NCJ Number
90003
Date Published
1983
Length
282 pages
Annotation
This book outlines the influence of local social and cultural dimensions on the nature of community crime prevention efforts, and case studies from eight communities in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco portray the interaction of community characteristics with particular crime prevention activities.
Abstract
Data for the case studies were obtained through field observation and telephone interviews. The case studies emphasize understanding community crime prevention in a given locale within the context of that community. Each community is examined independently using a contextual mode of analysis. A community profile in each case study is presented under the topics of sociocultural background, the organizational matrix, crime and the criminal environment, and community crime prevention activities. The section on sociocultural background includes information on housing, population distributions, and income and education levels, as well as the social, economic, and demographic changes which have recently occurred. Various indicators of the quality of life in each community are also considered. The organizational matrix is described from historical and contemporary perspectives. The section on crime and the criminal environment includes consideration of the levels of citizen concern about various crime-related issues and residents' assessments of risk and safety. The section on community crime prevention first provides an overview of the types of activities which respondents perceive as doing something about crime, and then an indepth examination of particular crime prevention activities is undertaken, primarily using field data. Crime prevention activities are considered under the general categories of social problems approaches and victimization prevention approaches. About 60 bibliographic entries are provided, along with a subject index.