RATHER THAN ANALYZING THE OVERALL SITUATION IN WEST GERMANY, AN OFFICIAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN THE CITY OF BOCHUM. THE STUDY DIVIDED THE CITY INTO VARIOUS GEOGRAPHICAL SECTIONS ACCORDING TO THE CONDITION OF THE BUILDINGS: OLD AND RUN DOWN BUILDINGS; OLD AND NEW RUN-DOWN BUILDINGS; RUN-DOWN AND WELL-KEPT OLD BUILDINGS, ETC. TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF THESE NEIGHBORHOOD ARCHITECTURAL FACTORS ON CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, THE NUMBER OF SUSPECTS LIVING IN EACH AREA WAS DETERMINED. SURPRISINGLY, THE WORST CATEGORIES EXPERIENCED ONLY A MEDIUM CRIME RATE, WHILE AVERAGE QUALITY AREAS (E.G. A COMBINATION OF WELL-KEPT OLD BUILDINGS AND RUN-DOWN NEW BUILDINGS) REGISTERED THE HIGHEST. A SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF BOCHUM INDICATED THAT AREAS HOUSING MINORITIES AND UNDERPRIVILEGED GROUPS HAD THE HIGHEST CRIME RATES WHILE MIDDLE-CLASS SECTIONS SCORED LOWEST. SECTIONS WITH A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN WORKERS ALSO SCORED DISPROPORTIONATELY LOW CONFIRMING THE LIMITED INVOLVEMENT OF THIS MINORITY GROUP IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES. FURTHER, THE CRIME RATE OF A PARTICULAR AREA WAS NOT AFFECTED BY THE AGE OF THE POPULATION ALTHOUGH, ACCORDING TO POLICE STATISTICS, THE AGE GROUP BETWEEN 15 AND 29 CONTAINS THE GREATEST NUMBER OF OFFENDERS. THE CENTER OF THE CITY WITH ITS GREAT NUMBER OF STORES AND CULTURAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FACILITIES HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF COMMITTED OFFENSES. THE PAPER IS SUPPORTED BY NUMEROUS FOOTNOTES, STATISTICS AND GEOGRAPHICAL CHARTS. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)