NCJ Number
46237
Editor(s)
A L PAEZ
Date Published
1979
Length
64 pages
Annotation
FINDINGS OF A SURVEY OF 4,810 CINCINNATI, OHIO, HOUSING UNITS (8,759 RESIDENTS) TAKEN IN 1974 UNDER THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY PROGRAM TO ASSESS PUBLIC ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO CRIME ARE REPORTED.
Abstract
MANY CINCINNATI RESIDENTS INDICATED THAT THEY WERE FEARFUL OF VISITING PARTS OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA AT NIGHT, FELT THREATENED WHEN OUT ALONE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AT NIGHT, AND HAD CHANGED OR LIMITED THEIR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF THE FEAR OF CRIME. CONSISTENT WITH THIS FEARFULNESS, A LARGE NUMBER OF CINCINNATIANS BELIEVED THAT CRIME WAS ON THE INCREASE, BOTH IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AND NATIONALLY, AND THAT THEIR CHANCES OF PERSONAL ATTACK ALSO HAD INCREASED OVER THE PAST YEAR OR TWO. RELATIVELY FEW PERSONS, HOWEVER, SUGGESTED THAT CRIME RISK WAS A PARAMOUNT INFLUENCE WITH REGARD TO WHERE THEY CHOSE TO LIVE, WHERE THEY SHOPPED FOR FOOD OR GENERAL MERCHANDISE, OR WHERE AND HOW OFTEN THEY SOUGHT OUT-OF-HOME ENTERTAINMENT. DESPITE THE RELATIVELY SMALL EFFECT OF CRIME ON BEHAVIOR AS REGISTERED BY THESE FINDINGS, NEARLY TWO-FIFTHS OF THE RESPONDENTS INDICATED THAT THEY HAD CHANGED OR LIMITED THEIR ACTIVITIES IN SOME MANNER BECAUSE OF CRIME. BASED ON 37 STATISTICAL DATA TABLES, THIS DISCUSSION CENTERS ON PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO TRENDS IN CRIME, FEAR OF CRIME, RESIDENTIAL PROBLEMS AND LIFESTYLES, AND LOCAL POLICE PERFORMANCE. APPENDIXES INCLUDE THE SURVEY DATA TABLES, THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT, AND A DISCUSSION OF THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES. A GLOSSARY AND A USER EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE ARE ALSO PROVIDED. THIS REPORT IS ONE OF A SERIES OF 13 AND A COMPANION TO 'CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN CINCINNATI' (1977), WHICH REPORTED ON THE RATES OF RAPE, ROBBERY, ASSAULT, BURGLARY, LARCENY, AND MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT FOUND BY THE SURVEY. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MOFIFIED--DAG)