NCJ Number
82429
Date Published
1976
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from the Conklin study (1975) that examined relationships between citizens' perceptions of local crime rates and certain social postures within the community, as well as findings from a replication of this study.
Abstract
The two communities surveyed by Conklin are in the Boston metropolitan area, one an urban neighborhood and the other a suburban neighborhood. Local perception of crime was measured by a scale composed of three items bearing upon respondents' assessments of local crime rates. Respondents were also asked questions designed to determine feelings of personal safety, trust of neighbors and people in general, and attachment to the local community. A stronger relationship was found between perceptions of crime and social postures for the community which perceived higher crime rates. This suggests a threshold effect, where social responses become related to perceptions of the crime rate only when these perceptions reach a certain intensity. The replication of Conklin's study involved surveys in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Hartford, Conn. Replication findings can neither conclusively support nor refute Conklin's findings, although there is some evidence to point toward a refutation of the hypothesis. There is also an indication, however, that the threshold effect may be part of a more complex set of interrelationships involving perceptions of various aspects of crime and a variety of individual and social responses. Questionnaire items and tabular data are provided, along with 11 references.