Abstract
Research has shown variable conceptualizations of neighborhood, often inconsistent with administrative boundaries. The present investigation seeks to quantify the geographic area encompassed by citizens’ reporting of crime. Two Chicago violence prevention organizations gathered near real-time citizen reports of crime and other precursors of violence in a south side community. Over the course of 6 months, 48 community residents participated in a weekly telephone survey about incidents occurring in their community, including crime, incivilities, and disorder. For each incident reported in the study community, respondents were asked to specify its location, whether it was witnessed or heard about, and if it occurred within one block of their residence. Incident locations were geocoded and used to compute distance from residence. Incident reporting radii were calculated for all types of incidents. Calculated distances of events reported within a block revealed discrepancies between resident perceptions and geographic apportionments. On average, incident reports spanned just over a half-mile geographic radius from respondents’ residences. Reporting radii were greater for more violent incidents and shorter for incidents witnessed directly. There was no effect of age, gender, length of residence, or length of participation in the study on reporting radii. Descriptions of reporting radii and implications for crime prevention efforts and research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Areán, P. A., & Gallagher-Thompson, D. (1996). Issues and recommendations for the recruitment and retention of older ethnic minority adults into clinical research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 875–880. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.64.5.875.
Brown, B. B., Perkins, D. D., & Brown, G. (2004). Incivilities, place attachment and crime: Block and individual effects. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(3), 359–371. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.01.001.
Cantillon, D. (2006). Community social organization, parents, and peers as mediators of perceived neighborhood block characteristics on delinquent and prosocial activities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37(1), 111–127. doi:10.1007/s10464-005-9000-9.
Chilenski, S. (2011). From the macro to the micro: A geographic examination of the community context and early adolescent problem behaviors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(1), 352–364. doi:10.1007/s10464-011-9428-z.
City of Chicago. (2011). Data portal. Retrieved from https://data.cityofchicago.org/.
Coulton, C., Korbin, J., & Su, M. (1996). Measuring neighborhood context for young children in an urban area. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24(1), 5–32. doi:10.1007/BF02511881.
Coulton, C., Korbin, J., Chan, T., & Su, M. (2001). Mapping residents’ perceptions of neighborhood boundaries: A methodological note. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29(2), 371–383. doi:10.1023/A:1010303419034.
Cromartie, J. B., & Swanson, L. L. (1996). Census tracts more precisely define rural populations and areas. Rural Development Perspectives, 11(3), 31–39. Retrieved from http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps2554/www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/rdp/.
Felson, M. (1987). Routine activities and crime prevention in the developing metropolis. Criminology, 25, 911–931. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1987.tb00825.x.
Henry, D. H., Dymnicki, A., Kane, C., Quintana, E., Cartland, J., Bromann, K., Bhatia, S., & Wisnieski, E. (2013). Community monitoring for youth violence surveillance: Testing a prediction model. Prevention Science, pp. 1–11. doi:10.1007/s11121-013-0374-x.
Hipp, J. R. (2007). Block, tract, and levels of aggregation: Neighborhood structure and crime and disorder as a case in point. American Sociological Review, 72(5), 659–680. doi:10.1177/000312240707200501.
Kruger, D. J. (2008). Verifying the operational definition of neighborhood for the psychosocial impact of structural deterioration. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(1), 53–60. doi:10.1002/jcop.20216.
Lebel, A., Pampalon, R., & Villeneuve, P. Y. (2007). A multi-perspective approach for defining neighbourhood units in the context of a study on health inequalities in the Quebec City region. International Journal of Health Geographics, 6(1), 27. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-6-27.
Lee, C., & Moudon, A. V. (2008). Neighbourhood design and physical activity. Building Research and Information, 36(5), 395–411. doi:10.1080/09613210802045547.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309.
Matthews, M. H. (1992). Making sense of place. Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
O’Campo, P. (2003). Invited commentary: Advancing theory and methods for multilevel models of residential neighborhoods and health. American Journal of Epidemiology, 157(1), 9–13. doi:10.1093/aje/kwf171.
Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Gannon-Rowley, T. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects”: Social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28(1), 443–478. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141114.
Sampson, R. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (2004). Seeing disorder: Neighborhood stigma and the social construction of “broken windows”. Social Psychology Quarterly, 67(4), 319–342. doi:10.1177/019027250406700401.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277(5328), 918–924. doi:10.1126/science.277.5328.918.
Sampson, R. J., & W. Byron Groves. (1989). Community structure and crime: Testing social-disorganization theory. American Journal of Sociology, 94(4), pp. 774–802. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2780858.
Seneviratne, P. (1985). Acceptable walking distances in central areas. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 111(4), 365–376. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X.
Sharkey, J. R., & Horel, S. (2008). Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and minority composition are associated with better potential spatial access to the ground-truthed food environment in a large rural area. The Journal of Nutrition, 138(3), 620–627. Retrieved from http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/3/620.full.
Shinn, M., & Toohey, S. M. (2003). Community contexts of human welfare. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 427. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145052.
Slocum, L. A., Taylor, T. J., Brick, B. T., & Esbensen, F. (2010). Neighborhood structural characteristics, individual-level attitudes, and youths’ crime reporting intentions. Criminology, 48(4), 1063–1100. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00212.x.
Spilsbury, J. C. (2005). ‘We don’t really get to go out in the front Yard’—children’s home range and neighborhood violence. Children’s Geographies, 3(1), 79–99. doi:10.1080/14733280500037281.
Taylor, R. B. (1997). Social order and disorder of street blocks and neighborhoods: Ecology, microecology, and the systemic model of social disorganization. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 34(1), 113–155. doi:10.1177/0022427897034001006.
Taylor, R. B., Gottfredson, S. D., & Brower, S. (1984). Block crime and fear: Defensible space, local social ties, and territorial functioning. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 21(4), 303–331. doi:10.1177/0022427884021004003.
Thompson, E. E., Neighbors, H. W., Munday, C., & Jackson, J. S. (1996). Recruitment and retention of African American patients for clinical research: An exploration of response rates in an urban psychiatric hospital. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 861–867. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.64.5.861.
Weiss, L., Ompad, D., Galea, S., & Vlahov, D. (2007). Defining neighborhood boundaries for urban health research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(6, Supplement), S154–S159. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.034.
Wilson, R. E., Brown, T. H., & Schuster, B. (2009). Preventing neighborhood crime: Geography matters. NIJ Journal, 263, NCJ 226875, Retrieved on 07/22/13 from http://www.nij.gov/journals/263/neighborhood-crime.htm#note7.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Shango Johnson for his insights and help with study implementation. This study was funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U81/CCU517816 (University of Chicago, Illinois). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wisnieski, E., Bologeorges, S., Johnson, T. et al. The Geography of Citizen Crime Reporting. Am J Community Psychol 52, 324–332 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9597-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9597-z