Data were obtained from police on the incidence of crime in multiblock areas containing ten public housing developments in the city of St. Louis. The data covered eight FBI index crimes, and were obtained for seven years, 1971 through 1977. Crime rates per 100,000 population were computed. Seven of the public housing developments were large (over 500 units). There was a mix of lowrise and highrise developments, and conventionally and tenant-managed developments. The data indicate that the crime rates per 1000,000 population in and near the public housing developments are not significantly higher than in the city as a whole, nor are they higher than would be expected based on citywide relationships of crime to demographic and locational predictors. While there is more variation in the incidence of crimes in smaller developments than in larger ones, there is no evidence to support the belief that crime rates are, overall, higher than average in either type of development. It is also not possible from these data to identify any relationship between tenant management and crime rates, though other research has indicated that tenants feel safer in tenant-managed projects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BEASLEY, R. W. and G. ANTUNES (1974) "The etiology of urban crime: an ecological analysis."Criminology11: 439-461.
2.
BOGGS, S. (1965) "Urban crime patterns."Amer. Soc. Rev.30: 899-908.
3.
BRILL, W. H. (1973) "Security in public housing: a synergistic approach," in W. H. Brill (ed.) Deterrence of Crime in and Around Residences. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
4.
BRILL and Associates (1977a) Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Altered Behavior: A Profile of the Crime Problem in William Nickerson Jr. Gardens, Los Angeles, California. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
5.
BRILL and Associates (1977b) Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Altered Behavior: A Profile of the Crime Problem in Capper Dwellings, Washington, D.C.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
6.
BRILL and Associates (1977c) Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Altered Behavior: A Profile of the Crime Problem in Murphy Homes, Baltimore, Maryland. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
7.
BRILL and Associates (1977d) Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Altered Behavior: A Profile of the Crime Problem in Scott/Carver Homes, Dade County, Florida. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
8.
BRILL and Associates (1975) Victimization, Fear of Crime, and Altered Behavior: A Profile of the Crime Problem in Four Housing Projects in Boston. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
9.
FARLEY, J. E. (1980) "Ecological correlates of central city crime." Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, April 3-5, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
10.
FARLEY, J. E. (1978) "High-rise apartment or detached house: what are the implications for children's behavior?" in W. E. Rogers and W. H. Ittelson (eds.) New Directions in Environmental Design Research (EDRA 9 Proceedings). Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
11.
FARLEY, J. E. (1977) "Effects of residential setting, parental lifestyle, and demographic characteristics on children's activity patterns." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
12.
FARLEY, J. E. and M. HANSEL (1981) "The ecological context of urban crime: a further exploration."Urban Affairs Q.17, 1: 37-54.
13.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (1980) FBI Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States, 1979. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
14.
GANS, H. (1967) The Levittowners. New York: Pantheon.
15.
GIBBS, J. P. and M. ERICKSON (1976) "Crime rates of American cities in an ecological context."Amer. J. of Sociology82: 605-620.
16.
GOFFMAN, E. (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
17.
HINDELANG, M. J. and M. GOTTFREDSON (1976) "The victim's decision not to invoke the criminal justice process," in W. F. McDonald (ed.) Criminal Justice and the Victim. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
18.
JACOBS, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House.
19.
MICHELSON, W. (1977) Environmental Choice, Human Behavior, and Residential Satisfaction. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
20.
MICHELSON, W. (1976) Man and His Urban Environment: A Sociological Approach [with revisions]. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
21.
MICHELSON, W. (1971) "The case of the equine fountain."Design and Environment2: 28-59.
22.
MULLINS, P. and J. H. ROBB (1977) "Resident's assessment of a New Zealand public housing scheme."Environment and Behavior9: 573-624.
23.
National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (1973) "Myths and realities of public housing."J. of Housing30: 179-191.
24.
NEWMAN, O. (1972) Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design. New York: Collier-Macmillan.
25.
PEPINSKY, H. (1976) "Police patrolmen's offense-reporting behavior."J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency13: 33-47.
26.
PLANT, J. S. (1930) "Some psychiatric aspects of good living conditions."Amer. J. of Psychiatry9:849-860.
27.
PORTEOUS, J. D. (1977) Environment and Behavior: Planning and Everyday Urban Life. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
28.
QUEEN, S. A. (1940) "Ecological study of mental disorders."Amer. Soc. Rev.5: 201-209.
29.
RAINWATER, L. (1970) Behind Ghetto Walls: Black Family Life in a Federal Slum. Chicago: Aldine.
30.
ROUSE, W. V. and H. RUBENSTEIN (1978a) Crime in Public Housing: A Review of Major Issues and Selected Crime Reduction Strategies. Volume I: A Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
31.
ROUSE, W. V. and H. RUBENSTEIN (1978b) Crime in Public Housing: A Review of Major Issues and Selected Crime Reduction Strategies. Volume II: A Review of Two Conferences and an Annotated Bibliography. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
32.
St. Louis University Center for Urban Programs (1975) Tenant Management Corporations in St. Louis: The Second Year. St. Louis: St. Louis University.
33.
St. Louis University Center for Urban Programs (1974) Tenant Management Corporations in St. Louis: The Darst and Carr Square Public Housing Projects. St. Louis: St. Louis University.
34.
SCHMID, C. F. (1960a) "Urban crime areas: part I"Amer. Soc. Rev.25: 527-542.
35.
SCHMID, C. F. (1969b) "Urban crime areas: part II-Amer. Soc. Rev.25: 655-678.
36.
SCHORR, A. L. (1963) Slums and Social Insecurity. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
37.
SCHNEIDER, A. L. , J. BURCART, and L. A. WILSON II (1976) "The role of attitudes in the decision to report crimes to the police," in W. F. McDonald (ed.) Criminal Justice and the Victim. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
38.
SELIGMAN, D. (1957) "The enduring slums," in W. H. Whyte (ed.) The Expanding Metropolis. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
39.
SHAW, C. R. and H. McKAY (1969) Juvenile Delinquency and Social Areas [revised and with an introduction by J. Short]. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
40.
SKOGAN, W. (1976) "Citizen reporting of crime: some national panel data."Criminology13: 535-559.
41.
U.S. Department of Justice (1979) Criminal Victimization in the United States: Summary of Findings of 1977-78 Changes in Crime and of Trends Since 1973. Washington, DC: Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Service.
42.
U.S. Department of Justice (1976) A National Crime Survey Report: Criminal Victimization in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia. A Comparison of 1972 and 1974 Findings. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
