Neighborhoods and Disorder - Resistance and Accommodation Final Report

• NCJ Number: 94224
• Author(s): R B Taylor; S D Gottfredson; S A Shumaker
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 197 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-IJ-CX-0077
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

The most effective way to reduce fear of crime and promote community crime prevention is to aid local organizations in furthering the development of community spirit.

Abstract

Study data came from onsite surveys of 1,622 households and ratings of 808 street blocks in 66 neighborhoods in Baltimore, Md. The survey focused on processes occurring at the neighborhood level and sought to understand the determinants of fear of crime, restrictions of activities, and formal and informal efforts to counter crime and disorder. Fear levels, restrictions of activity, informal social control attempts, and expectations of and awareness of anticrime activities were largely a function of how involved people were with the neighborhood and their neighbors and their confidence about the future of their neighborhood. Objective measures of the physical environment, such as deterioration and type of land use and recorded crime levels, had minimal impacts on responses to disorder. A neighborhood's position in larger society, as reflected in income and racial composition, also appeared to influence responses to disorder because position determined levels of confidence, attachment, and involvement. Data tables and footnotes are supplied. (Author abstract modified)