NCJ Number
197228
Journal
Security Journal Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 29-41
Date Published
2001
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article investigates the levels of possession of security measures against residential burglary in two socially contrasting areas of Stoke-on-Trent.
Abstract
The type of area, prior victimization, fear of residential burglary, social class, and age were tested for their influence on levels of possession of security measures against residential burglary. The article describes itself as breaking new ground by investigating levels of possession of household security or target-hardening devices at a neighborhood level and examining the influential factors that determine these levels. The policy implication of these findings is that the role of affluence in meeting the fears and actuality of residential burglary could and arguably should be met by the state. Residents of a city's affluent area can respond to the prospect of burglary victimization by installing more security devices, especially alarms and window locks, while poorer residents must rely on door chains. Given the greater fears but not the greater victimization of residential burglary experienced by residents of less affluent areas, the article suggests it would be more equitable if the state intervened more actively in crime reduction and gave means-tested state aid to less affluent households. Notes, tables