Impact of Crime on Communities

• NCJ Number: 157166
• Journal: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume: 539 Dated: (May 1995) Pages: 28-45
• Author(s): R B Taylor
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): 93-IJ-CX-0022; 94-IJ-CX-0018; SES-8520460
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This article reviews research on the impact of crime on neighborhoods, organizing it by outcome and by field, i.e., psychology, social psychology, behavioral science, and economics.

Abstract

Research on psychological and social psychological consequences of crime focuses on person-place transactions as the outcome: attachment to place, territorial functioning, neighborhood satisfaction, and intent to move. Behavioral studies examine whether crime makes people more or less involved in group efforts to keep up their neighborhoods. One of the most well-researched topics on the economic consequences of victimization has been the impact of crime on house prices. The author presents some original data on the effects of crime on relative house values and vacancy in Baltimore neighborhoods in the 1970's. The results suggest that changes in specific crimes accompany changes in relative house value and vacancy rates. In addition, different crimes influence different aspects of neighborhood economic change. 2 tables and 62 notes