Nonresidential Crime Attractors and Generators Elevate Perceived Neighborhood Crime and Incivilities

• NCJ Number: 219689
• Journal: Journal of Research in Crime in Delinquency Volume: 44 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 295-320
• Author(s): Eric S. McCord; Jerry H. Ratcliffe; R. Marie Garcia; Ralph B. Taylor
• Date Published: August 2007
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study of the impacts of local nonresidential land uses on neighborhood residents' perceptions of crime and disorder tested Brantingham and Brantingham's (1981) geometry of crime model (environmental criminology), which suggests that people, offenders, and nonoffenders alike move through an activity space in their daily lives that shapes their perceptions of the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

Abstract

The study found that when controlling for resident characteristics and the structure and amount of reported crime in their neighborhood, the residents with more crime-generating or crime-attracting land uses nearby characterized their neighborhood as more crime ridden and disorderly. Crime generators are businesses, institutions, and facilities that bring large numbers of various kinds of people into a locale, including potential offenders and potential victims. For the current study, the three types of crime-generating land uses examined were high schools, subway stops, and expressway off ramps. The large volume of people using or passing through these locations generates opportunities for crime and physical and social disorder. Two processes, one behavioral and one cognitive, may assist in explaining the impact of these land uses on nearby residents' perceptions of disorder and crime. First, those living closer to the nonresidential land uses may encounter more strangers from outside their street block on a regular basis or may be closer to groups of people who congregate on nonresidential land. Second, the altered profile of activity on the street block may also be related to diminished expectations of resident-based surveillance over the nearby nonresidential outdoor areas. The multilevel models in this study employed land use, crime, census, and survey data from 342 Philadelphia heads of households. 3 tables, 20 notes, and 58 references