NCJ Number
175189
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 26 Issue: 6 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 441-452
Date Published
1998
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The effects of a multimedia campaign conducted in The Netherlands regarding residential burglary and violence on the streets were examined by means of a quasi-experimental field test that compared results in an experimental area to those in a control area.
Abstract
The campaign aimed to bring the fear of crime more into line with the true risks involved and to increase the use of effective preventive behavior. Both the mass media and personal contacts were used to disseminate general and specific information to residents of Twenty, a province with a population of 500,000. The personal component included activities conducted by the police and attended by 13,000 individuals, a crime prevention van that received 7,300 visitors, and 33 information meetings attended by 760 persons. Results of the impact analysis revealed that the campaign led to more positive public attitudes toward the criminal justice system. However, the campaign produced no effects on knowledge of burglary and violence, the image of local crime, risk assessment, fear of crime, outcome expectation, self-efficacy expectation, preventive behavior, and attitudes toward crime reporting. These results were probably due to implementation problems rather than inadequacies in the theoretical models. Tables, notes, and 50 references (Author abstract modified)