Jessica Helm Crime Quiz Essay

Jessica Helm

Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime

Black Neighbors, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime

Crime Quiz

            The perception of crime within the community stems from many concerns about safety within a neighborhood. The two articles Black Neighbors, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime, and Perceived Racial by Lincoln Quillian and Devah Pager and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime by Ted Chiricos, Ranee McEntire, and Marc Getrz examine ethnic minorities presence on the perception of safety and crime within their communities and others.

            An African American socioeconomic status, a key factor in the continual segregation within communities. The level of crime perceived in a neighborhood correspondence to influx and departure of the citizens within that neighborhood. The article Black Neighbors, High Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime, provides background into perceived notions of African Americans, neighborhoods, and heightened crime. The main factor that the article found was the percentage of young African American males in a neighborhood, formed the opinion about the degree of crime in a neighborhood. The decline of the white population in integrated neighborhood is cause by the crime and social problems within a neighborhood. Stereotypes about African Americans changed and influence the perception of African American community, into a dangerous community with a heighten level of crimes, even if minimal crime occurs. These stereotypes and factors about African American communities can be attributed to the continual level of segregation within a neighborhood.

            In Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime describes the examination of the perceived racial composition of a community and it connection to the fear of crime within that community. The study was conducted on White, Hispanic, and African American are their perceived ethnic makeup of their community within a mile radius. Highest perceived risk came from females, American Americans, Hispanics, and from people who have been victimized in a crime before, level of education had an influence of perceived risks within these communities.

            The racial and ethnic composition of communities correlates with the perceived level of crime. The two articles, Higher Crime? The Role of Racial Stereotypes in Evaluations of Neighborhood Crime, and Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime take a look into factors that influence the publics notion of community safety. The articles claim that the perception of crime and perception of than ethnic makeup of a community, can determine public views about the safety in that community, due to the presence of minorities.

            Within the two articles, it is obvious that racial bias whether conscious or unconscious continues to influence people's opinion about safety and crime within their community. People who differ from the majority race within that community are often perceived as a threat, regardless of actual crime rate. Peoples judgement about the security within a community stem from whether they were a victim before and their education level. Ethnic minorities in a community are perceived dangerous even if little to no crime occurs in that community.