Opportunity, Choice, and Social Control: Testing an Integrated Theory of Criminal Victimization

在过去的二十年里，出现了几种理论， 说明犯罪受害的社会分布。 测试这些理论对于推进我们的 对犯罪的理解。 此外，关于公共政策 犯罪控制还取决于受害的有效性 理论 例如，公民发起的预防犯罪 私人保安系统和邻里关系等活动 街区监视是基于对犯罪原因的假设 以及犯罪和受害的空间分布。 遗憾的是，现有数据的局限性妨碍了系统性的 竞争性受害理论的研究和 各种犯罪控制活动。 该项目旨在克服以前的局限性 通过收集和汇编多个 数据来源（如人口普查、档案、警方报告， 电话调查，实地观察），对5400名居民90 在一个城市的街区。 这些数据将用于 描述每个街区随时间的变化，测试 犯罪结构选择理论的预测准确性 在不同分析层次上的受害情况（即，社区， 街道和个人），并检查个人是否 从邻居的犯罪控制活动中获益。 多变量建模方法允许检查一系列 问题，包括位移或搭便车效应 最能说明犯罪控制活动对 个人的受害风险。 这项研究将导致全面的数据收集， 受害、社会控制措施和日常活动 和生活方式 以前的研究没有收集过这样的数据。 有足够数量的观察结果的问题， 层次分析，包括理论上的多个措施 相关变量，涉及几种观察模式， 同时考虑个人和团队过程。 通过 检查多个主要和次要数据源， 这项研究将提供一个独特机会， 当前的受害理论和减少犯罪的好处 犯罪控制措施。 结果应该会对 社会变革和受害的理论， 减少犯罪的方案战略。

Over the last two decades, several theories have emerged to account for the social distribution of criminal victimization. Testing these theories is important to advancing our understanding of crime. In addition, public policy regarding crime control also depends on the validity of victimization theories. For example, citizen-initiated crime prevention activities such as private security systems and neighborhood block watch are based on assumptions about the causes of crime and the spatial distribution of crime and victimization. Unfortunately, limitations of existing data preclude systematic study of competing victimization theories and the utility of various crime control activities. This project is designed to overcome the limitations of previous victimization studies by collecting and compiling multiple sources of data (e.g. census, archival, police reports, telephone survey, field observation) on 5400 residents of 90 neighborhoods in a single city. These data will be used to describe changes in each neighborhood over time, test the predictive accuracy of a structural-choice theory of criminal victimization at various levels of analysis (i.e., neighborhoods, streets, and individuals), and examine whether individuals benefit from the crime control activity of their neighbors. Multivariate modeling approaches permit examining a range of issues, including whether a displacement or free rider effect best characterizes the impact of crime control activity on individuals' risks of victimization. This study will result in a comprehensive data collection on victimization, social control measures, and routine activities and lifestyles. No previous study has collected data on such issues that have a sufficient number of observations for multi- level analyses, include multiple measures of theoretically relevant variables, involve several modes of observation, and simultaneously consider individual and group processes. Through the examination of multiple primary and secondary data sources, the research will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate current victimization theories and the crime-reduction benefits of crime control measures. The results should have an impact on theories of social change and victimization as well as on programmatic strategies for crime reduction.