Segregation and Victimization: Neighborhood Resources, Individual Risk Factors and Exposure to Property Crime

• NCJ Number: 222779
• Journal: European Journal of Criminology Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2008 Pages: 193-216
• Author(s): Felipe Estrada; Anders Nilsson
• Date Published: April 2008
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This Swedish study examined victimization risk for property crime based on variables related to individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics.

Abstract

The findings show that different factors exert an influence on victimization risk for different types of property crime. The combination of living in rented housing and in a poorly resourced neighborhood involved a significantly heightened risk of vandalism; however, neighborhood resource deficiencies had no significant effect on victimization risk for vehicle-related property crimes after controlling for other factors. Bicycle thefts are primarily associated with household characteristics of having children who desire and can afford bicycles attractive to potential thieves. Individual and household financial difficulties were related to the risk of victimization for all forms of property crime analyzed in the study, regardless of where they lived or the social group to which they belonged. This is speculated to be because such households are less able to afford security measures such as locks, alarms, and other security technology. The general level of affluence of residents of a neighborhood was only related to risk for property crime victimization at the extremes, i.e., vehicle-related and dwelling-related property crime was significantly lower only for people living in very affluent areas and was significantly higher only for those living in very poor neighborhoods. The description and analysis of property-crime victimization and levels of fear experienced by different segments of the population was based on Statistics Sweden's interview surveys on living conditions. Data were collected through personal interviews with a representative sample of the population between 16 and 84 years old. The current study used data for 2000-2001. Approximately 6,000 individuals are interviewed annually. Neighborhood-level data were obtained from the Small Areas for Market Statistics, which is a comprehensive national division of neighborhoods by their socioeconomic characteristics. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 32 references