Escaping Crime: The Effects of Direct and Indirect Victimization on Moving

• NCJ Number: 225312
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 809-840
• Author(s): Min Xie; David McDowall
• Date Published: November 2008
• Length: 32 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether direct criminal victimization near one’s residence and/or indirect criminal victimization that involved one’s neighbors motivated families to move to another neighborhood they perceived as safer.

Abstract

The study found that the link between direct victimization and moving continued to hold after controlling for neighborhood context. Indirect property crime against a neighbor also leads to moving to another neighborhood, with effects approximately equal in strength to those of direct victimization. In contrast, no evidence was found that violent victimization in neighboring homes influenced the moving decision, probably because most of these events involved nonstranger violence that was not perceived as potentially threatening to one’s own family. These findings suggest that in neighborhoods where the risk for criminal victimization threatens to cause population loss and instability in community bonds, it is useful to intervene in order to involve both victims and nonvictims in activities that restore public confidence in neighborhood safety. A comprehensive understanding and problem-solving approach to addressing neighborhood social context and resources can provide the foundation of successful community interventions. Suggestions for future research focus on determining how the impact of indirect victimization is affected by the distance between one’s residence and the location where a neighbor was victimized. The study used data from the National Crime Survey (NCS) in order to estimate multilevel models that incorporate victimization data from individual households and their nearby neighbors. The NCS is a longitudinal panel survey of U.S. dwelling units and their current occupants. Household members ages 12 or older are interviewed every 6 months about their victimization experiences and daily activities. The dependent variable was moving decisions by the initial occupiers of the sample dwellings. Victimization variables distinguished between direct and indirect victimization and between violent and property victimizations. 1 figure, 3 tables and 100 references