The Social Ecology of Crime (Research in Criminology)

1. Key Issues in the Social Ecology of CrimeIn this opening chapter, we highlight six key issues that are of concern to both researchers and theorists interested in the community context of crime: (1) The data source controversy; (2) the question of theory integration; (3) the problem of contextual fallacies; (4) conceptualization and measurement issues in ecological research; (5) the use of crosssectional versus longitudinal designs; and (6) the applications of social ecology to public policy.1 In each of the following eight chapters, one or more of these issues is empirically addressed. However, before assessing these issues, we feel it will be helpful to briefly place the ecological study of crime in its historical perspective. The obvious centerpiece for such an inquiry is the work of Shaw and McKay and the recent expansions, reformulations, and “rediscoveries” of their basic propositions. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Key Issues in the Social Ecology of Crime (James M. Byrne, Robert J. Sampson)....Pages 1-22 Front Matter ....Pages 23-23 Neighborhood Family Structure and the Risk of Personal Victimization (Robert J. Sampson)....Pages 25-46 Fear and Its Relationship to Crime, Neighborhood Deterioration, and Informal Social Control (Stephanie W. Greenberg)....Pages 47-62 Delinquency Rates as Sources of Ecological Change (Robert J. Bursik Jr.)....Pages 63-74 Front Matter ....Pages 75-75 Cities, Citizens, and Crime: The Ecological/Nonecological Debate Reconsidered (James M. Byrne)....Pages 77-101 Age, Sex, Race, and Arrest Trends for 12 of the Nation’s Largest Central Cities (Roland Chilton)....Pages 102-115 Urban Crime Rates: Effects of Inequality, Welfare Dependency, Region, and Race (Richard Rosenfeld)....Pages 116-130 Front Matter ....Pages 131-131 Person-Environment Interactions in the Prediction of Recidivism (Stephen D. Gottfredson, Ralph B. Taylor)....Pages 133-155 Firearms Ownership and Violent Crime: A Comparison of Illinois Counties (David J. Bordua)....Pages 156-188 Back Matter ....Pages 189-221 The papers in this volume examine the underlying social causes of criminal behaviour. The authors are concerned with both social-structural (e.g., age, sex, race, and family composition) and ecological (e.g., crowding, etc.) characteristics as important units of analysis of neighborhoods, cities and crime The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone.