NCJ Number
83713
Date Published
1982
Length
67 pages
Annotation
A 5-year interdisciplinary study of the impact of crime on urban residents, the Reactions to Crime (RTC) Project investigated fear of crime, protective behavior, and collective responses of residents of 10 neighborhoods in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
Abstract
Data were collected through field observations, sample surveys, archival research, and analysis of local newspapers. Researchers examined the origins and consequences of individual and collective reactions to crime in the mid-1970's. Analysis indicated that such indirect experience with crime as discussions among neighbors contributed significantly to a community's level of fear. Women and the elderly, despite low levels of victimizations, felt most vulnerable to attack. In contrast to previous findings, the study suggests that the experience of victimization greatly increases one's fear of crime, as do perceptions of crime and incivility in one's neighborhood. Although most survey respondents had taken precautions, household protective measures seem linked to social and economic factors, not directly to crime or neighborhood conditions. Collective responses included youth-oriented community activities, programs to improve the local environment, neighborhood patrols, and court watching. The social context of the community and the presence of citywide anticrime programs shaped particular collective responses. This executive summary describes the Project's activities, including 47 major reports, books, and articles.