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Crime and fear of criminal victimization have become major problems in American society. Citizens react to crime in a variety of ways, including distrusting others, avoiding particular places, taking protective action, changing their daily activities, and participating in collective action. The present article reviews these psychological and behavioral reactions to crime. It summarizes current trends in the nature of crime and fear of criminal victimization that may help explain public reactions to crime. The article concludes with a discussion of the consequences of fear and individuals' withdrawal from urban life.

Crime & fear of criminal victimization have become major problems in US society. Citizen reactions include distrusting others, avoiding particular places, taking protective actions, changing daily activities, & participating in collective action. These psychological & behavioral reactions to crime are reviewed, & current trends in the nature of crime & fear of criminal victimization that may help explain public reactions to crime are summarized. Discussed in conclusion are the consequences of fear & individuals' withdrawal from urban life. Adapted from the source document.

A common criticism of crime control activities is that such efforts simply redistribute crime to more vulnerable locales and persons rather than prevent it. This displacement effect has been widely assumed but rarely evaluated in previous studies. Using a sample of 5,302 Seattle residents who live on 600 city blocks, this study examines the crime‐reduction benefits of safety precautions and whether either displacement or a "free‐rider" effect best characterizes how the target‐hardening activities of immediate neighbors influence risks of burglary, property theft, and vandalism. The results of this study indicate that only individuals' risks of burglary victimization were significantly reduced by protective action. Contrary to both displacement and free‐rider hypotheses, individuals' risks and aggregate rates of victimization were largely unaffected by the protective actions of neighbors. The paper concludes with a discussion of these findings and their implications for public policy on crime prevention.

An examination of the measurement properties of magnitude & categorical scales of crime seriousness & value importance. Based on 2 experiments with 292 U students, magnitude scaling in both domains exhibited slightly less reliability & discriminatory power. The two scales of value importance also did not converge as expected. Suggestions are offered for future research on magnitude scaling & social psychophysical measurement. 1 Table, 15 References. Modified HA

ABSTRACTSResearch on public perceptions of crime seriousness is reviewed. Two explanations for subgroup consensus are advanced as alternatives to the dominant view that ratings of crime seriousness reflect an underlying normative structure. It is argued that a normative explanation is plausible only after dismissing these alternative explanations. Research and data analytic strategies are proposed to evaluate the plausibility of these alternative explanations and suggestions are offered for future research in crim seriousness and the measurement of normative phenomena.

By all accounts, China is the world leader in the number of legal executions. Its long historical use of capital punishment and its major political and economic changes over time are social facts that make China an ideal context for a case study of the death penalty in law and practice. This book examines the death penalty within the changing socio-political context of China. The authors' treatment of China's death penalty is legal, historical, and comparative. In particular, they examine;. the substantive and procedures laws surrounding capital punishment in different historical periods. the

"Informed by current scholarship, yet tailored to the needs of undergraduate students, this textbook presents a broad perspective on one of the most fundamental social practices. Punishment is the common response to crime and deviance in all societies. However, its particular form and purpose are also linked to specific structural features of these societies in a particular time and place. Through a comparative historical analysis, the authors identify and examine the sources of similarity and difference in types of economic punishments, incapacitation devices and structures, and lethal and nonlethal forms of corporal punishment over time and place."--Jacket

New federal legislation now makes it mandatory for auditors to disclose observed mis-conduct to outside agencies. This article examines this legislation and presents data from a national sample of 353 auditors to explore the level of support for these new regulations. The vast majority of auditors are found to oppose the legislation, but there are also major differences in opinion for different groups of auditors. The implications of these survey results are then discussed.

The current study reviews the literature on whistleblowing and examines its role in detecting and controlling organizational misconduct. We begin with a definition of this concept, show how micro‐level theories of "deviance" explain whistleblowing, summarize evidence on its prevalence and correlates, and examine the legal protection of whistleblowers against organizational retaliation. The effectiveness of whistleblowing legislation in encouraging the reporting of organizational misconduct is also discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of the relative costs and benefits of whistleblowing as a method of social control of organizational misconduct.