Collective Efficacy in Hot Spots of Crime

• In Event: Crime and Place: The Baltimore City Longitudinal Hot Spots Study

Abstract

Collective efficacy measures the ability of a community to exercise informal social controls. It is generally thought to be indicated by trust in one’s neighbors and willingness to intervene in community problems. It has been used to explain differences is crime rates across neighborhoods and communities, arguing that neighborhoods with high levels of collective efficacy will have lower crime rates. Research on micro geographic units, or hot spots, has demonstrated that there is a great deal of heterogeneity in crime rates within communities, but whether this variation within communities also exists for levels of collective efficacy has not been measured directly. Using data from over 3,700 residential surveys across 450 street segments in Baltimore City, we examine two questions, 1) how does collective efficacy vary within communities and across different types of hot spots, and 2) do the two theoretical constructs of collective efficacy behave in same way across different types of hot spots as it does across different types of communities? The results provide support for our hypotheses that levels of collective efficacy vary within neighborhoods, with crime hot spots having lower levels of collective efficacy. We also find that the two scales of collective efficacy behave differently depending on the type of street segment. Findings from this research have important implications for research on crime and place and our understanding of communities.

Authors

• Alese Wooditch, George Mason University

• David Weisburd, George Mason University

• Clair White, George Mason University

• Brian Lawton, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Justin Ready, Griffith University