Vulnerability in the Neighborhood: A Study of Perceived Control Over Victimization

Abstract

Objectives: We test which neighborhood characteristics are associated with perceived control over victimization and how the neighborhood context explains differences between women's and men's perceived control. Methods: Drawing upon administrative data and a survey of 2,862 participants living in 80 neighborhoods in Victoria, Australia, we make a distinction between broader characteristics of the neighborhood, community processes, and gendered neighborhood dynamics. We run a series of multilevel mixed effects regression models to examine the relationship between individual-level perceptions of control over victimization and the neighborhood. Results: Results indicate that a concentration of low-income households in the neighborhood is associated with residents reporting less control over their victimization. Furthermore, the interaction revealed higher crime in the neighborhood lowered women's perceived control while heightening men's perceived control over victimization. Conclusions: Gender remained strongly associated with perceived control over victimization throughout the analysis despite extensive testing of general and gendered neighborhood conditions that may account for differences between women and men. The results found that overall crime rates were the only feature that assisted in explaining the differences between women and men. Future research must seek to better capture the environmental conditions that can account for the difference between women's and men's perceptions.