Environment and Burglary Victimization in a Metropolitan Suburb (A Methodological Review) (From Link Between Crime and the Built Environment, Volume 2, P C33-C42, 1980, by Tetsuro Motoyama et al - See NCJ-79544)

• NCJ Number: 79548
• Author(s): T Motoyama; H Rubenstein; P Hartjens
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: American Institutes for Research
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche from NCJRS as NCJ-79544.

Annotation

This review assesses Barbara Dietrick's study of environmental features that appear to correlate with high vulnerability to residential burglary. The study was carried out in a metropolitan suburb.

Abstract

The study investigated the association between high vulnerability to burglary and number of entries to residential unit; availability of lighting; number of places of concealment close to building; presence of a dog; amount of auto traffic; amount of foot traffic; differences of residential unit from surrounding buildings by type, condition, or distance from sidewalk; and occupancy level. The study also aimed at determining if environmental factors were more powerful than the following social factors in explaining individual burglary victimization rates: amount of territorial behavior in the neighborhood, social isolation from one's neighbors, lack of children in household, amount of social cohesiveness in neighborhood, and reputation of the area as a target for a variety of crimes. Three groups of residences served as a sample, with two of the three groups being selected from police files on the basis of their frequency of victimization. Members of one group had been victimized twice during the 5 years preceding the study, while members of the second group had been victimized once during the first quarter of the year of the study. The third group was selected based on residential proximity to the first group. Overall, the study indicated support for the hypothesis that environmental features can contribute to high vulnerability to residential burglary. Higher burglary rates, the study suggested, are correlated with number of concealment areas next to an entryway and heavy traffic, among other factors. Most of the individual conclusions, however, were based on weak statistical methods and measurement techniques applied to the independent variables. The operationalization of the variable 'reputation as a good target area' was inadequate such that its validity must be questioned. (Author summary modified)