| Research on the determinants of criminal victimization is along the micro-level and the macro-level. Studies at the individual level have shown that the risk of victimization varies across several social and demographic characteristics, indicating lifestyle and routine activities. Studies at the aggregate level (neighborhoods, cities, SMSA's, countries) have shown that the the rates of victimization vary across characteristics of geographic areas. In this paper two questions will be answered: (1) to what extent does the risk of victimization vary across social groups and neighborhoods, and (2) to what extent can differences in the risk of victimization be explained by individual and neighborhood characteristics. Hypotheses will be derived from the opportunity and social disorganization approach. To test the hypotheses and answer the research questions data will be used from the Police Monitor, a biannual national crime victimization survey in the Netherlands. This survey is carried out in 1993, 1995 and 1997 and it contains information on about 200,000 respondents across 3,500 neighborhoods. The individual data will be matched with information on the neighborhoods, such as percentage low income, income inequality, residential mobility, percentage of single-parent households, percentage ethnic minorities, and percentage aged 15-24. These data are available from several official sources for each neighborhood. The data will be analysed with multilevel analysis. |
Updated 05/20/2006