FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS 1970 STUDY, 8,500 ATLANTA RESIDENTS WERE IDENTIFIED WHO HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH ROUGHLY 9,900 OFFENSES. ARRESTS WERE CLASSIFIED AS EITHER VIOLENT OR PROPERTY OFFENSES. VIOLENT AND PROPERTY RESIDENT ARREST RATES WERE COMPUTED FOR EACH CENSUS TRACT WITHIN THE CITY. THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES IN THIS STUDY ARE CENSUS-TRACT VIOLENT CRIME RATE AND CENSUS-TRACT PROPERTY CRIME RATE. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES, SUCH AS ECONOMIC STATUS, EDUCATION STATUS, AND SEX, RACE, AND AGE COMPOSITION, WERE LISTED ALONG WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE OPERATIONAL INDICATORS AND THE DIRECTION OF THEIR HYPOTHESIZED STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CENSUS TRACT CRIME RATES. EACH OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES REPRESENTS AN AGGREGATE-LEVEL MEASURE FOR A CENSUS TRACT UNIT AND IS PROPOSED AS A STRUCTURAL CORRELATE OF CRIME RATES. THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT PROPOSITIONS DERIVED FROM THEORIES OF CRIME ETIOLOGY NEED NOT, AND POSSIBLY SHOULD NOT, BE STATED IN TERMS OF LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS. STRUCTURAL-LEVEL, MATERIAL LIFE QUALITY INDICATORS WERE SHOWN TO BE RELATED TO AGGREGATE, BETWEEN-UNIT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR PATTERNS FOR ATLANTA RESIDENTS. VIOLENT CRIME WAS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH AN URBAN SITUATION INVOLVING CROWDING, HIGH LEVELS OF SUBSTANDARD HOUSING, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND LOW LEVELS OF HOME OWNERSHIP. THE PROPERTY CRIME RATES ARE RELATED SOMEWHAT TO THESE LIFE QUALITY INDICATORS, BUT ARE PRIMARILY RELATED TO ECONOMIC STATUS. THIS LINEAR PATTERN OF DECREASE IN CRIME RATES WITH INCREASING LEVELS OF INCOME BOTTOMS OUT AT CERTAIN INCOME LEVEL. IT IS EMPHASIZED THAT POOR LIFE QUALITY AND ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION, AND NOT ETHNIC OR RACIAL CONCENTRATION, ACCOUNT FOR INTRACITY CRIME RATE VARIATION. STUDY DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)