NCJ Number
46244
Date Published
1979
Length
63 pages
Annotation
FINDINGS OF A SURVEY OF 4,952 PITTSBURGH, PA., HOUSING UNITS (9,433 PERSONS) TAKEN IN 1974 UNDER THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY PROGRAM TO ASSESS PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES RELATING TO CRIME ARE REPORTED.
Abstract
ALTHOUGH PERSUADED THAT THEIR OWN CHANCES OF BECOMING A VICTIM OF CRIME HAD INCREASED DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS, THE RESIDENTS OF PITTSBURGH BELIEVED THAT OTHERS RAN A GREATER RISK THAN THEY DID AND THAT OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS WERE LESS SAFE THAN THEIR OWN. THEY WERE FAR LESS LIKELY TO THINK THAT NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME HAD RISEN THAN THEY WERE TO BELIEVE THAT CRIME HAD INCREASED NATIONALLY, AND FEWER THAN 1 IN 10 PERSONS WAS OF THE OPINION THAT THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD WAS LESS SAFE THAN OTHERS. ROUGHLY 4 OUT OF EVERY 5 PERSONS FELT THAT PEOPLE IN GENERAL HAD LIMITED THEIR ACTIVITIES BECAUSE OF FEAR OF CRIME, BUT BY A MARGIN OF ABOUT 3 TO 2, THEY DENIED THAT THEY THEMSELVES HAD DONE SO. A MAJORITY FELT VERY SAFE WHEN OUT ALONE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD DURING THE DAY, AND MOST FELT AT LEAST REASONABLY SAFE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES AT NIGHT. ALTHOUGH MORE APPREHENSION WAS SHOWN ABOUT MOVEMENT IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA AT NIGHT THAN DURING THE DAY, MOST RESIDENTS OF THE CITY HAD NOT BEEN DETERRED FROM ENTERING THOSE AREAS TO WHICH THEY NEEDED OR DESIRED TO GO EITHER DURING THE DAY OR AT NIGHT. FURTHERMORE, CRIME, OR THE FEAR OF CRIME, WAS NOT A MAJOR FACTOR IN DETERMINING WHERE THE CITY'S INHABITANTS CHOSE TO LIVE, SHOP, OR SPEND THEIR EVENINGS OUT. 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. THIS REPORT IS ONE OF A SERIES OF 13 AND A COMPANION TO 'CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS IN PITTSBURGH' (1977), WHICH REPORTED ON THE RATES OF RAPE, ROBBERY, ASSAULT, BURGLARY, LARCENY, AND MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT FOUND BY THE SURVEY. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DAG).