URBAN CRIME AREAS: PART I*

The major objective of this paper is to describe with a high degree of specificity the more significant economic, demographic and social determinants, and dimensions of crime areas in a large urban community. The basic data include two series of crime statistics, "offenses known to the police" and "arrests," totaling over 65,000 cases, along with detailed economic, demographic, and social statistics from the 1950 decennial census. A 38 x 38 correlation matrix, based on 20 crime indices and 18 economic, demographic, and social variables was derived. This matrix was analyzed by the principal axes technique. Eight factors were extracted and retained for orthogonal rotation. To determine how the basic dimensions derived for the community as a whole are related to specific areas, standard factor scores for each of the eight factors were computed for the 93 census tracts in the city. (Abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1960. Copyright © 1960 by the American Sociological Association) Urban Crime Crime Trends and Patterns Ecological Factors Environmental Factors Demographic Factors Socioeconomic Factors Sociocultural Factors 07-02