NCJ Number
68289
Date Published
1978
Length
293 pages
Annotation
THROUGH A STUDY OF CHINESE, BLACK, AND WHITE COMMUNITIES INHABITING A HIGH-CRIME, INNER-CITY HOUSING PROJECT, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT FEAR OF CRIME COMES FROM FEELINGS OF ALIENATION RATHER THAN FROM ASSESSING THE ACTUAL RISK.
Abstract
DOVER SQUARE, AN INNER-CITY HOUSING PROJECT LOCATED IN A MAJOR NORTHEASTERN CITY, IS 47 PERCENT WHITE, 39 PERCENT BLACK, 16 PERCENT CHINESE, AND 6 PERCENT HISPANIC. THE RESIDENTS WERE INTERVIEWED FOR THE STUDY. THE ETHNIC COMMUNITIES, ALTHOUGH TIGHTLY KNIT IN THEMSELVES THROUGH KINSHIP, FRIENDSHIP, AND COMMON WORK, VIEW EACH OTHER AS STRANGERS. ALTHOUGH DOVER SQUARE HAS SOME PROFESSIONAL RESIDENTS AND SOME RENOVATION IS PRESENTLY BEING DONE, MUCH OF IT AND ITS ENVIRONS ARE DECAYING. DOVER SQUARE, HOWEVER, IS NOT A COMMUNITY BUT AN ARTIFICIAL NEIGHBORHOOD, ONE IN WHICH MANY SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE DISRUPTED BECAUSE ETHNIC GROUPS ARE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER; NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTIONS FURTHERING RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS ETHNIC GROUPS ARE FEW. THE CHINESE ARE THE MOST ISOLATED, SINCE MANY ARE FOREIGN BORN AND DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. BLACKS ARE JUST AS TIGHTLY KNIT AS THE CHINESE BUT LESS ISOLATED AND DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES: RESPECTABLE WORKING PEOPLE AND HUSTLERS. WHITES ARE MOST DIVERSE AND DO NOT NORMALLY REMAIN LONG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. ALTHOUGH DOVER SQUARE HAS MUCH CRIME, THOSE MOST VICTIMIZED BY IT, SUCH AS THE BLACKS, DO NOT FEAR IT MOST. INSTEAD, FEAR OF CRIME IS HIGHEST AMONG THE CHINESE AND STEMS FROM FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN AND THE UNFAMILIAR. IN THIS DIVERSE, UNSETTLED NEIGHBORHOOD, STRANGERS ARE PLENTIFUL AND ARE FEARED BECAUSE THEY ARE UNPREDICTABLE AND HARD TO CONTROL. EVIDENCE ABOUT WHO LABELS WHO DANGEROUS IN DOVER SQUARE CONFIRMS THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL FAMILIARITY IN MAKING THESE JUDGMENTS. FOOTNOTES, TABLES, APPENDIXES, CHARTS, AND 90 REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.