TY - JOUR PY - 2010// TI - Neighbourhood disorder and worry about criminal victimization in the neighbourhood JO - International review of victimology A1 - Mellgren, Caroline A1 - Pauwels, Lieven A1 - Levander, Marie Torstensson SP - 291 EP - 310 VL - 17 IS - 3 N2 - This study tested a cross-level integrated model of neighbourhood level disorder and individual level vulnerability, in relation to explaining individual differences in worry about criminal victimization1. The aim of the present study is (1) to establish if there is unique neighbourhood level variation in worry about criminal victimization, independent of neighbourhood composition, and(2) to establish the extent to which two proposed mechanisms at the individual level, prior local victimization and perceived disorder, act as mediators of a hypothesised effect of neighbourhood level disorder. Given the hierarchical structure of the research question a series of multilevel analyses based on data from a survey of more than 4,000 residents of a Swedish urban are a was performed. Findings by and large indicate that there are significant neighbourhood level differences in worry about criminal victimization and that these differences are not completely due to compositional effects. Neighbourhood disorder has effects on worry about criminal victimization, independent of the composition of neighbourhoods. The present study suggests that neighbourhood disorder has consequences for worry about criminal victimization and that prior victimization and perceived disorder are key mediators of the contextual effect of neighbourhood disorder. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0269-7580 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/026975801001700303 ID - ref1 ER -