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Article 1: Callanan, V., & Rosenberger, J. S. (2015). Media, gender, and fear of crime. Criminal Justice Review, 40(3), 322–339.

Abstract: Few studies have examined how the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity may manifest differences in the effects of crime-related media on fear of crime. This study examines the relationships between various forms of crime-related media on fear of crime with a sample disaggregated by gender to ascertain if crime-related media consumption works differently for women and men. Race/ethnic differences within gender were also examined. Only slight differences between men and women were found and differences across race/ethnicity within gender groups were minor. Therefore, despite the prevalence of White female victims in crime-related media, media messages of risk, and fear seem to influence viewers similarly regardless of gender or race, providing additional support for cultivation theory and mainstreaming effects.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What was the purpose of this study?
2. Looking at fear of crime by gender, what were three factors with statistically significant variation between men and women?
3. Perception of crime was positively correlated with fear of crime. What does that mean?
    

Article 2: Armstrong, T. A., Katz, C. M., & Schnebly, S. M. (2015). The relationship between citizen perceptions of collective efficacy and neighborhood violent crime. Crime & Delinquency, 61(1), 121–142.

Abstract: The current work assesses the relationship between respondent perceptions of collective efficacy and neighborhood violence. Data used in the analysis combined a community survey from Mesa, Arizona, with census data. Factor analysis provided mixed evidence regarding the factor structure of collective efficacy; therefore, separate regression models were used to test the influence of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene on levels of neighborhood violence. Analyses found that community structural characteristics including concentrated disadvantage and residential instability significantly predicted perceptions of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene. In turn, each of these variables was related to violent crime after controlling for levels of concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and individual demographic characteristics. When social cohesion and willingness to intervene were included in a single regression model, only social cohesion was predictive of neighborhood violence. Social cohesion and violent crime had reciprocal effects that were both negative and statistically significant.

Questions that apply to this article:

1. What are three correlates of collective efficacy?
2. Interpret the coefficient for Married (Table 1).
3. What does the R² (Table1) indicate?