Fear in the Neighborhoods: an Investigation of the Impact of Crime

Abstract

Residents in four Chicago neighborhoods were surveyed to determine the rela tionship between fear of crime and official crime rates. Several anomalies were found. Citizens' perceptions of dangerous areas in their neighborhoods match, for the most part, official records of crimes committed there. However, assessments of neighborhoods' specific crime problems and personal risks do not consistently cor respond with official statistics. The authors argue that citizens' perceptions of crime are shaped not so much by the neighborhood conditions reflected in the crime statistics, but rather by the level of incivility in their communities. Indicators of incivility are conditions, more frequently confronted, indicating that community social control is weak. These include abandoned buildings, vandalism, drug use, and loitering teenagers. The authors demonstrate the correspondence between levels of fear and concern about incivility. They suggest that fear of crime is trig gered by a broad range of neighborhood conditions, and argue that attempts to understand and control that fear should look beyond serious crime incidents as the sole source of the problem.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Biderman, A.D. , et al. 1967 Report on a Pilot Study in the District of Columbia on Victimization and Attitudes toward Law Enforcement. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office.

Chicago Area Geographic Information Survey 1978 Population Estimates for the Chicago SMSA by Census Tract and Community Area within the City of Chicago. Chicago : Department of Geography, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle.

Conklin, J.E. 1975 The Impact of Crime. New York: Macmillan.

D, F. , E. McCabe , and G. Kaplan 1979 Reactions to Crime: A Critical Review of the Literature . Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office.

Garofalo, J. 1977a Public Opinion about Crime: The Attitudes of Victims and Nonvictims in Selected Cities. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office.

1977 b "Victimization and the Fear of Crime in Major American Cities ." Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania.

1979 "Victimization and the Fear of Crime." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 16 (1): 80-97.

Henig, J. , and M.G. Maxfield 1978 "Reducing Fear of Crime: Strategies for Intervention." Victimology 3-79 (3/4): 297-313.

L, W.R. 1965 Arrest: The Decision to Take a Suspect into Custody. Boston: Little, Brown.

10.

LeJeune, R. , and N. Alex 1973 "On Being Mugged: The Event and Its Aftermath." Urban Life and Culture (October): 259-287.

11.

Reiss, A.J., JR. 1967 Studies in Crime and Law Enforcement in Major Metropolitan Areas. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office.

12.

Rifai, M.A.Y. 1976 Older Americans' Crime Prevention Research Project. Portland, Ore.: Multnomah County Division of Public Safety.

13.

Schneider, A.L. , et al. 1977 The Portland Forward Records Check of Crime Victims: Final Report. Eugene, Ore.: Institute of Policy Analysis.

14.

Seidman, D. , and M. Couzens 1974 "Getting the Crime Rate Down: Political Pressure and Crime Reporting." Law and Society Review 8 (3): 457-493.

15.

Skogan, W.G. 1977 "Public Policy and the Fear of Crime in Large American Cities." In Public Law and Public Policy, J. A. Gardiner , ed. New York: Praeger. Pp. 1-18.