Suchergebnisse

The bulk of fear–of–crime research has been limited to one questionnaire item that asks respondents to assess their personal safety by answering "how safe they feel alone in their neighborhoods at night." More recently, however, studies have pointed to the multidimensional nature of fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization. Following this line of inquiry, we investigate the potential impact of several variable sets on three measures of fear of crime or risk perception—the traditional risk assessment of being alone at night, a measure of worry about crime, and a more general assessment of neighborhood safety. Of particular interest are the relative effects of neighborhood integration variables on the measures of fear/risk. A comparison of the effects of neighborhood integration variables with a set of perceived neighborhood disorder, routine activities, socio–demographic characteristics, and victimization experience variables reveals that the neighborhood disorder (incivilities), income, and crime prevention measures produce the most consistently significant effects on fear of crime and perceived risk. Contrary to our expectations, neighborhood integration variables appear to be relatively unimportant.

In an effort to disentangle the theoretical & empirical distinctness of poverty from constructs of extreme concentrated poverty, the differential impact of these measures on black & white homicide rates is assessed. Data are derived from the Urban Underclass Database, & the race-specific homicide rates are computed from information compiled in the Uniform Crime Report. Race-specific measures of poverty & poverty concentration are found to be highly correlated, challenging claims of their empirical distinctness. A closer inspection of the data, however, reveals that while poverty & poverty concentration affect the white homicide rate, only the traditional measure of poverty impacts black homicide. It is concluded that the finding of differential impacts of poverty & poverty concentration on black & white homicide rates is reflective of works by William J. Wilson (eg, 1987), Douglas S. Massey & colleagues (eg, 1994), as well as of criminological writings. Future research is needed to extend the study of poverty concentration in the area of measurement & the potential impact concentrated poverty may have on various types of crime & victimization. 3 Tables, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.