Urban Crime Areas: Part II

Personal Crime and Delinquency Rates in Los Angeles: A Social Area Analysis

“…Louis, Sarah Boggs (1966) finds that the three social area indexes are related to crime occurrence in a manner similar to other social area analyses. Boggs' study, as well as others (see for example, Schmid, 1960;Chilton, 1964;Bordua, 1958Bordua, -1959, also supports the hypothesis that crime is negatively related to areal socioeconomic status. In summary, previous research on crime and delinquency using social area analysis has found consistent relationships between the three component social area indexes and criminal behavior.…”

“…From the perspective of the city resident, however, it is the actual location of the criminal offense that is important because the potential for becoming a victim is greatest in those areas of the city where the frequency of crime is the highest (Wolfgang, 1968). Several urban sociologists have attempted to explain the distribution and location of crime and delinquency on the basis of the social and physical characteristics of urban subareas (see, for example, Schmid, 1960;.Boggs, 1966;Pyle et al., 1974al., , Roncek, 1981. This paper compares the effects of the social and physical composition of census tracts on their personal crime and juvenile delinquency arrest rates from a social area perspective and attempts to explain the distributions of those rates in Los Angeles for 1970.…”

The Impact of Neighborhoods, Schools, and Malls on the Spatial Distribution of Property Damage

“…This is one of the least disputed facts about crime, and it has been repeatedly supported by numerous studies spanning several decades, different cities, and diverse offenses. Previous research has exam ined, for example, the locations of homicides in Cleveland (Bensing and Schroeder 1960), Chicago (Block 1976), and Houston (Bullock 1955); rob beries in Seattle (Schmid 1960); and burglaries in Washington, DC (Scarr 1973). Furthermore, it was the early observation of spatial variations that ini tially contributed to the development of the classical perspectives on crime.…”

“…Their smaller size, however, allows for greater variation in population characteris tics. Although the use of such areas has been widespread in the analysis of urban crime patterns (see Brantingham and Brantingham 1984;Felson 1998;Jarvis 1972;Joelsen and Fishbine 1984;Schmid 1960), the technique is asso ciated with a number of shortcomings. Most important of these is that such areas may not correspond, in any meaningful sense, to social or cultural neighborhoods.…”

“…Most important of these is that such areas may not correspond, in any meaningful sense, to social or cultural neighborhoods. Some researchers have assumed that there is at least some correspondence between natural neighborhoods and census boundaries (Schmid 1960). Others point out, however, that area perimeters are typically major roads, rivers, and other natural boundaries that are chosen more for their administrative convenience than for demarcating specific neighbor hoods (Brantingham and Brantingham 1984:317).…”