Analysis of National Crime Victimization Survey Data To Study Serious Delinquent Behavior, Monograph Five - Juvenile Criminal Behavior and Its Relation to Neighborhood Characteristics

• NCJ Number: 77156
• Author(s): R J Sampson; T C Castellano; J H Laub; M J Hindelang
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 143 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-JN-AX-0029
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Corporate Author: Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Ctr
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Analysis of National Crime Victimization Survey Data To Study Serious Delinquent Behavior Monograph Series

Annotation

Using 1973-1978 National Crime Survey victimization data and neighborhood characteristics data from the Bureau of the Census, this report addressed three major questions regarding personal crimes inflicted upon and committed by juveniles (under age 18), young adults (age 18 to 20), and adults (age 21 and over).

Abstract

The study examined patterns of personal victimization across dimensions of selected neighborhood characteristics, the relationship of neighborhood characteristics to rates of offending, and the relationship between characteristics of the victimization event and the neighborhood context in which it occurs. Findings indicate that neighborhood economic status has a negative relationship with victimization rates in urban areas. The relationship was found to be stronger for adult victimization than juvenile victimization and for theft rather than violent victimization. The relationship between neighborhood unemployment and victimization was moderate and positive for juvenile and adult victimization but weak and inconsistent for victimization among those aged 18 to 20. White victimization rates were positively related to the percentage of blacks in neighborhoods; they were stronger for theft than for violent victimization. Neighborhood residential mobility had a strong positive relationship to victimization rates for all the population subgroups examined. Regarding neighborhood characteristics, rates of theft offenses were considerably higher in low economic status urban neighborhoods than in either medium or high economic status urban neighborhoods for all offenders. For all offenders, a strong positive relationship was found between theft offending and the percentage of blacks in a neighborhood. An examination of whether certain characteristics of the victimization event, such as weapons use and seriousness of the event, were related to neighborhood characteristics revealed that victimizations committed by youthful and adult offenders in predominantly black neighborhoods were of a more serious nature then those in all-white neighborhoods. Moreover, the use of weapons in robbery, particularly guns, was more prevalent in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of blacks than in neighborhoods with a lower percentage of blacks. In low economic status neighborhoods, juveniles and youthful offenders were more likely to use weapons than their counterparts in high economic status neighborhoods. Neighborhood residential mobility, structural density, and unemployment were unrelated to both extent of weapon use and the seriousness of the victimization event. Appendixes include data tables, the National Crime Survey interview schedule, definitions, and about 80 references. Additional tables and footnotes are provided. (Author abstract modified)