Women’s Neighborhood Resources, Collective Efficacy, and Fear of Violent Victimization

• In Event: Managing Fear of Crime Victimization: Individual and Neighborhood Responses

Abstract

Stronger social organization aimed at the informal control of public space—namely, collective efficacy—may alleviate youths’ apprehensions about violent victimization. But this association may vary according to local gender dynamics. Insights from social disorganization and gender stratification theories suggest that where women collectively control more socioeconomic resources in the neighborhood compared to men, collective efficacy may more strongly reduce youths’ fear of violent victimization—particularly among girls. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, multilevel models of over 2,000 youth nested in 79 neighborhoods assess whether women’s relative neighborhood resources modify the effect of collective efficacy on youths’ fear of violent victimization in their residential neighborhoods, and whether this interactive effect is different for boys and girls. The implications for youths’ wellbeing as well as insights regarding the importance of considering group conflict in studies of neighborhood social organization are discussed.

Authors

• Aubrey L. Jackson, University of New Mexico

• Erin R. Coleman, University of New Mexico