Determinants of Volunteers’ Perceptions of Crime and Disorder: Do Perceptions Reflect Reality?

Perceptions of crime and disorder are conducive to the quality of life in a neighborhood and closely related to social stability and residents’ psychological health. If residents’ perceptions overestimate the reality of neighborhood crime and disorder, it can generate a significant amount of personal fear and stress. To identify factors associated with public perceptions of crime and disorder, the current study investigated a sample of 394 volunteers who participated in a community policing program in Houston, Texas. Results from the structural equation modeling analysis indicated that volunteers’ crime and disorder perceptions were not influenced by the reported crime in their neighborhoods. The findings showed that the significant predictors were associated with collective efficacy in the neighborhood and their attitudes toward the police. Moreover, perceptions of crime had different predictors from perceptions of disorder. Implication for future research was discussed in the end.