NCJ Number
79563
Date Published
1980
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This review assesses P. L. and P. J. Brantingham's test of the usefulness of 'border-interior' relationships among city blocks (with respect to homogeneously defined residential areas) as a predictor of the level and spatial pattern of burglaries in a city.
Abstract
Using alternative sets of characteristics of city blocks (racial composition, proportion of single families, rental or market level, and percentages of small and large apartments), the researchers divided the city blocks in Tallahassee, Fla., into two groups--'border' and 'interior.' Burglary rates were compared across these two groups by using t-tests of significance across each characteristic. The conclusions are that the blocks which were in border areas had higher burglary rates than blocks which were in the interior of neighborhood sets and that the reduction of burglary incidence might be possible by controlling the size and shape of neighborhoods. The first conclusion is well supported in the research, but the second conclusion appears to be speculation. In order to determine the utility of the border concept, it is necessary to determine whether this concept is a better predictor of burglary than other relevant variables. The study falls short of any analysis of the relative power of the 'border-interior' concept in contributing to the variance in burglary rates compared with the contributions of other possible predictors. Further, the techniques used do not examine the different physical characteristics in 'border' vs. 'interior' blocks. Still, if the 'border' concept is as useful as the study suggests, implications for police patrol are obvious.