Crime Factors and Neighborhood Decline in Chicago, 1979

This study explores the relationship between crime and neighborhood deterioration in eight neighborhoods in Chicago. The neighborhoods were selected on the basis of slowly or rapidly appreciating real estate values, stable or changing racial composition, and high or low crime rates. These data provide the results of a telephone survey administered to approximately 400 heads of households in each study neighborhood, a total of 3,310 completed interviews. The survey was designed to measure victimization experience, fear and perceptions of crime, protective measures taken, attitudes toward neighborhood quality and resources, attitudes toward the neighborhood as an investment, and density of community involvement. Each record includes appearance ratings for the block of the respondent's residence and aggregate figures on personal and property victimization for that city block. The aggregate appearance ratings were compiled from windshield surveys taken by trained personnel of the National Opinion Research Center. The criminal victimization figures came from Chicago City Police files.

本研究探讨了芝加哥八个社区的犯罪与社区衰败之间的关联。本次调研选取社区的依据包括房地产价值的缓速或快速升值、种族构成的稳定或变动，以及犯罪率的高低水平。本研究向每个调研社区的约400名户主开展电话调查，最终累计完成有效访谈3310份。本次调查的设计目标为衡量受访者的受害经历、对犯罪的恐惧心理与认知水平、采取的防护措施、对社区质量与公共资源的态度、将社区视作投资标的的态度，以及社区参与度。每条记录均包含受访者居住街区的外观评级，以及对应城市街区的个人与财产受害汇总数据。其中，汇总外观评级由美国全国民意研究中心（National Opinion Research Center）的受训人员通过车窗巡查法采集得到，犯罪受害数据则来源于芝加哥市警察局档案。