Correlates of Participation in Collective Responses to Crime

• NCJ Number: 82418
• Author(s): F DuBow; A Podolefsky
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0057
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Northwestern University
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This paper was presented at the 1978 meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Dallas, Texas, November 8-12, 1978. Part of the Reactions to Crime Project.

Annotation

Based on an analysis of pooled citywide samples from a random digit dialing telephone survey conducted in San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia, this study examines the correlates of participation in neighborhood groups' collective responses to crime.

Abstract

Although only 10 percent of the sample reported participation in collective responses to crime, these persons represented more than half of all persons involved in neighborhood organizations. Sixty-six percent of all neighborhood groups had some type of crime response, and in such organizations, 75 percent of the members participated. Thus, there was a high likelihood that persons involved in neighborhood groups will participate in collective responses to crime when given the opportunity. While the characteristics of persons involved in collective responses to crime and those involved in neighborhood organizations resembled one another, there were substantial differences in the characteristics of involved and uninvolved persons. Neighborhood involvement was more likely for persons with higher levels of education, children living in the home, owning their homes, a greater experience of social integration, and who feel a part of the neighborhood. The significant step in getting people to participate in collective responses to crime appears to be getting them involved in neighborhood groups. No significant relationship was shown between perceptions of crime and participation in collective responses to crime. Tabular data and 10 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)