Social Interaction and Community Crime: Examining the Importance of Neighbor Networks

• NCJ Number: 169420
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1997) Pages: 677-704
• Author(s): P E Bellair
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The relationship between crime and frequent and infrequent social interactions among neighbors was examined using data on the rates of three serious crimes in 60 urban neighborhoods.

Abstract

The data were gathered as part of a victimization survey in the Police Services Study, which examined public attitudes and citizen satisfaction with the delivery of local police services in 60 urban neighborhoods in 1977. The neighborhoods were from the Rochester, N.Y., St. Petersburg/Tampa, Fla., and St. Louis, Mo. metropolitan areas. The analysis used 10 alternative measures of social interaction and separately examined the effects of each measure on crime rates. Findings suggested that the type of interaction matters. Getting together once a year or more with neighbors had the most consistent and generally the strongest effect on burglary, motor vehicle theft, and robbery. In addition, this form of interaction mediated a significant proportion of the effect of ecological characteristics on community crime. Tables, appended correlation matrix, and 40 references (Author abstract modified)