INVESTIGATING THE LINK BETWEEN RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION, SOCIAL INEQUALITY, AND ACCESS TO INSURANCE COVERAGE

INVESTIGATING THE LINK BETWEEN RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION, SOCIAL

INEQUALITY, AND ACCESS TO INSURANCE COVERAGE

Introduction

Societal integration in terms of race and economic status remains a mirage in many

societies because the society is greatly divided along the two aspects. This division is most often

due to historical and policy making activities which have led to the racialization of the urban and

suburban areas for several generations through such processes as redlining and other forms of

discriminating lending. The consequences of such differentiation are numerous and diverse,

ranging from reduced social prospects and dramatically differing in health and criminal justice,

as well as employment, prospects. This implies the following; there is need to consider the

correlation between these two criteria for the purpose of determining insurance access and at the

same time aggravate social injustice. It also gave a critique of all the theories and all the research

that has ever been done in an endeavor in an attempt to someday elucidate how residential

exclusion leads to economic and social exclusion. It is also based on the cultural conflict and

social strain theory pointed out that the concern for understanding how and when segregation

reduces health and crime has to be broadened. Once possible policy measures have been

ascertained that might be evaluated and how they may perhaps be enhanced, as to what potential

interventions could help construct routes towards the creation of a fairer world. It shows that the

kind of dispersal of age, gender and wealth that results from residential segregation is also

affected by how it persists. There is need for stakeholders to pay attention to this study because

this work may help to reveal how these changes might detract from other types of chronic

marginalization. In order to provide a background for the discussion and at the same time make

sure that the paper is balanced and analytical segregation, inequality and insurance cover will be

related.

Patterns of Residential Segregation

The causes of housing segregation in United States include; Past affirmative action where

people were grouped in accordance to color. It is possible that the cruelest origins of the

segregation mentioned above were the actions known as redlining that began in the 1930s with

the National Housing Act of 1934 and the creation of the Federal Housing Administration

(FHA). The FHA avoided insurance of mortgage in blacks’ regions or regions with blacks living

nearby, and at the same time supported the construction of suburban households, which were

occupied mainly by white people. The work by Rothstein published in 2017 reveals that the

policies which are implemented today help to sustain racial segregation. Further, it was

permissible and quite normal to insert so called restrictive covenants, which meant that black

people or other minorities were not allowed to buy the property, which in effect meant that

people of color were simply living in segregated areas. In particular, Massey and Denton (1993)

pointed out that the legal restraints and neighborhood agreements sharpened the economic and,

therefore, social segregation which characterizes the present day urban population. However, the

Fair Housing Act of 1968 was supposed to exclude the above discriminations in the market

systems but still the effects of such policies were seen in the market systems. That is why

segregation patterns still remain today as purposeful and rational decisions of the past that lead to

the race and economic stratification.

However, contrary to the popular perception that incorporation of civil rights has led to

the integration of African Americans into the American society, new demography findings reveal

that the issue of integration remains hotly debated since residential segregation still exists.

According to the US Census Bureau (2022) there is high racial segregation in the metropolitan

areas, and black and Hispanic people are confined to the slums. This permanency is not solely a

holdover of traditional cultures, but is fueled by counterparts of the prehistoric era which poverty

and racism in the area of housing. According to Logan and Stults (2011) the integration between

the Blacks and the whites, which has been decreasing since the 1970s to 2000s has slowed down

and some areas have even regressed. It is also clear that such disparities are socially constructed

since the lower income minorities cannot easily change jobs or travel as the White people can.

For example, Chetty et al. (2018) also pointed out that the US has invested a lot of money in

education, health care, and employment, yet employees from the segregated neighborhoods

especially black families cannot move out of poverty within their generations. That is why

practices such as residential segregation lead to an endogamous system of oppressions from

which the oppressed population cannot easily escape. This elevation requires a shift in both the

housing and economic policies because these gaps are structural.

There is a difference across the United States and the difference being attributed to

historical, cultural, and economic factors. For example, the modern cities like Chicago and

Detroit that admitted a lot of black people during the Great Migration are still racially divided. In

contrast, the newer South cities like Atlanta and Charlotte represent both such tendencies,

possibly because Black middle-class consumers have also left the city more often. In their

account, Fry and Taylor (2012) observe that changes in race integration are more distinctive in

years but this is due to differences in income and education. However, the construction of

segregation in rural areas is slightly different from the construction of segregation in the urban

areas where segregation is mainly based on the economic status of the people. Local or State also

has its inputs; for instance, the zoning laws in California are blamed for reinforcing social/

economic apartheid of the area even if race is not as overt. Reardon and Owens (2014) also did

comparative analysis to show that while some people have been integrated others have been

separated through policies that exclude them from housing. These regional differences are

important for intervention development because a single solution may not adequately meet the

needs of a different geographic localities because of the uniqueness presented by different areas.

The other systematic racism mechanisms include effects such as how the boundaries to

public school district maintain residential segregation. Research has shown that families choose

their homes with a specific view to the quality of elementary schools, which are mainly financed

by local property taxes. Such per capita funding model provided much more resources to the rich

and predominantly white districts while leaving the poor and predominantly black and Latino

schools barely funded. Owens (2018) in this paper has argued that segregation is a sustained

injustice because kids in segregated neighborhoods are denied access to quality education and

resources. Also, schools in the economically challenged area may have large number of learners

per class, no chance at all to engage in co-curricular activities and dilapidated structures. This

distribution of educational capital as outlined above reinforces the residential apartheid of

students by wealth, race, class and promotes the phenomenon whereby families with the

wherewithal move to districts with better schools in a process of quantification and sorting.

The availability of privatization or public investment to enhance the area can also be

added as an input. Some concepts like urban gentrification have a positive aspect of revitalizing

previously abandoned city areas and making them as they used to be while having a negative

aspect of forcing out legitimate inhabitants of those areas for many years. In the work of

Freeman and Braconi (2004) positive effects of gentrification include improvement of

infrastructure and enhancing property values but negative effects include eviction of people of

color. This process results in complete annihilation of communities and makes others, primarily

the vulnerable population, relocate to areas with scarce job opportunities and weak employment.

On the other hand, disinvestment results to more decline in the economic status of

neighborhoods and increases segregation. The procurement of such an unequal pattern means

that urban development is not an easy process and benefit making means that any policy

interventions that aim at rejuvenating the area must consider the needy persons in the society.

Impact of Residential Segregation on Crime Rates

The connection between residential segregation and differential crime rates is one of the

oldest and most hotly debated; some examples of this have been discussed earlier in the text. The

most viable proposition in relation to the above link is the theory of social disorganization, which

is the main hypothesis of this paper. The consequences of this theory hold that urban areas

characterized by high levels of residential mobility and deprived concentrations are likely to

produce fragmented structures and thus higher levels of crime. The studies have been conducted

over the current years, which has enriched the conclusions made by Shaw and McKay (1942) on

the social disorganization theory and attributed to Sampson (2012). In Sampson’s study, people

living in racially and economically segregated areas tend to live in neighborhoods that are not

bonded and that is where crime thrives. Some characteristics for the regions where efforts for

public safety are made include a small number of acquaintances and residents’ resources, and

low levels of collective efficacy in the mentioned regions. But there are some scholars who

would like to come up and say that segregation is not the only factor that determines the level of

crime. They are keen on such structural factors as class disparities such as the economic class

and lack of social facilities. However, since there is a number of factors that cause the rise of

crime and this point of view is based on the concepts of complexity, segregation is only one link

of a large chain of social and economic transformations that should be taken into consideration.

It is relevant to elaborate on the various aspects of segregation even though the link

between segregation and criminality is well understood. This understanding is supported by

Peterson and Krivo (2010) in their current study which reveals that Policing is overdone in

segregated areas leading to high crime rates and looping effects. For instance, minor offenses in

precincts occupied by Blacks are likely to result in arrests and Criminal records than similar

offenses in areas where the population is white and affluent. From this process, a vicious cycle is

formed where from time to time impressions are made that crime rate is high and this leads to

policy enforcement that is unconstitutional and this leads to high rate of reported crime.

Furthermore, a research conducted by Braga et al., (2019), reveal that the tendency of focusing

more on penalties that on community interventions weakens the relation between the police and

the citizens, and the two cannot work in harmony. These dynamics show that the problems of

policing crime in such neighborhoods where structures and resources are imbalanced are

enormous as depicted in the above model.

Some research has offered information which goes against the assumptions that

residential segregation leads to increased crime rates. These studies have presented results which

go against the main idea. For example, in the study by Lauritsen and White (2014), there are

several possibilities suggesting that age demographics and economic possibilities may have a

much stronger effect on crime than segregation as such. Guras (1989) support the contention that

the rate of crime in an area depends on characteristics such as the proportion of youths and the

unemployed in the area, and not on the proportion of the blacks and whites in the area, or the

level of residential segregation. These specific findings are evidence why it is important not to

overemphasize the relationship between segregation and criminality. What is needed, therefore,

is a definition of ageism that moves beyond the mere combination of age with economic status

and social integration. One can also be able to get more information about the dynamics of the

relationship between crime and neighborhoods composition with a view of analyzing more

temporal data with a view to explaining how future changes in the composition of a

neighborhood may affect crime rate.

Another way which can be useful to comprehend how segregation leads to higher crime

rate is the combination of segregation by place of residence and cases of gang violence. When

the youths are politically and economically marginalized and in search of comfort when the

social institutions have collapsed, ethnic enclaves offer a fertile ground for the formation of

gangs and their operation. Klein and Maxson (2006) observed that gangs are in actuality a form

of social organization for youth who lack adequate social organization in the community; for

deprived and socially neglected neighborhoods. That is why if one group of gangsters operates in

this or that area, it has become common practice that there will be more often conflicts of interest

and, as a rule, the crime rate increases; and this leads to the further development of a vicious

circle of violence. At the same time, it is important to stress that gang violence cannot be

discussed as an inevitable process which stems from segregation. That is why community led

solutions may be able to address some of the root causes of violence such as poverty and

unemployment since Cure Violence reveals that such interventions can be effective in reducing

gang-related violence. This means that while ethnic residences fosters insurgent of a conducive

environment for the commission of criminal activities there are cures that are community based

and strategic that can help in the prevention of this.

It has always been so because living in a segregated high criminal area has its

psychological impacts on the residents as compared to other areas of the neighborhood. The

inhabitants of these communities live in conditions of chronic stress and trauma, and that results

in negative consequences for their mental health, the current studies also confirmed that they are

at a higher risk for engaging in criminal behavior in their lifetime. Similar to the “Code of the

street” propounded by Anderson (1999) when people lose faith in police and other institutions of

social control they resort to what Anderson calls “street code” which is characterized by self-help

and vindictive violence. This is a way of making cultural changes in order to respond to what is

felt as inadequate or unfriendly care from the state. The subsequent research, including the study

done by Sharkey in 2018, suggests that there is potential for adverse effects of the multiple and

chronic violent and unstable conditions on people and children in specific. In this case, such

people may also have learning disabilities as well as developmental problems. This is because

the physical and psychological criminogenic environments in geographical distant locations call

for the use of synthesized treatment programs.

It is essential to note that since most of the research done to try to understand the impact

that residential segregation has found close links between technological crimes and such aspects,

the solutions must go beyond criminology. Since the local citizens are supposed to enhance the

unity of the society, the community-based interventions such as the neighborhood watch as well

as the violence interrupters indicate that they can reduce on crimes. According to Skogan (2006)

in his research, when people have resources, and when they feel that they belong to the society,

crime rate is low. Also, the attempts for city design from the construction of affordable houses

for all classes of people to the enhancement of the efficient transport services may be useful in

combating segregation besides all the implications of criminality. However, such attempts should

be done in a way that it does not cause negative impacts like; gentrification whereby the same

people are forced out of the same areas they have lived in to pave way for better off people. To

ensure that the net effect results in a reduction of crime rates in the future, more than just the

cause of social isolation, but also the integration of the economic divide has to be addressed.

Social Inequality and Opportunities for Reform

In this case, residential segregation is closely associated with social-economic inequality

and thus education, employment, and service delivery discrimination patterns. The most evident

example of this split is the contrast in the level of service between the mainly white and mainly

rich neighborhood and the overfunded mixed-race school. In finance matters, schools in

segregated communities face some of the worst school finance, crowded classroom, few options

for honors courses and other co-curricular activities among other challenges to quality education.

From the work done by Reardon (2016), it was seen that school funding gaps are closely related

to several local property taxes. This means that the more affluent the given community the more

it can afford to spend on schools than a less affluent area. This funding approach has adverse

effects on equity and confines the opportunities of segregated communities’ learners for their

academic achievement. It is for this reason that transformational change is needed and of which

altering the processes that are used to support schools in their efforts to ensure equity of resource

distribution is important. But, district reform processes are constrained by political and economic

factors; the districts that are rich do not want to lose their position or resources by transferring

materials to the poor districts.

The resettlement produces changes in employment prospects in the same manner as does

dwelling separation with regard to the types of jobs available in a region which is characterized

by poor people who cannot find well-paid jobs. The issue raised by Wilson in The Truly

Disadvantaged (1987) is that minority people are put in places that are not accessible to areas of

demand for employees hence worsening the problem of economic inequality. Besides,

geographical isolation between inhabitants and their workplaces, there are problems of the lack

of public transport, which makes it difficult for the population of such areas to get to work. This

is further made clear by the fact that jobs are available at various places. In addition, perhaps

intentionally, or perhaps inadvertently, organizations may engage in practices that harm minority

applicants and create adverse conditions for the hiring of minorities. The fundamental research

by Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) showed that applicants with ‘‘white‐sounding’’ names got

50% more call‐backs as compared to those with ‘‘black‐sounding’’ names although their CVs

were same. To minimize the spatial distance between separated neighborhood’s and employment

centers, some actions are needed, including employment training, protection against

discrimination, and transport facilities. These structural barriers to health that persist are a good

reason why such interventions need to be sustained.

The enormous effect of residential segregation in social injustice is again seen by the

disparity in health care provision which is lacking in this area. That is, one reason that minority

population receives limited opportunity to obtain quality healthcare service is that they have

limited access to well-equipped health care facilities and therefore they have poor health and

shorter life expectancies compared with the rest of the population. For instance, according to

Bailey and his colleagues (2017), segregated societies had a higher rate of chronic diseases such

as diabetes and high blood pressure. This has been attributed to environmental factors,

availability of limited and poor quality treatment facilities and or economic factors. At the same

time, these territories have the problem of food deserts, meaning territories with a few healthy

and cheap products. This in turn increases the current health inequities even more. These

challenges demand a strategy that entails reinforcement of the outreach for curative care,

promotion of efficient utilization of resources in the preservation of better health status, and

addressing of the social determinant of health. There have been some reforms with policy

interventions like expansion of Medicaid and funding the Community Health Centers but to

sustain the root cause elimination for balanced healthcare equations policy interventions must

also focus at the infrastructure level.

Of course there are opportunities for reform efforts and such reform efforts can, over

time, lead to a decline in social inequality and an increase in economic and social mobility. This

is where the use of mixed-income housing developments seems to hold the most promise. The

aim of these buildings is to provide housing for persons of different economic status in every one

of these estates in a bid to eliminate economic stratification. According to Kleit (2005), mixed-

income communities are likely to offer residents with low incomes better quality of such

commodities as schools with high academic achievement and safer neighborhoods. It also means

that these communities have autonomy to form social networks that may lead to creation of

economic opportunities. But the kind of projects that are needed; have to be planned for in a way

that does not lead to the low income residents in these areas being priced out by new middle

income residents. Those measures that guarantee demands for affordable housing and protection

of renters are very critical since they help in supporting the benefits accrued of integrated income

housing. The local governments are in a position to provide incentives to developers to construct

low-cost houses in areas with high human capital, which could come in handy in a big way to

help in the fight against segregation.

On the list of the actions for fighting social injustice are the stakeholder activity which

includes the following. Local organizations are typically in a better position of understanding the

requirements and the issues that are present within a certain community and as such will be able

to provide better solutions than generalized governmental programs that are implemented from

the top down. Among the measures that have been suggested for the solution of the problem of

housing inequality is the formation of Community Land Trusts (CLT). CLTs are organization

that engage in the business of buying and owning property with the aim of making the property

available to a given group of people for shelter. This has a twofold benefit and first this ensures

that housing remains affordable; secondly, those in the area get to contribute towards the

formulation of policies regarding its construction. CLTs have also been used in fighting against

gentrification and the forced eviction as pointed by Davis (2010). Also, there is the creation of

the ownership culture which is another implication of CLTs. CLTs programs have the potential

of reducing the negative impact of residential segregation and make society a good place with

equity. This they do by supporting individualism and economic viability for as long as one can

perceive it.

One area that is also in desperate need of change is education reform where greater

importance is being placed on the importance of cultural competence in teaching, awareness of

inequalities and differences in funding. According to Ladson-Billings (1995), normative

pedagogy education that focuses at identifying clients’ culture may enhance achievements and

interest of clients particularly those from the colored minority. Benefits including; higher

graduation rates and reduced achievement gaps have been realized by school districts that have

implemented these from their inception. Furthermore, while more in general, mentoring and

after-school programs that are designed to help students overcome systemic barriers in order to

achieve certain goals for students from minorities or other disadvantaged in education groups.

Engaging and preparing are two of the strategies that many programs such as “My Brother’s

Keeper,” an initiative started by the former president of the United States of America, Barrack

Obama has targeted to use to ensure youth of color succeed. At this stage it becomes very clear

that such efforts are quite effective in the elimination of educational inequalities.

Significantly, the function of the CJ system is also situated within the opportunities of the

social change in the context of the elimination of socioeconomic endeavors. This kind of

segregation offers those communities a clear Experience of “tough on crime” policing and high

rates of imprisonment Where either can lead to the perpetuation of poverty and Stigma cycles. It

was found out that mass incarceration has now emerged as a new way of containing social

injustice which was found to especially target the black and Latino races. (Clear, & Frost 2014).

Among the goals that should be pursued to overcome these disparities one can mention the

internal reform of sentencing legislation, the support of covering policing, the focus on

restorative justice practices. It also can be stopped with the beginning of reentry programs that

are designed to help people, who had been in jail, to become a decent member of society. A

study has pointed out that offering services in skills in employment, counseling and housing can

help in decreasing the rate of recidivism while at the same time improve chances of getting a job.

Theoretical Frameworks on Inequality and Crime (Culture Conflict, Social Strain, etc.)

In order to explain and analyze Residential Segregation, Social Inequalities and Crime it

is crucial to have a theoretical basis. There are many well-elaborated sociological and

criminological theories that can describe the role of system and environment injustice and

conditions in connection with crimes in the segregated regions. Culture Conflict Theory is one of

the theories that explain that crime takes place where people or a certain community experiences

a clash between the general culture and the subculture. Sellin (1938), was the first to prop this

theory stating that culture of the society was relative in the sense that people in the minority

cultures engaged in deviant behavior when they come into contact with the dominant culture of

the society. In the case of living segregation, this duality is most pronounced. Every segregated

area has its own set of rules, and skills that are needed in the area, but these may not be legal and

ethical in the larger society. A more recent example is Anderson’s (1999) Code of the Street,

which portrays how the bottom stratum of the population builds respect and shelter through the

violations of what they perceive as social and institutional negation. This subcultural adaptation

is the one that always involves breaking the laws that have been laid down by the dominant

culture and perpetuates poverty and imprisonment.

Another theory of analyzing deviance is the Social Strain Theory by Merton (1938) this

framework seeks to explain how structures in society lead to deviance. As for Merton, people

choose between innovation and other forms of crime if they cannot achieve socially expected

goals with the help of conventional means due to structural conditions. On its own, lack of a

chance to get a proper education, lack of well-paying job to sustain a decent living and being

unable to climb the social ladder causes a lot of stress. People are always under pressure to find

other ways of being successful or even to survive. This framework helps in understanding why

the society’s crime rate is high in the area where there is high unemployment and poverty. In the

same way, the General Strain Theory developed by Agnew (1992) also expands Merton’s

concept by narrowing down the sources of strain to particular cultural goals that lead to the use

of income-generating illegitimate means, lack of positive stimuli, or increase in negative ones.

For instance, Broidy and Agnew (1997) who support this argument found out that exposure to

stressors in specific places makes people continue to engage in criminal and or delinquent

behaviors.

Social Disorganization Theory developed by Shaw and McKay (1942) can be used to

explain the impact that residential segregation has on crime rates. According to this theory the

community areas with features such as poverty without a workable and stable population, ethnic

diversity and residential mobility result in social disorganization thus high rates of crime.

Families, Schools and other local institutions have no control over the population and no way of

punishing undesirable behavior. Sampson and Groves pursued from this theory in the first half of

1989 what they described as collective efficacy; the ability of members of the community to

organize and control crime and other deviant behaviors. Thus, collective efficacy is

conceptualized in these segregated neighborhoods where people are not likely to trust each other

and no much social capital is needed to organize the community. Sampson’s (2012) study is

consistent with earlier research and finds that the areas with high social disorganization had

much higher rates of social organized crime than areas with low social organization controlling

for other variables. This theoretical perspective only provides justification for combating crime

in a specific manner in segregated areas with regard to structural and community factors.

The Routine Activities Theory by Cohen and Felson (1979) on the other hand, provides

the other view of the possible conditions in which crime can occur. In this theory it is stated that

crime occurs when the motivated offender is able to locate a suitable target who is unable to

secure the assistance of capable guardians. In segregated neighborhoods, several factors combine

to make a crime-friendly environment including; economic disadvantage makes the motivated

offenders while dilapidated or poorly maintained buildings give the offender a chance; low

police patrol or poor community supervision reduces guardianship. This approach highlights the

need to understand the subject of environmental design and planning in the prevention of crime.

For instance, Brantingham and Brantingham in their study highlighted that the social factors such

as good lighting in streets, installed security systems and the design of public places were strong

deterrence against crime, opportunities. This theory focused on prevention such as organization

of groups or associations that are supposed to oversee the neighborhood, improved physical

environment.

These concepts explain the effect of the concentration of disadvantage and spatial

inequalities on crime, especially the role of these factors in effecting criminality. These theories

also explain the challenges and issues that come about during the process. The critics that have

been associated with Culture Conflict Theory include; the theory paints a mechanical view of

crime, and the theory does not consider social factors which influence decision making of

minorities. Nevertheless, there are those who criticized that social strain theory exaggerates the

role of the economic factor. Some people suggest that the cause of noneconomic crimes, or even

severe ones, like an assault or a wounding, may be social or psychogenic and that is not very

probable. In the same way, Social Disorganization theory has been criticized for being very poor

because while it looks at characteristics of some communities, it does not explain things to do

with preferences or the processes that result in the formation of socially disorganized

communities. Because of these, these frameworks are still relevant in some measure in

explaining the relationship between environment, inequality and crime.

An integration of these theoretical perspectives therefore offers a description of some of

the challenges that are typical of segregated societies. Whereas Social Strain and Social

Disorganization is more on “structure and context,” Culture Conflict Theory is more on “culture

and ethnicity.” All the above frameworks suggest that crime prevention strategies should be

multiple and should address the lack of opportunities that are generated by social order and the

perceptions of residents in a given society. For instance, in prevention and control of crime,

agencies can go a step further in using law enforcement agencies such as the police to fight

crime, community, educational and mental health reforms in the society. Due to formulation of

interventions that have a high probability of disrupting the nonsensical cycle of inequality and

crime among disadvantaged citizens, CHB can entice reconsiderations of these theories.

It is for this reason that application of these theories in organizational settings and in our

day to day practices can only be done in coordination with several fields. Therefore, the urban

planners, social workers’ educators and law enforcement agencies should Join hand in making

better and safer societies. Crime is caused by pressures that are not easily alleviated by

conventional solutions such as the construction of low cost houses and job training as propagated

by Social Strain Theory. Efforts that can promote social capital and therefore promote social,

cohesion or European Efficacy Theory may be used to reduce crime as postulated by Social

Disorganization Theory. In addition, culturally sensitive approaches to the expectations that the

native population of the minoritized neighborhoods has for the police can also help reduce

cultural tensions between the police and the public. It is quite correct that the application of these

theoretical paradigms to policy and even more so to practice can mean something when it comes

to eradicating causes of crime in isolated communities.

Healthcare Disparities Tied to Residential Segregation

Choice of place of residence enhances the health burden because it leads to Racial and

economic inequalities in access and health. People of black and Hispanic origin live in almost

completely segregated neighborhoods where the majority of such communities are prone to

experience a rather significant number of obstacles that hinder their access to healthcare services;

these obstacles encompass all spheres of the population’s healthcare, including the availability of

good and quality healthcare facilities, the number of physicians per population, the percentage of

insured individuals among the population, etc. The fact that these groups is difficult to reach by

well-equipped hospitals and special health centers makes it difficult for them to get the right and

timely treatment. According to Gaskin et al. (2012), people living in segregated areas are likely

to be admitted to hospital and have poor health in general owing to the scarcity of primary care

physicians and specialists. The worst part is that these disparities are often occurring in the

context of a “medical desert”, where large regions of the country have no means of providing

healthcare at all. This results in a health care gap in the area and the people are forced to depend

on a busy emergency unit to access their prime health care needs hence both the individual and

the organization levels of analysis.

Stephan and Wall more likely argue that the case and subject of these healthcare

disparities is that economic disinvestment is a common characteristic of residential segregation.

For long term divestment, the communities do not raise enough revenue to support the funding of

clinics and for the government to come up with appropriate health interventions. These

conditions are made worse by economic segregation since triple this poverty is more

concentrated, making residents vulnerable to food insecurity, environmental risks, constant

stress, which results in poor health. Williams and Mohammed (2009) have conducted a study

that reveal that chronic stress, including economic stress, results in high blood pressure, and

social exclusion, leads to diabetes. First of all, segregated neighborhoods also have higher risk of

exposure to environmental health risks such as living close to industries or having a polluted

environment and fewer parks that worsen the health status of the inhabitants. These

environmental stressors show that the health care inequality or the denial of equitable health

services is not only the issue of health care politics, health care infrastructure and formal health

care facilities; it is also an equally about the built environment of cities.

Insurance status is also a very helpful idea in explaining the nature of healthcare

disparities related to spatial organization of black and white populations by race residential

segregation. Mandatory reasonable isolation means that there are separate communities with high

population density and poor health insurance coverage and therefore many of the residents do not

have adequate health insurance cover to access most of the healthcare facilities. The following

paper will argue that though the ACA has produced some successes in the expansion of

insurance coverage, there are still shortcomings in coverage particularly in the non-expansion

states. Sommers, at al., (2017) found that due to Medicaid expansion, low-income patients get

better access to healthcare; however, minorities are still limited by the disjointed approach to the

policies in the states. Such gaps in coverage mean that residents often postpone or neglect getting

medical care that they require to manage or prevent deterioration of pre-existing medical

conditions. Also, the sources of professional financial revenue of healthcare providers in low-

income, segregated neighborhoods are very constrained and the chances of getting better revenue

say through private scripts may be almost inexistent given their financial status hence the quality

of care they will provide will also be poor. The patient’s needs have to be met and the overall

medical needs are high and are fought over the scarce and frequently insufficient resources with

no equal resource base, freedom or client base to fall back on which makes challenges difficult to

overcome in a healthcare system without revolution.

Inequality in access to health care in racially segregated neighborhoods is also affected

by the type of health care facilities. Where residents can access the health care system the care

they receive is frequently inferior to that provided by local facilities available in the

predominantly white affluent areas. Such districts are provided with clinics and hospitals that are

often undersupplied, with fewer specialists, and which make more medical errors. For example,

Baicker et al, (2004) showed that black and Hispanic patients admitted to hospitals with a greater

number of black and Hispanic enrollees have higher mortality rates even after controlling for the

insurance status and disease severity. Self-stereotypes among these physicians themselves also

play a role as a study reveals that the minority patients receive fewer doses of pain medication or

their pain is not taken as seriously as that of the white patients. This kind of care for patients is

based on segregation and leads to the same rates of chronic diseases and the life expectancy

similar to the segregated neighborhoods. These negative tendencies can be altered only by the

provision of means for the enhancement of the healthcare facility, the enhancement of doctors’

and other care givers’ cultural competence, and the eradication of care giver prejudice.

Additionally, the effects of negativities arising from failures in care due to residential

compartmentalization are quite severe with regard to the wellbeing of a population over

generations. Other obvious differences between segregated children in and out of school include

the fact that the former are more exposed to health risk factors that will persist into adulthood.

For instance, the effects of substandard housing shift to housing with paints and mound bearing

some ill effects on physical and cognitive development in the later years. Rauh et al (2008) in

another study also observed that segregated neighborhood raises some risks; these are childhood

asthma and developmental delay due to limited access to pediatrician and other preventive

medical services. These health conditions also affect learning, income and life chances and place

a person into the poverty trap. Among these other concerns are; pre-natal care, a situation that

has been Mariam characterized by denial of health services especially to the minority women in

segregation areas on maternal health have resulted to increased infant mortality and

complications during pregnancy. To fill the gaps which have been identified, it is necessary to

explore the interventions for mother and child health which may contribute to increase the

chances that all females will receive appropriate prenatal and postnatal care.

Efforts have been made to overcome the problem of inequality in the distribution of

health care facilities based on the patterns of residential segregation that still has not entirely

disappeared. Beneficial ways of providing care with considerations of CHCs and MHCs,

telehealth, and mobile health in relation to the problem of accessibility of care are beneficial. It

concentrates on the delivery of health care services to the people in order to ensure that the

problems with transport that may be encountered can be solved and early diagnosis made. But

such a change cannot be effective without a proper plan to enable as many changes as can be

referred to as permanent. For the purpose of equitable distribution of health care, payment of

health care costs, and to encourage professionals to work in regions with poor health care access,

as well as reducing he-social factors that affect health. In the same manner, it is easier for

healthcare providers together with the other stakeholders in the community to come up with

appropriate measures for the various communities. For instance, the health related interventions

which are based on communities and associated with housing, employment and education have

been helpful in reducing health inequalities.

Economic Consequences of Segregated Communities

As poverty and economic backwardness assume generation-specific modes of geographic

separation, living with other members of the minority race is no longer just a social and health

issue; it is an economic issue as well. When viewed in this light the world has been subjected to a

number economic effects and repercussions regarding matters of segregation, affecting such as

the value of real estate, the number of job vacancies open and the financial status of local

governments. regulations One of the most fascinating findings of the study is the fact that there

exists a indication of differences in property prices between racially/ethnically desolate places

and those that are purely ‘‘White’’ areas. Hence, whether the properties are large or small,

whether the locations will attract home purchasers or not, and in view of the other criteria which

the authors leave out, the authors claim that housing stocks in minority areas are 00 lower than

similar housing stocks in other areas. In the case of these dwellings, the cost is 192 dollars and

using information from Perry, Rothwell, and Harshbarger (2018), such houses are twenty-three

per cent cheaper when compared to other houses in the white region. This devaluation hinders

members within the minority group business persons within the property market monopoly from

building wealth. It reduces the overall share of receipts that local governments receive from

property taxes. These taxes are used to support schools, roads, police and fire departments as

well as a host of other services. The splitting of areas disables development and economic

activity in the areas segregated.

Another life threat that can be ranked as an economical challenge for the inhabitants of

segregated neighborhoods is the problem of employment. As a result of the geographical location

of these communities from sources of employment we get what is referred to as spatial

mismatch, employers being situated in areas that cannot be easily accessed by low income

minority persons. This is because there are no enough public transport system and as a result

those in the low employment sectors cannot easily move to other areas of better employment

opportunities. Stoll (2005) has pointed out that due to the spatial mismatch employment rates for

black and Hispanic are very low and unemployment and economic risk is comparatively high.

The employment in or around such ghettos is generally low paying, with few or no opportunities

for overtime, sick leave, or promotion. This economic segregation therefore amplifies income

disparity and designed social and economic encapsulation of the occupants of an area to a

downward spiraling poverty trap. This entails improving public transport, skill training for

separated population in their workplaces and local economic development which would establish

link between separated areas and demand markets.

There is also a problem of access to what can be considered as the most important

economic institution – the bank and credit unions in segregated societies. This form of financial

exclusion deters many residents to seek expensive services such as payday advances and cheque

cashing services which are costly services and often leave the recipient in debt. Desmond (2019)

for instance explains how emergency credit genuinely undermines the Black minority by

diverting much needed capital that could have been used to build up savings, education, or

investment in black owned firms. It means that these neighborhoods cannot even access cheap

credit to support other economic activities such as business within the neighborhoods. Local

economies and job opportunities remain a hard nut to crack for small business entities, and the

segregated loans and investment only make the problem worse, which is a usual concern for

businessmen. This problem can only be solved by putting forward the measures that will

contribute to the development of the accessible and affordable sources of financing in the less

populated areas, and the increasing of the level of awareness among population to prevent people

from being deceived by apparently rather promising and actually very risky financial services

that are often offered to width or depth republics.

Research posits that there are regional and national economy costs of patterns of

residential segregation that are added on the micro and macro level costs that are evidenced at

the individual, neighborhoods and community levels. The segregation can be said to harm the

production and slow down the economy. Alesina, Harnoss & Rapoport (2016) observed that

sources regions, which are racially and economically balanced, are likely to produce higher

levels of economic and technological output than relatively more segregated regions. This is the

case because segregation limits the mobility of talent and resources within the markets and

therefore limited effectiveness within the market system. For this reason, the poor-segregated

neighborhoods need more public spending on social services, police, and health because the

people living in the area suffer more poverty. They on the other hand are such a huge loss to the

local and state governments and act as a drainpipe of extra financial means which could

otherwise have gone into other areas of investments in the economy for instance in education

infrastructure and technological advancements. In integrating poor and ethnic minority people,

cities and regions get more points for increasing the chances of improving the economic

development.

It is also supported by the fact that inequalities in education in segmented regions are an

economic disadvantage in the long run. Low income and minority areas’ schools cannot afford

the necessary funds and provide necessary support for students with requirement chute

equipment. This educational disadvantage thus erases the capacity earning of this cohort of

students from these communities and thus denies them the social mobility that would otherwise

reduce income inequality and economic classification. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff (2014)

reveal that education has strong correlation with economic mobility since the quality of

education that one gets in life. However, students in the segregated schools are likely to be in

large classes, and use outdated text books, and have few opportunities that are provided for co-

curricular activities that are helpful in the college and job market. These barriers affect the

provision of quality education, therefore, segregated communities cannot develop a pool of

human capital that is needed to attract income generating investments. To address these needs

education reform is required in the form of equal funding, the inclusion of AP courses, and local

businesses for training and mentorship.

Housing market patterns also come from segregated neighborhoods and thus affect the

economic stability of the society. The problem of low property values in Black neighborhoods,

for instance, makes it difficult for Black homeowners to amass wealth from property, which is

the single biggest source of wealth building in America today. This wealth disparity also

contributes to the failure of the intergenerational wealth mobility issue; that is why it is easier for

future generations to pay for their education, start their own businesses, and find a better living

place. Shapiro, Meschede, and Osoro (2013) argue that the net worth of Whites and other people

of color remained stagnant, and even declined, in the past few decades primarily because of

homeownership and property values. Besides, there are more foreclosures during a downturn in

segregated neighborhoods therefore exacerbating the instability in such neighborhoods and

decreasing wealth. These measures include homeowner programs designed to settle them in

minority areas such as down payment grants, and promoting fair credit practices in an effort to

reverse the trend and increase homeownership in order to build a stable economy.

This effort has had to be coordinated and comprehensive and include all departments in

public and municipal government, as well as business and nonprofit organizations to offset the

productivity costs of racially segregated housing. As a fact, there are suggestions that the steps

that are being taken toward economic development should not only address issues like

construction of new commercial facilities in the areas that are not densely populated, the

advancement of transports and communication facilities, and local investors incentives. There

are discussions with reference to the capability of segregated areas people to gain help from

employment training programs and other endeavors that will offer directions to better paid work.

Further to the above, the polices that seek to enhance the integration of mixed use on the urban

land and cheap houses go a long way in establishing a more social incorporation viewpoint of the

urban regions. Another one of the other factors which added to increased economic growth for

segregated areas is the tax incentive factor where businesses that employed the locals and

reinvest their profits within that area. Having said that, all of these measures should be

accompanied by the policies that do not support and do not act as predictors for tendencies of

gentrification and evictions in order to ensure that the positive impact of these policies will be

felt by the inhabitants of the area.

Policy Interventions for Addressing Segregation and Inequality

Eliminating the existing problems of residential segregation and social exclusion requires

long term and efficient policies. For years’ measures have been taken and put in place to counter

the effects of segregation including the issue of housing integration and the programs that

enhance economic endowment. The best approach has been the use of the fair housing laws

which was initiated with the enactment of the 1968’s Fair Housing Act. This historic law

scanned to eliminate prejudices in sale, rental or financing or advertising of dwelling units in

generators on the basis of race, religion or national origin of the buyer or tenant. However, the

implementation of the law has always been a problem as discriminatorily based practices such as

steering and redlining have been seen in today’s societies in a politer manner. Recent study by

Turner et al.in 2013 reveal that although the situation has been enhanced, minorities in the

society especially the home buyers and renters still struggle to access homes. In order to enhance

the provisions of fair housing laws there should be an increase in funds to enforcement bodies

such as the HUD and most important is that legal proceedings against the offenders of the laws

should be enhanced. In addition, the increase in the awareness of the housing rights will make

the residents to fight against discrimination.

Even as the laws have been codified to enhance fair housing, it is equally important to

expand affordable housing programs that desegregate. The Inclusionary zoning provisions that

require developers of new homes to include some units for low income persons appears to be a

promising solution for integrated communities. Some of the sampled urban cities such as San

Francisco and New York have implemented such policies with different effects. However,

Schuetz, Meltzer and Been (2009) in their study has found that through inclusionary zoning the

low income families will be able to live in the high opportunity area and will therefore be close

to quality schools, health facilities and jobs., On the other hand, the opponents of these policies

argue that the costs of these efforts are expected to rise and reduce the supply of affordable

homes in the market. To these worries there are numerous policy recommendations which can be

put into action such as offering tax exemptions or fast track permits to developers who include

affordable housing in their construction plans. In addition, the model of community land

ownership is being elaborated in the present time as the solution for the future preservation of the

accessed affordability of housing. CLTs-Community Land Trusts, are non-profit organization

that acquire the title to the land and then provides rent for the house and thus preventing the

eviction and long term affordability effect on the poor and vulnerable individuals. Hence, the

enhancement of the role of CLTs in the creation of new urban and suburban neighborhoods can

be seen as an important step towards eradicating the current residential apartheid.

Transportation policy also therefore stands out as a very important element in the fight

against segregation and inequality. Most segregated neighborhoods are unlikely to have places

where people can engage in social economic activities because such neighborhoods do not

receive adequate public transportation. Thus, guaranteeing availability of good quality transit at

reasonable prices contributes to the bridge between the disadvantaged areas and better

employment opportunities. For instance, measures that have been put in place for the

development of transit-oriented development that aims at creating new multi-ownership

structures around the transit stations can be used to foster economic integration and reduce the

spatial imbalance between residence and workplace. Chatman and Noland (2011) indicate that

the findings indicate that the TOD can improve employment accessibility for the low-income

population and reduce time and costs of transport. The transport investments should be targeted

to the poor; otherwise, the development will not affect the bottom 40 percent of the population.

Also, the improvements of connectivity are also crucial as; for example, if the transit system is

well connected however, the fares are high, many people from the low-income households

cannot use the systems. Other services which may be provided include public transport for the

needy, and other services for the unserved or poorly served areas.

It is also important for residential segregation to produce educational policy reform

because it has only served to enhance these inequalities. A system of funding based on local

property taxes leads to great disparities in the provision of resources at the rich and the poor

schools. For the purpose of equity; states may adopt funding formulas that give proportionately

larger sums of funding to schools in the district that has concentration of disadvantaged children.

The kinds have also been proved to be useful in places such as New Jersey where the Abbott

Districts case played a big role in increasing funding to low income schools and this has boosted

the performance of the students (Reardon & Raudenbush, 2015). Besides funding, the needed

educational improvements encompass enhanced coverage of early childhood education because,

as Heckman (2006) has pointed out, early learning has a lasting effect on learning and economic

well-being. Some program areas like the Head Start have made some level of success; but it is

important that these programs/ home visitor initiatives are expanded and that the cultural

appropriateness of the project is enhanced for the reduction of the achievement gap. Also,

promoting district-to district desegregation activities such as inter-district transfer, magnet

schools, etc. will help to discourage education segregation. These efforts should be accompanied

by the ways of addressing the organizational resistance originating from the affluent

neighborhoods entrenched in opposition to integration policies.

The potential strategies to reduce segregation are linked to economic regeneration

strategies targeting segregated areas. Opportunity Zones which is a provision that allows

companies to get tax break when they invest in marked zones are believed to be beneficial in

boosting economic development and employment. Nevertheless, these programs should be

exercised to avoid making the places where such facilities are to be developed expensive through

the process known as gentrification, and to ensure that the benefits of such programs are

equitably distributed to the people. According to the study done by Freedman (2018), capital has

been put into the Opportunity Zones, however, such capital injection has not necessarily led to

the improvement of the economic standards of the people in the area. For such programs to

provide even higher returns on investment, there are certain policies that can be adopted which in

turn shall lead to the formulation of a certain number of rules that shall help in channeling part of

the investments towards affordable homes, job training and small business development.

Moreover, micro finance and business incubator supports local business through micro finance

and quality business ideas for the populace. Community Development Financial Institutions

(CDFIs); these are institutions that provide financial services directly to minority-owned

businesses among others, provide credit to those communities who may not receive credit from

other recovery programs.

The legal reforms are also required to abolish the discrimination consequences which

residential segregation implies. People in the discriminated groups who live in isolated areas are

policed and arrested more than others, meaning more people are in jail, and still, they are poor

and have no right to vote. Those programs that aim at enforcing justice, community policing and

other forms of interventionism are more beneficial to the minorities than simply incarceration. In

other developed community programs such as restorative justice circles that have been

established to operate in the community as indicated by research done by Bazemore and Umbreit

(2001) have low recidivism rates and heal the community. The re-entry program services include

shelter, training for employment, and crisis intervention therapy for housing and employment of

ex-convicts and assists in reducing recidivism rates. The other fundamental reforms are

necessary to make the justice system more just, for instance, the changes in the laws on

sentencing particularly in the case of non-violent offenses and the eradicating of racism in arrest

and conviction rates.

Conclusion

The questions of residential isolation, social differentiation, and limited possibilities of

receiving the insurance are the questions which cannot be explained by the context of the present

day society only and are connected with history and systematic basis of the present day society.

Using the analysis of patterns of segregation, crime rate impact, health care inequality, and

economic consequences, and various theoretical perspectives, this paper has been devoted to the

social issue aspect of these concerns. Based on the results of the analysis of the outcomes,

described in the work, it can be concluded that the fight against segregation policies is not only a

humanitarian and ethical issue, but also an economic and healthcare concern. Improvements in

democratic policies that are fully inclusive of the affordable housing needs thus fair housing;

education and referral services; healthy living; transportation, and economic inclusion are still

essential for erasing these historical inequalities. Some of the possible practical approaches to

address inequality concerns should involve the use of laws and measures by communities and

public health administration in collaboration with policy makers and the big private sector

including corporations The independent initiatives that culturally and community-sensitive can

help to coordinate the necessary correction of practice so that it is sustainable and constructive.

That is why some changes have been identified in this area, but more work will have to be done.

It is unreasonable to expect that the impact of years of residential segregation will be eliminated

in a short period of time but where there is dedication and the proper kind of investment it will

be possible to achieve gradual positive change. Future work should extend the present and other

works to examine the new policy strategies in relation to the effectiveness of the current policy to

guarantee that policies will be productive for the intended populations of concern in the future.

This is mainly because there is the need to disestablish all forms of systems that support

segregation and inequality in the society.

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