for the four emerging themes. In cases of disagreement (whereby themes not recognized by the other team members were presented), these ideas were discussed at length until consensus was gained on the final themes. Finally, the fifth phase involved line-by-line coding employing these four themes, including: (1) distinct settlement process; (2) chaos of the setting and lifestyle; (3) high-risk exposure; and (4) crime victimization. A final meeting was held to review the final coded results. This reiterative process has been recommended to reduce the influence of researcher bias in the identification of common themes across participants without losing individual meanings and experiences (Creswell, 2007).

Participants

A brief survey was utilized to collect demographic characteristics of the respondents. All respondents were foreign born, with the majority from Honduras (47%) followed by Mexico (38%), Guatemala (7%), and other Latin American countries (8%). The mean age of respondents was 33.1 years. Living in groups with other men tended to represent the most commonly reported housing arrangements (66%). Over half reported having a wife or children in their country of origin. The majority (90%) had less than a high school education. Respondents reported living in post-Katrina New Orleans for an average of 31 months. During the month prior to the interview, the sample reported seeking day labor work five days out of the week with mean earnings for the month at approximately US$845. Overall, respondents reported an increase in their use of drugs and alcohol since arriving in New Orleans. They cited the use of marijuana (95%), cocaine (57%), and alcohol (92%) since arrival. Of particular interest is the disproportionately high rates of crack cocaine use (64%) reported by respondents since arriving in the city.

Results

A Distinct Settlement Experience

The massive reconstruction and high demand for demolition and construction jobs attracted LDLs to New Orleans. In the months that followed the storm, outside contractors from throughout the United States converged to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular, to participate in the reconstruction efforts. Most of the New Orleans native working class and poor lived in neighborhoods that were the most devastated by the ensuing floods, thus making it impossible for many of them to return to the city. This situation created a demand for laborers that were willing and mobile enough to relocate to New Orleans. As a result, LDLs from throughout the United States arrived to the city to fill the demand for these jobs.

The demand for jobs in New Orleans created a distinct immigrant settlement process. That is, compared to other Latino immigration patterns, this group of LDLs was comprised almost exclusively of undocumented males who migrated into a city with no established Latino community. The population consisted of two types of LDLs including those who came from other U.S. states like Texas and Mississippi and others that came directly from Mexico or Central America. The latter reported hearing about the high availability of work through acquaintances or relatives in the United States, or, in some cases, media outlets. The LDLs that traveled from Central America, recounted the difficulties and danger they encountered in arriving to New Orleans to work and many instances where they were robbed and assaulted by Mexican public officials or criminals who preyed on immigrants along the immigration routes.

Those that came from other U.S. cities were often recruited by contractors involved in the Gulf Coast rebuilding process. This included roofers, plumbers, electricians, demolition specialists, and other construction tasks that were being contracted by insurance companies, private home owners, businessmen, and others involved in the rebuilding process. A young man from Honduras described how he arrived in New Orleans:

From Honduras I got to Houston. I was there for two years. From there, through a cousin, I met a guy from Belize. I told him that I wanted to come here to New Orleans, where there was money. He brought me here for work, three months after Katrina happened.

Other immigrants were recruited by contractors or other middlemen such as the case of an immigrant who was living in Memphis and was recruited by a contractor:

They wanted about ten workers to work with trash in Waste Management. They put us up in a hotel, Century Inn, for a week. And when we finished lifting all the trash … I decided not to return back (to Memphis) and stayed here.

Immigrants were also recruited in a similar manner from as far away as Arizona, Florida, and Georgia.

Characteristic of the settlement process was that these men came alone or with other men. None of the LDLs reported arriving with a spouse/partner or children. One LDL who relocated from Phoenix with a friend said about his arrival:

… I didn’t know anyone. I just took a risk … but then you get to talking (with others), make friendships and you settle down …

For these men, who arrived immediately after the storm, settling down meant in most cases, living in makeshift refuges, under a bridge, or other temporary shelters. After public utilities were reinstated in the city, these LDLs moved into small apartments that they shared with several other men. It was typical to have four to five men sharing a one bedroom apartment in some of the most dilapidated housing in economically disadvantaged African American neighborhoods such as in Treme or the Ninth Ward.

Many participants commented that it was very difficult to live without the presence of women or other family members. This separation and long distance from family members was especially difficult in this unfamiliar and challenging environment. Without the company of their wives, children, or other familial networks, many men expressed feelings of being overwhelmed and missing an integral part of their lives. One participant, a 43-year-old Mexican, stated:

I don’t like to live alone, without my wife. It’s more easy for something to happen. You have problems with women, with friends. You get into problems. When you have a wife you go home and she gets there and it’s calm. One has a life that is more ordered.

The absence of family, especially wives and other Latina females, made adaptation exceptionally difficult. This settlement process was further hindered by the reported near nonexistence of social services, religious institutions, and community based organizations catering to Latino or Spanish-speaking populations. The absence of these types of formal entities meant that there were few or no social service organizations or agencies to assist these immigrant men in solving their grievances and disputes with employers, landlords, police, or issues related to immigration. In addition, there was a general absence of public spaces such as ethnic bars and restaurants, athletic activities (i.e., soccer games) as well as other social activities that are common in other established immigrant settlement areas.

The Chaos of the Setting

The LDLs arriving immediately after Hurricane Katrina encountered large-scale destruction and severely damaged or destroyed buildings. In many parts of the city, older houses, apartments, and businesses were largely abandoned due to the damage caused by large flooding. In some areas, participants reported that homes were carried blocks away from their foundation and set down on top of another home or in the street along with abandoned cars and other vehicles. Contributing to the chaos was the slow reestablishment of the city’s power and utility grid and sewer systems. Months after the storm, there were large areas of the city, such as the Lower Ninth Ward, that did not have any public utilities. One participant stated:

When I got here, it was something horrible. The homes were on top of cars. It was gloomy, the skies were black. There was no light, no electricity. All the gas stations were destroyed.

Despite these conditions, in those first months immediately following the storm, LDLs relayed that employment was plentiful as they were hired by contractors to work in construction and demolition jobs. The men in this study described difficult work conditions that involved long hours as well as a lack of potable water, food, and adequate housing or shelters. The LDLs consistently indicated that, in those recent months after the storm, life felt disordered as many struggled to obtain basic provisions since many businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants were closed.

Despite the shortage of basic necessities, the LDLs in this study relayed that alcohol and drugs were readily accessible. They described how bars and liquor stores were the first businesses to open even in the neighborhoods most devastated by the storm and flood-waters. These conditions augmented a sense of lawlessness and opportunities for criminal activities. In addition, the LDLs described the city as being extremely dangerous despite the presence of the Louisiana National Guard, U.S. Army, Homeland Security, New Orleans Police Department, and other authorities. One LDL stated:

When I first got here to New Orleans, there was a lot of violence … a lot of drug sales out in the street, and a lot more criminal acts than there is now. It was so bad that they had to call the National Guard to come help get things under control after Hurricane Katrina. Because of all the violence and all the robberies they were forced to call the National Guard. I was arrested just for being out on a street corner and then arrested again just for the hell of it because they felt like taking me to jail.

High-Risk Exposure

The difficult and seemingly lawless conditions present in postdisaster New Orleans exposed LDLs to circumstances that increased the group’s vulnerability to criminal victimization. The structural factors that LDLs identified to increase their vulnerability to criminal victimization included the nature of day labor work and the presence of active and accessible drug markets which led to drug initiation and use among many of the participants. These combined circumstances as well as this population’s psychosocial stressors and marginal status as undocumented workers, culminated in their high-risk exposure to violence.

The LDLs in this study indicated that negotiating open-ended work on public street corners for daily cash earning was dangerous. In this public setting, individual LDLs could be identified by street-level criminals as easy targets with ready cash. In fact, the perception that LDLs carried cash was so pervasive that LDLSs were often referred to as “Walking ATMs.” On the contrary, day labor corners were also perceived to be places where LDLs built friendships, solidarity and related, protected each other from criminal victimization or abusive prospective employees. To this end, risk for criminal victimization was identified to be the highest when outside of this communal context of job seeking such as when individual LDLs were being dropped back off to the day labor corner by an employer. A 58-year-old Mexican respondent stated the following:

The employer drops you off (at the day labor corner). They (thieves) are there looking to see if you worked and are getting paid. They wait for you to go around the block and then hit you (respondent makes a hitting sound) and rob you.

A majority of the LDLs in this study stated that they did not report robberies to law enforcement for fear of being deported. Others indicated feeling that their complaints would not be taken seriously because of their undocumented immigration status. As many of the LDLs reported victimization by criminals that were African American, they reported feeling that the police would “side” with the perpetrators because they were citizens and the LDLs were not.

Theft was described to be particularly painful as the LDLs relayed that such an experience placed a heavy toll on them. This was especially true given their difficult life and work conditions which were exacerbated by separation from close family members, friends, and community. The lack of an established Latino community in New Orleans that could potentially ameliorate the stress of victimization further increased LDLs’ feelings of isolation and desesperación or despair. One worker described the pain involved in being robbed:

They (the criminals) know that one is undocumented. They know that a person, one Friday, will get paid in cash. (After) the whole week sweating, maybe doing roofing under the sun, the whole day working … so that one Friday, one guy may come who may show his gun and take your money. The money that cost you so much to earn. With the sweat of your labor, that you have earned, maybe, enduring hunger- (and by) going to the corner to look for work with the hope in God that you will find work.

Theft was also described to interfere with LDLs’ ability to send remittances to support family members in their countries of origin. For many workers, not being able to send money, which was reported by many to be one of their primary reasons to migrate to the United States, was very difficult. Many LDLs linked such feelings of desesperación to problem drinking as well as drug initiation and use. One such LDL discussed the pain of not being able to send money to his sister:

I feel disappointed calling her without being able to say, “Here, I am sending you some money. Go and buy something to eat for the fortnight.” And, like that, without money, one is disillusioned and that is why many people throw themselves in drugs.

These psychosocial stressors along with the easy accessibility of drugs were identified as factors that facilitated LDLs’ initiation and use of drugs. While, participants indicated that drug use helped them get their mind off their life strain, it further exposed them to crime vulnerability. One 23-year-old Honduran described the process of buying marijuana in a dangerous neighborhood:

You have to cross over there to that street. It’s dangerous because they will assault you, I have to go there to buy marijuana. They may kill you there. Yes, it’s dangerous because they have guns and lots of other arms.

While many participants said they avoided street corners where drugs were sold, LDLs’ seeking to purchase drugs continued to frequent these geographical areas. One worker stated “A friend was beaten with a baseball bat during a drug deal. But the next day, he was back looking for crack.” The LDLs that did report using drugs indicated that they were often cheated by dealers who would take their cash and refuse to give them their drug of choice as they were unlikely to retaliate. One drug using LDL complained, “They sell sheetrock instead of crack!” In addition, many of the participants indicated drinking to intoxication to dull emotional pain or to avoid their many problems. Such problem drinking was stated to be facilitated by the city’s liberal ordinances permitting public alcohol consumption and that served liquor 24 hours a day. Many participants noted that such engagement in drinking to intoxication exposed them to crime victimization risks by impairing their cognition and judgment. One Mexican day laborer stated, “Immigrants walk around drunk at night, at dawn, and get beat up and have their money stolen.”

Crime Victimization

Exposure to high-risk situations resulted in a high incidence of crime victimization among the LDLs that participated in this study. Most LDLs’ reported experiencing episodes of robbery, home invasions, and homicides or knew others who were victims of these crimes. LDLs indicated that it was especially distressing when they were victimized or robbed in the neighborhoods that they lived in as it deteriorated their trust in their neighbors. One 55-year-old Guatemalan reported being robbed three times. The last time was by his African American neighbors who not only took his money but also his official documents.

They (the thieves) were from where I lived. They took my wallet and $10. I told them that I didn’t carry any more. It’s true because they had robbed before on Canal Street and even took my documents—everything. And I had to get passport and everything (documents) again.

Those that reported not having been assaulted themselves, reported stories of friends, or other acquaintances that were victimized. Home invasions were additionally stressful as it indicated to the LDLs that their neighbors were familiar with their work patterns and were aware that they did not deposit their cash earnings in a bank. While a majority of the participants acknowledged that their living conditions (such as, multiple men living together along with cash earnings) increased their risk for victimization, they expressed feeling helpless about these social conditions.

Surprisingly, a number of participants reported knowing a person that had been killed or stated that they had heard of a Latino worker being killed. One participant, a 32-year-old Honduran, stated:

Last week, they killed a man that was working. It looks like they killed him because he did not give them his money. They killed him … for $100-$50 … they took his life. But they have killed a lot of Hondurans here in New Orleans …

Many of the participants attributed this victimization to tensions among African Americans and Latinos as many of the perpetrators were identified by the LDLs’ as African Americans. A 41-year-old Honduran, like many others, stated “I know that they (criminals who are African Americans) have killed a lot of Latinos here.” While, the actual fatalities of LDLs are not confirmed, the perceptions’ of massive murders of LDLs by criminals who are African Americans is significant as it indicates racial tension between these two historically marginalized groups. This racial tension could have been attributed to the rapid influx of undocumented Latino immigrants into New Orleans immediately post-Katrina and the intensification of competition for jobs in reconstruction and clean up efforts. In fact, some of the participants reported that they noticed that many employers preferred Latino laborers to African American laborers and hired Latino immigrants more often even when both groups were looking for work at the same day labor corner. This tension was compounded by the fact that employment and payment of day laborers is highly visible, making many day laborers targets. One young LDL stated, “… it has gotten to be so bad that they (African Americans) seem dedicated to assaulting and robbing us. Now they are even entering our houses with pistols to rob us, you understand?”

Discussion and Conclusion

The postdisaster social processes and structural conditions of New Orleans exposed LDLs to higher levels of criminal victimization than in established Latino immigrant settlement cities. In general, the city experienced an overall sharp increase in crime as those involved in New Orleans’ previously thriving drug markets were among the first business organizations to return in these neighborhoods besides the construction contractors (Valdez et al., 2010). Therefore, African Americans, Whites, and Latinos all experienced violent victimization further enhanced by the shortage of law enforcement and other public social and health services, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. What marked LDLs’ social and structural processes of victimization distinct was the interplay of immigration, work, and life vulnerabilities as well as the lack of availability of social structures that could facilitate adaptation and social cohesion. For instance, Latinos were highly exposed to robbery, assaults, and home invasions because it was known that LDLs carried cash on their person or hid money in their homes. Moreover, LDLs were unlikely to report offenses to the authorities because of their undocumented immigration status and associated perception that law enforcement would be reluctant to assist them. Without the presence of social structures present in traditional immigrant settlement cities (such as cities in California and Texas) to mediate the negative effects of poverty, discrimination, street culture, and ethnic and racial tensions that contribute to crime (Martinez et al., 2004), the social vulnerability of LDLs was heightened in this new immigrant settlement context (Cepeda et al., 2012).

The existence of New Orleans’s tourist based industry that rapidly reestablished itself in the wake of the disaster also exposed immigrants to criminal victimization. One of the main findings in the study was that in the absence of conventional leisure activities, LDLs patronized many of the city’s newly reconstructed bars and clubs where they often engaged in heavy drinking thereby increasing their vulnerability to criminal victimization. Such victimization exposure was also augmented by New Orleans’ robust and aggressive drug markets. The availability and accessibility of illegal drugs through neighborhood street-level drug sellers led some LDLs to initiate drug use. Many LDLs bought drugs from these drug sellers who often either cheated them or robbed them of their cash. In short, these social processes and conditions created a high degree of social disorganization in these neighborhoods that was found to be distinct from immigrants living in traditional Latino immigrant settlement cities with greater residential stability, social cohesion, and informal social control.

A specific contextual determinant contributing to the high levels of victimization of LDLs was the highly racialized and criminal context of New Orleans. Findings indicate the presence of racial tensions among LDLs and African Americans—which have been similarly found in traditional settlement areas such as Los Angeles (Hernandez, 2007). Such rising tensions between these two groups directly interfere with the development of social cohesion and can be attributed to the competition for scarce resources, employment, and political power (Gay, 2006; Shihadeh & Barranco, 2010). It is possible that such conflict may be exacerbated within the disaster-stricken context of post-Katrina New Orleans where, even after nearly 7 years after the storm, there is a lack of community resources, affordable housing, and employment opportunities.

This study contributes to our understanding of the nature of crime victimization among LDLs within the context of new immigrant settlements as well as postdisaster communities. As the experiences of undocumented immigrants is largely missing from U.S. Census data (Bucher et al., 2010), this study adds to our limited understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities experienced by this population. Nevertheless, this study has several limitations that need to be mentioned. As this is a qualitative study, findings cannot be generalized as it was conducted with a nonrepresentative sample of LDLs who arrived in New Orleans post-Katrina. Findings may also be limited as LDLs can be considered a transient population that by their nature may have a corresponding higher exposure to crime than more long-term, residentially stable immigrants. This may be especially true for the LDLs in this study who are self-identified drug users. Despite these limitations, this study adds to the growing literature on the social and health indicators of LDLs in the United States through its examination of crime vulnerability. To our knowledge, this is the only known study to directly examine the social and structural process of crime victimization of LDLs and the significant role that drug use and drug markets play in this process. It also contributes to the scarce knowledge of the consequences of disasters on special populations like LDLs in disaster areas. Future research should build upon these qualitative findings to identify variables and develop hypotheses for quantitative studies to examine the long-term effects of victimization on the health and mental health of LDLs. It is also highly recommended that social service organizations and law enforcement invest time and efforts to build trust among this hard-to-reach population and thereby facilitate crime reporting and service utilization. Finally, policy level changes are deeply needed to rebuild the physical and social infrastructure of New Orleans’ most disadvantaged communities.

Biographies

Nalini Junko Negi, is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the etiology of drug use and psychological distress among Latino immigrant day laborers. Her research has used mixed methods approaches to elucidate participant identified risk and protective factors associated to the mental health and substance use of this hard-to-reach population of immigrants.

Alice Cepeda, is an assistant professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work. Her work has focused on the social epidemiology of drug use and the related health risk behaviors that disproportionately affect urban Mexican-origin minority populations, including violence, HIV/STI infection risks and mental health conditions. Her research has also highlighted the unique gendered experiences encountered by females within this cultural context.

Avelardo Valdez, is a professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work. A primary focus of his research has been on the relationship between substance abuse and violence and health issues among high-risk groups. His research projects have been among “hidden populations” such as youth and prison gang members, injecting and noninjecting heroin users and sex workers on the United States/Mexico border.