Characteristics of High and Low Crime Neighborhoods in Atlanta, 1980 (ICPSR 7951)

Published: Nov 4, 2005

Cite this Study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Stephanie Greenberg

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07951.v1

Version V1

Summary

This study examines the question of how some urban neighborhoods maintain a low crime rate despite their proximity and similarity to relatively high crime areas. The purpose of the study is to investigate differences in various dimensions of the concept of territoriality (spatial identity, local ties, social cohesion, informal social control) and physical characteristics (land use, housing, street type, boundary characteristics) in three pairs of neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia. The study neighborhoods were selected by locating pairs of adjacent neighborhoods with distinctly different crime levels. The criteria for selection, other than the difference in crime rates and physical adjacency, were comparable racial composition and comparable economic status. This data collection is divided into two files. Part 1, Atlanta Plan File, contains information on every parcel of land within the six neighborhoods in the study. The variables include ownership, type of land use, physical characteristics, characteristics of structures, and assessed value of each parcel of land within the six neighborhoods. This file was used in the data analysis to measure a number of physical characteristics of parcels and blocks in the study neighborhoods, and as the sampling frame for the household survey. The original data were collected by the City of Atlanta Planning Bureau. Part 2, Atlanta Survey File, contains the results of a household survey administered to a stratified random sample of households within each of the study neighborhoods. Variables cover respondents' attitudes and behavior related to the neighborhood, fear of crime, avoidance and protective measures, and victimization experiences. Crime rates, land use, and housing characteristics of the block in which the respondent resided were coded onto each case record.

Citation

Greenberg, Stephanie. Characteristics of High and Low Crime Neighborhoods in Atlanta, 1980. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2005-11-04. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07951.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (79-NI-AX-0080)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Time Period(s)

1980-08 -- 1980-10

Date of Collection

1980-08 -- 1980-10

Sample

Stratified random sample of Atlanta households.

Universe

Three pairs of adjacent neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia.

Data Source

personal interviews

Data Type(s)

survey data

Original Release Date

1984-03-18

Version Date

2005-11-04

Version History

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.

1997-09-26 SAS and SPSS data definition statements have been added to this collection.

Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented.
NACJD logo

This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.