The first journal article I chose to look at in further detail was ‘AGING, NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTATCHMENT, AND FEAR OF CRIME: TESTING RECIPROCAL EFFECTS’ from the journal of community psychology, Vol. 37, 2009. The article focuses on conducting a study which looks at whether the elderlys fear of crime causes a decrease in the strength of their neighbourhood attachments. The study converges neighbourhood attachment and aging among urban residents to predict fear of crime. The author attempts to address if fear of crime in older residents affects social relationships being formed with their neighbours.
The author deals with the fact that there are several aspects in life which may cause an elderly individual to fear crime in addition to (or as well as) lack of neighbourhood attachments. These include physical restrictions that older people encounter with age making them more frail and vulnerable and not enabling them to get out as much, which can play a big part in increasing their fear of crime, this being backed up in several other articles referenced in the article that have looked at this specifically including Baumer,1985, Skogan and Maxfield, 1981 and several others. Also, elderly people tend to have less social connections in general as social networks decline with age causing further social isolation. Being alone with a lot of spare time and less friends can also appear to intensify fear of crime (OH, 2009:24) Although, the author does frequently look at the other side of things as well, for example, he investigates how older people having more spare time can also be an advantage in relation to social cohesion as it is quoted from results of a previous study that “older adults help maintain social order in their neighbourhoods because they are home during the day, are more likely to visit and maintain social ties with their neighbours that help maintain control in the community..” (Ross & Mirosky, 1999, p. 424).
The writer used examples of several other secondary sources initially to explain previous findings to similar studies and what has already been discovered in relation to the current study. Studies including Sampson et al, 1999, are referred to when stating that trust can be increased by having stronger relationships with neighbours and that behavioural attachment (in the form of friendships, neighbouring) can have a direct effect on attitudinal attachment (trust, social control etc.) (OH, 2009:23) The writer appears unbiased and considers many other aspects that can affect fear of crime other than age, referencing many sources to justify each point made, making the article accurate and reliable.
The study measures the frequency of contact with other neighbours using a scale system for response, the study is conducted on an individual basis as opposed to studying the community as a whole. I think this is a good way of conducting it as it allows individual circumstances and opinion to be taken into account as they can vary dramatically between people even if they do live in the same neighbourhood. The article seems to be some what contradictory at times when reaching the conclusion. There are several models as a result of the study, each showing different results - findings appear unclear at times as the author uses phrases such as “in one sense”, “in another sense”, when referring to results (OH, 2009:36). The conclusion suggests that some models prove that ‘age plays a vital role in raising fear of crime’ which is supported by referencing a study with the same findings(OH, 2009:34). On the other hand some models appear to suggest that neighbourhood attachment does not affect fear of crime with aging alone but is a factor among several others, making it confusing when reaching a solid conclusion. Although the author seems to initially assume that it is lack of neighbourhood attachment that increases fear of crime he also considers that fear of crime could also actually be the cause of poor social neighbourhood ties(OH 2009:34). Even though the writer has a relatively clear line of thought he doesn’t make assumptions without considering alternative ideas. I think that the author intends to convey the concept that although it is possible for age to have an affect on fear of crime it is only one aspect among many.
The second Journal I selected to look at in more detail was ‘RESIDENTS’ EFFORTS AT NEIGHBOURHOOD STABILIZATION: FACING THE CHALLENGES OF INNER-CITY NEIGHBOURHOODS. The article is focused on a case study which explores how residents in Five Oaks, a ‘racially and economically diverse’ neighbourhood positively responded to an increase in crime and disorder in the area by successfully integrating members of the community with city officials to devise a successful plan to reduce it (Donnelly, 1998).
The writer expresses several times that this is a relatively unusual case and that more frequently, progressive increased disorder in a neighbourhood lessens morale and as a result can cause less people to be active in the community. He uses examples of other case studies throughout the article to back up information given, in this case for example, he cites that Skogan(1990) has proved that an increase of crime leading to progressive neighbourhood decline leads to a lack of activism, people tend to give in or give up and move away. It is key to note that against the odds a neighbourhood in decline pulled together and worked hard to get a high level of activism and co-operation, not only among residents but with current group FONIA (Five Oaks Neighbourhood Improvement Association), local institutions and city officials.
The writer stresses that the importance of communication and involvement is vital in the success of reducing the problem of crime in the neighbourhood. The plan was to divide the neighbourhood into smaller sections that would be easier to control (Newman, 1972).Although Newman was brought in to help with the plan, residents were encouraged to attend meetings and were given full opportunity to have control in what they wanted from the plan, this I think was crucial to the success of the plan. I found it important that although several meetings were held and all residents were welcome to attend, not all did but even if they chose not to go to meetings there was still door to door contact and a monthly newsletter “hand delivered to every household”(Donnelly, 1998:198) So even if the residents didn’t attend to give their active input, they were still being continuously informed suggesting communication was a vital aspect of the plan to reduce crime and disorder. It is not just an assumption that everyone can or will play an active role but the writer shows it is still important to attempt to make everyone feel included.
The writer is sensitive towards both the causes and consequences of crime in the area and also why it was so important for the neighbourhood to take action against it. Increasing unemployment rates, decreasing population, mounting levels of poverty and changes in ethnic composition were all established as likely root causes of increasing crime and disorder in the area, backed up by a study (Wilson, 1987). The consequences that the writer highlighted were that as a result of continually diminishing surroundings and increased levels of crime people begin to develop a less caring attitude, a point which is well explained as ‘the broken window theory’ in the book The Tipping Point. “If a window is broken and left unrepaired people walking by will conclude that no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes” (Gladwell 2000:141) showing that problems simply escalate in a context that is run down already. Another important point that the writer makes is the importance of racial diversity in Five Oaks. Although it is suggested racial diversity causes less unity in a neighbourhood, in Five Oaks it was vital in bringing people together, people wanted to preserve it rather than move away and this actually became an attraction for new people moving to the neighbourhood, which the writer is sensitive towards.
The findings in the conclusion are clear, although the writer makes it clear that the strong activism of the community was vital, co-operation and obtaining support from external sources was also as important. Information supplies from another study shows that if the public can obtain support from external sources it increases the likelihood of success (Hunter, 1985). Also, the communities strong desire to maintain a racially diverse neighbourhood was important in raising morale to be active and also in bringing people together. The study also concludes that crime prevention organizations need to be a constant ongoing feature of the community, it needs to be monitored long term for the positive changes to be maintained as it has been proved by a previous study (Fowler and Margione, 1986) that short term improvements that are not maintained diminish and pre-existing organisations can more effectively activate a plan when problems do come up. The study showed that an equal partnership between members of the neighbourhood, the local volunteer group (FONIA) and external sources was very important in the success of improving crime in the neighbourhood of Five Oaks.
I found both articles very interesting, and although they are on separate topics relating to crime they have findings which do relate. The importance of neighbourhood cohesion is stressed in the results of both papers. The first paper discusses how important it is for elderly people to have strong relationships with neighbours and how in return it reduces their fear of crime whereas the second paper shows that how although increasing levels of crime and disorder cause people to lose morale in taking action, it is possible for big positive changes to be made in reducing crime if they take a cooperative approach. In other words, if people in a neighbourhood work cohesively in combating crime related problems, they can be reduced. Both paper are efficient in making references to several other studies to show that concepts they are discussing are backed up by previous research and are not just passing comments. Equally, the articles look at many contributing factors that can have an effect on the outcome of the study and it is interesting to note that both paper found reverse effect, for example, in the first paper it was found that crime can be a cause for older people to fear making neighbourhood ties but also an effect as having neighbourhood ties can also be a reason for older people to fear crime. Interestingly, in the second paper, it was suggested that increasing levels of crime cause morale towards taking action to decrease but alternatively it can cause people to react in the opposite way and pull together. I personally found the second paper more successful, since it was a case study as opposed to a study using collected data, it allowed observation to be conducted over a longer period in a more natural setting. The study used key data as well such as census information and crime figures. It appeared to have less background information than the other study, but seeing as it was an individual study with results out with the expected norm I think this is acceptable and there is enough substantial information to make it reliable. It was also interesting to see how consistency pays off in this case. Reducing crime in Five Oaks was not the result of quick fixes, it took time and effort from a lot of people and it seems likely that the community will need to maintain the levels of commitment to maintain the positive effects. In other words time and effort pay off, you get out what you put in and if the majority people want change then change can be made. It is clear to see what the results are, increased community involvement, although among other things, helped to reduce crime in this circumstance whereas the results are ‘unsupported’ and unclear at times in the other study (OH, 2009:37). Although this case study is quite limited as it only shows what happened in one circumstance, in one city and it is said t be quite a unusual reaction to the normal, generalizing it. Although, it is still helpful to see how a community reacted positively instead of what is usually expected when a community has a rise in crime, it continues to get worse, its nice to see a more positive exception.
