NCJ Number
114557
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 25 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1988) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
B Leighton
Date Published
1988
Length
81 pages
Annotation
The four papers in this special issue examine and expand the concept of community in criminology beyond the traditional notion of a local territory toward a more viable construct that is sensitive both to new forms of community and the need for operationalization of the concept.
Abstract
The first paper illustrates some of the pitfalls of assuming that the community concept is a unitary social phenomenon and argues for a social network approach to the concept. The second article explains variations in official crime rates on Indian reserves in Quebec based on the dimensions of institutional completeness and personal resource development of reserve community members. The next article reviews and evaluates successful community policing reform in Toronto in terms of police and resident agreement on the concept of neighborhood and neighborhood problems. Unresolved definitional issues surrounding the concepts of community, public order, and consensus are highlighted. Finally, the community concept is considered from the perspective of the informal social control dynamics within the highrise apartment building as a microcommunity. Focus is on the role of the building superintendent in generating rewards to the largely informal social control system and the countervailing sanctions and rewards developed by the tenants in response. Article notes, tables, and references. See NCJ-114558 to NCJ-114561 for individual articles.