If surveyed, nearly everyone would likely say they would like to live in a safe, low-crime neighborhood. Healthy neighborhoods often foster trust, social cohesion, and better physical and mental outcomes for residents. Unfortunately, some neighborhoods have high or increasing levels of crime that make these positive outcomes less likely. For this Assessment, you will select a community that has high or increasing levels of crime and determine what the current research literature says about the effects of the crime present on the community. Generally, you may find that crime can have wide-ranging effects, from housing values to psychological outcomes. Keep in mind as you examine the research, however, that effects of crime on communities are also influenced by local-specific and historic factors that may not translate to other communities. As a criminal justice professional, being able to analyze research articles and interpret the findings is an important skill that will allow you to make empirically-supported decisions on the job.

The Assessment:

Review 3 peer-reviewed articles that examine the impact of a particular crime(s) on a community. All three articles must use the same criminal offense as the point of analysis.

• What were their research questions?


• Provide an overview of the independent and dependent variables.


• What were the effects of your selected crime on the community?


• Discuss the findings and how they compare to the existing body of knowledge. (Look in the discussion section of the articles.)


• What were the studies limitations and implications for policy and research?