Vanessa Schoening February 13, 2014 Module 2 Revised Annotated Bibliography Revised 1. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999). Number of homicides and population for cities with estimated population 100,000 or more, from 1985-1997. This paper begins by acknowledging that most studies carried out into crimes have focused on the features of the populations such as age, employment and average earnings. The writers hold that the fact that population density has not been studied much represents a knowledge gap. The paper tries to find out whether population density has a negative or positive correlation with crime. Through sifting through previous studies, the paper tries to find out the nature of crimes that are rampant in varying populations. 2. Christens, B., & Speer, P. W. (2006). Predicting violent crime using urban and suburban densities. Behavior and Social Issues, 14(2), 113-127. Christens and Speer go through past research and statistics and try to show the varying nature of crimes in different settlements areas. Their main focus is on violent and crime and they try to show that densely populated areas are more likely to see violent crime due to increased chances of conflict. Their other argument is that low-income areas are likely to see more violent crime. 3. Duany, A., Plater-Zyberk, E., & Speck, J. (2000). Suburban nation: The rise of sprawl and thedecline of the American dream. New York: North Point Press. The authors of this book are founders of a movement that calls for an improved planning of settlements to avoid further spread of sprawls or informal settlements. The book highlights the effects of these settlements including economic and social ills. The book gives real life examples of how unplanned and congested settlements coupled with low income can cause crime. The book also offers solutions on how to improve the planning of cities and suburbs 4. Fulton, W., Pendall, R., Nguyen, M. & Harrison, A. (2001). Who sprawls most? How growth patterns differ across the U.S. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution. This book takes a look at population densities in various cities across the US between 1982 and 1997. The book also acknowledges that as cities grow, they continue to add previously unused land into their metropolitan territory. The book tries to compare the rate at which this land is being urbanized against the population growth. The book holds that cities in the west of the US have highly populated metropolitans and goes ahead to outline some of the challenges that may pose. 5. LaFree, G., Bursik, R.J., Short, J. & Taylor, R.B. (2000). The nature of crime: Continuity and change. Criminal Justice 2000, 1, 261-308. The authors of this article begin by pointing out that the nature of crimes and reaction of societies towards various crimes do not remain constant. The writers hold that changing legislations and people’s attitudes can affect the nature of crimes. The availability of IT for instance creates a new ...

1. Vanessa Schoening
February 13, 2014
Module 2 Revised
Annotated Bibliography Revised
1. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1999). Number of homicides and
population for cities with estimated population 100,000 or
more, from 1985-1997.
This paper begins by acknowledging that most studies carried
out into crimes have focused on the features of the populations
such as age, employment and average earnings. The writers hold
that the fact that population density has not been studied much
represents a knowledge gap. The paper tries to find out whether
population density has a negative or positive correlation with
crime. Through sifting through previous studies, the paper tries
to find out the nature of crimes that are rampant in varying
populations.
2. Christens, B., & Speer, P. W. (2006). Predicting violent
crime using urban and suburban densities. Behavior and Social
Issues, 14(2), 113-127.
Christens and Speer go through past research and statistics and
try to show the varying nature of crimes in different settlements
areas. Their main focus is on violent and crime and they try to
show that densely populated areas are more likely to see violent
crime due to increased chances of conflict. Their other
argument is that low-income areas are likely to see more violent
crime.
3. Duany, A., Plater-Zyberk, E., & Speck, J. (2000). Suburban
nation: The rise of sprawl and thedecline of the American
dream. New York: North Point Press.

2. The authors of this book are founders of a movement that calls
for an improved planning of settlements to avoid further spread
of sprawls or informal settlements. The book highlights the
effects of these settlements including economic and social ills.
The book gives real life examples of how unplanned and
congested settlements coupled with low income can cause
crime. The book also offers solutions on how to improve the
planning of cities and suburbs
4. Fulton, W., Pendall, R., Nguyen, M. & Harrison, A. (2001).
Who sprawls most? How growth patterns differ across the U.S.
Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.
This book takes a look at population densities in various cities
across the US between 1982 and 1997. The book also
acknowledges that as cities grow, they continue to add
previously unused land into their metropolitan territory. The
book tries to compare the rate at which this land is being
urbanized against the population growth. The book holds that
cities in the west of the US have highly populated metropolitans
and goes ahead to outline some of the challenges that may pose.
5. LaFree, G., Bursik, R.J., Short, J. & Taylor, R.B. (2000). The
nature of crime: Continuity and change. Criminal Justice 2000,
1, 261-308.
The authors of this article begin by pointing out that the nature
of crimes and reaction of societies towards various crimes do
not remain constant. The writers hold that changing legislations
and people’s attitudes can affect the nature of crimes. The
availability of IT for instance creates a new avenue for
criminals to commit crime. They also show how the changes in
housing trends in areas close to cities have seen a
transformation in the nature of crimes committed. The authors
therefore call for a continuous review of the justice system to be
able to deal with the complexities of new crimes.
6. Lang, R. E. (2005). Valuing the suburbs: Why some
“improvements” lower home prices. Opolis: An International
Journal of Suburban and Metropolitan Studies, 1(1), 5-12.
The article tries to find out how improvements made in houses

3. eventually affect their prices. Their assessment shows that not
all improvements made lead to an appreciation in the price of
houses. In fact, remodeling suburban homes as offices can
actually lead to lower prices. The article gives reason for this
phenomenon. It also gives other reasons why suburban dwellers
may refuse the urbanization of their neighborhoods including a
possibility of increased crime.
7. Lersch, K. M. (2004). Space, time, and crime. Durham, NC:
Carolina Academic Press.
This book is a review of existing theories on the relationship
between crime and settlements. The writer then carefully
explains the areas where each theory is best applicable. Through
careful study of existing literature, the book offers a history of
the theories. The author offers useful crime fighting solutions in
each of the instances. The author concludes by pointing out
weaknesses of each theory from a Marxist stance. The book also
offers useful insights into crime mapping and analysis.
8. Regoeczi, W. C. (2003). When context matters: A multilevel
analysis of household and neighborhood crowding on aggression
and withdrawal. Journal of EnvironmentalPsychology, 23(4),
451-464.
The writers begin by poking holes into previous research into
the nature of crimes in different neighborhoods. They give
various reasons for inconsistencies in previous findings and
argue that a main reason for this is the failure to consider
populations densities. Their research therefore focuses on the
effects of population density on aggression levels among
people. The levels of aggression can then be used to predict the
nature of crime likely to occur in a given environment.
9. U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Metropolitan Area Population
Estimates for July 1, 1999 and Population Change for April 1,
1990 to July 1, 1999
This paper gives insight into the different population levels in

4. varying metropolitans between 1990 and 1990. The changes in
population can then be explained using the changes that
occurred in the metropolitans in the same period. A look at the
police records can also show the trends in criminal activities
and relate them to population changes.
10. Yanich, D. (2004). Crime creep: Urban and suburban crime
on local TV news. Journal of Urban Affairs, 26(5), 535-563.
The writers begin by quoting statistics from police departments
to show that crime rates in the US have been on a downward
trend in the last decade. Yet, people’s opinions on their level of
safety have not changed. Statistics also show that a majority of
citizen rely on news to assess the level of security in the
country as a whole. The writer argues that it is likely that the
newscasts do not give an accurate picture of the security level
in the country. For instance, crimes in urban areas are only
about half of those that occur in urban areas. However,
newscasts create an image that the urban areas are safer than
suburbs.
January 24, 2014
Module 1
M1 Research Journal
Question 1. Research problem
Is there a correlation between the frequency, nature of crimes,
and the readiness to report them depending on the average
income of neighborhoods in New York?
Question 2.
This statement captures the problem of crime in residential
areas and tries to establish whether income is a factor that
contributes to it. From the research, suggestions could be made
on ways of trying to resolve the problem by solving the root
issue.

5. There is no bias in this statement because once the research is
commissioned; data would be collected from several
neighborhoods.
The research can be carried out within a reasonable period and a
small budget because data on the average incomes can be found
at relevant authorities. Information on crimes is readily
available from police stations. Law enforcement officers can
also give useful information on the topic through interviews and
questionnaires. The research would also involve collecting data
from residents through questionnaires that is a faster and less
expensive way of collecting information (Bhattacherjee, 2012).
This research, if conducted could lead to the discovery of new
knowledge in the social sciences field. It could reveal on the
kind of working relationship that exists between police officers
and residents in different field. It would be important to find
out the perception of the police in this field. It could also reveal
past experiences with the police and their responsiveness
depending on the neighborhoods. The research could also reveal
whether the geographical areas that police officers work
influence their level of job satisfaction. The data collected
could tell whether officers view their roles differently when
placed in dissimilar stations.
Question 3.
This research is quite feasible and a proposal could be drawn
for funding. If conducted, the research could give insight on
ways of improving the way police are perceived in different
neighborhoods. When the image of police is bettered, people
will be more willing to report crimes as soon as they happen in
order to improve security in all areas. The research could help
gain insight on why the response time in some areas may be less
than in others despite the proximity of police stations to scenes
of crime. The research findings would be shared with the police
and they can read people’s suggestions on improvement of
service delivery.
Previous research has focused more on the frequency of crime
in different crimes and the conclusions have been that the

6. income level affects the rate of crime (Bhattacherjee, 2012).
Areas with high levels of unemployment have generally higher
rates of petty crimes and muggings. However, research has not
focused on the relationship between the police and citizens.
There is an information gap on how exactly the nature of
relationship affects service delivery. The research would act as
a stepping-stone for future research on more specific matters
dealing with police and citizens relationship.
Justification for the problem
Previous researches carried out on crime incidents have often
labeled some neighborhoods around cities as unsafe (Bryman,
2004). Some of these suburbs are famous for gang fights and
other ill vices. However, these researches have not gone deeper
to find out why these vices occur in some areas only. No efforts
have been made to find out how the frequency of crime affects
police morale. There is also no information to show how the
existent partnership between civilians and police affects crime.
Finally, as highlighted, the research is helpful and can be
conducted with a small budget.
Teachers comment
I like your topic here and your responses to the questions. I
definitely would try to narrow this question down a bit though
since it has a lot of moving parts to it. I might consider just
using one aspect of the crime - frequency, reporting, or nature.
The reason I say this is because this type of model could be
very inter-related and its easier to speak of just one. I do like
using the average income of the neighborhoods. Given that I
might recommend something that's also at the neighborhood
level - such as frequency of crime. That way its neighborhood
income and frequency of crime in the neighborhood. (use the
borough of the Bronx in NYC) For the rationale I would
definitely use more references. Always keep in mind that the
rationale shouldn't be opinion and more justification based on
past work. One way to prevent this is to reference a lot of your
statements

7. References
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: principles,
methods, and practices.
Bryman, A. (2004). Research methods and organization studies.
London: Taylor & Francis.