The project reviewed over 300 articles and books on informal social control and crime, analyzed three existing data sets, and convened a practitioner workshop. Findings indicate that citizen efforts at informal social control are related to their fear of crime, and there is inconclusive evidence that it is related to the rate of serious crime. The strength of informal social control, however, has varied among neighborhoods differing in socioeconomic characteristics and ethnic homogeneity. Incivilities of nuisance crimes apparently are factors in establishing an area image that attracts crime. General purpose community organizations and the police are important in encouraging and strengthening informal social control. Recommendations for improving community crime prevention programs include (1) organizing informal as well as formal neighborhood groups to increase group cohesion and reduce crime in residential areas, (2) developing subneighborhood groups since they are more likely to develop informal social control, (3) adopting a dual strategy of crime reduction and fear reduction in community crime prevention programs, and (4) developing programs that familiarize local residents with each other and with the neighborhood to encourage intervention and reduce fear. Forty-nine notes and 50 bibliographic listings are provided.