A review of macrolevel research on urban criminality argues that official sanctions and community social controls factors have been neglected. A theoretical model is described that focuses on the effects of police aggressiveness, jail incarceration risk, State incarceration, and family organization on formal and informal social controls. The paper details a research strategy and data base derived from UCR and Censes data designed to test the model's predictions. The results demonstrated that local official sanctions appeared to significantly deter robbery offending. In addition, family and marital disruption were important determinants of both robbery and homicide. In general, cities with a high percentage of black and white households composed of a married-couple family had low rates of black and white juvenile offending, while the divorce rate exhibited a strong positive effect on adult offending. Finally, the results confirmed traditional sociological concerns with economic stratification, as cities characterized by racial income inequality, poverty, and low occupational status had significantly higher rates of robbery and homicide. Tables and over 100 references. (Author abstract modified)