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Variation in Crime Prevention Participation: Evidence from the British Crime Survey

NCJ Number
189278
Journal
Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: 2001 Pages: 7-22
Author(s)
Tim Hope; Steven P. Lab
Date Published
2001
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article investigates the predictors of participation in varying forms of crime prevention.
Abstract
Identifying who participates in crime prevention activities remains an elusive problem for those agencies and individuals interested in engendering greater citizen involvement in personal protection. Examination of the data from the 1994 British Crime Survey revealed that respondents take part in five clear groupings of preventive activity. These groupings were referred to as evening precautions, neighborhood watch, technological security, fortress security, and self-defense. Three domains referred to the protection of household property: neighborhood watch, technological security (surveillance), and fortress security (physical resistance). The remaining two domains represented cautions against personal attack: evening precautions (avoidance of risk) and self-defense (direct threat). Three general categories of predictors were used in this analysis. The first included demographic variables, the second was characteristics of the community, and the third was perceptions of safety in their community. Clearly, crime prevention was not a unitary construct; rather, it was composed of different domains or combinations of preventive activity. Therefore, it is important to consider different types of crime prevention. Analysis had showed that predictors of participation varied across the crime prevention domains, particularly in terms of subjective perceptions, and, to a lesser extent, demographic variables. This knowledge can be useful for targeting or marketing prevention strategies to different segments of the population. 41 notes.