The effects of neighborhood conditions on perceptions of safety D. Mark Austin a , L. Allen Furr a, * , Michael Spine b a Department of Sociology, 118 Lutz Hall, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA b Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Richmond, VA, USA Abstract This research investigated the relationship between neighborhood conditions and residents’ expressed perceptions of safety. Previous studies had indicated that neighborhood conditions helped shape attitudes concerning neighborhood crime, but had relied on subjective measures of those conditions. The present study analyzed the relative contribution of subjective and objective indicators of local conditions to the overall assessment of safety in a sample of 305. Housing conditions were assessed using a standardized rating system. The investigation found that housing and neighborhood quality had an impact on satisfaction with the local physical environment and perceptions of safety. Victimization also had an impact on these two variables, but contrary to expectations had no significant impact on satisfaction with people in the local environment when controlling for housing quality. D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The human-built topography of dwellings and neighborhoods is an important contributor to individ- uals’ social and psychological well-being. The con- structed landscape of places could add to, or subtract from, individuals’ sense of security and safety (Nasar & Jones, 1997). Neighborhood residents, for ex- ample, could interpret the physical cues of low quality neighborhoods as the absence of social con- trols (Ross & Mirowsky, 1999), which could com- promise residents’ feelings of order, stability, and social connectedness. Thus, run-down and deteriorat- ing structures in neighborhoods might be associated with concerns over safety. This article reports on research that sought to determine the relationship between dwelling and neighborhood quality and residents’ perceptions of safety. In studying the effects of neighborhood con- ditions on social and psychological outcomes, pre- vious researchers had typically relied upon residents’ perceptions of the physical conditions of their houses and neighborhoods as a measurement of neighbor- hood quality. The present study, however, used a standardized scheme for evaluating the conditions of neighborhoods in order to study their effects on residents’ perceptions of safety. Literature review As was common knowledge, compared to other industrialized countries, the United States had an alarmingly high crime rate. Despite recent declines in crime, concerns about crime were still important for many people (DeFrances & Smith, 1998), and fear of becoming a victim of criminal misconduct seemed to remain core to the American psyche. Worries over safety were further reinforced by the numerous enter- 0047-2352/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0047-2352(02)00148-4 * Tel.: +1-502-852-8022; fax: +1-502-852-0099. E-mail address: allenfurr@louisville.edu (L.A. Furr). Journal of Criminal Justice 30 (2002) 417 – 427