TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relationship Between Citizen Perceptions of Collective Efficacy and Neighborhood Violent Crime
AU - Armstrong, Todd A.
AU - Katz, Charles
AU - Schnebly, Stephen M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded in part by a grant from the Motorola Great Communities Grants Program. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of Motorola Corporation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2010 SAGE Publications.
PY - 2015/2/17
Y1 - 2015/2/17
N2 - The current work assesses the relationship between respondent perceptions of collective efficacy and neighborhood violence. Data used in the analysis combined a community survey from Mesa, Arizona, with census data. Factor analysis provided mixed evidence regarding the factor structure of collective efficacy; therefore, separate regression models were used to test the influence of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene on levels of neighborhood violence. Analyses found that community structural characteristics including concentrated disadvantage and residential instability significantly predicted perceptions of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene. In turn each of these variables was related to violent crime after controlling for levels of concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and individual demographic characteristics. When social cohesion and willingness to intervene were included in a single regression model, only social cohesion was predictive of neighborhood violence. Social cohesion and violent crime had reciprocal effects that were both negative and statistically significant.
AB - The current work assesses the relationship between respondent perceptions of collective efficacy and neighborhood violence. Data used in the analysis combined a community survey from Mesa, Arizona, with census data. Factor analysis provided mixed evidence regarding the factor structure of collective efficacy; therefore, separate regression models were used to test the influence of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene on levels of neighborhood violence. Analyses found that community structural characteristics including concentrated disadvantage and residential instability significantly predicted perceptions of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene. In turn each of these variables was related to violent crime after controlling for levels of concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and individual demographic characteristics. When social cohesion and willingness to intervene were included in a single regression model, only social cohesion was predictive of neighborhood violence. Social cohesion and violent crime had reciprocal effects that were both negative and statistically significant.
KW - collective efficacy
KW - crime
KW - informal social control
KW - social cohesion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84920872231&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84920872231&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0011128710386202
DO - 10.1177/0011128710386202
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84920872231
SN - 0011-1287
VL - 61
SP - 121
EP - 142
JO - Crime and Delinquency
JF - Crime and Delinquency
IS - 1
ER -