Perceived Risk of Victimization: A Race Interaction Model

Brandy Ethridge, Ohio State University

Previous research argues that the impact of both macro-sociological and micro-sociological factors affect residents' perceived risk of victimization in their neighborhoods. Rarely however has the literature examined residents' perceived risk of victimization in their local downtown and at two times, day and night. Even more infrequent are race interaction models proposed and tested to demonstrate differences in the predictors of varied perceived risk for African American and White respondents in these four situations. Using data from the 2002 Columbus Citizen Satisfaction Survey, 2000 U.S. Census for Columbus, and 2000 UCR Type I Columbus crime rates, this study presents the results from a multiple regression model. Results show that there is a racial disparity in both the both macro-and micro-sociological factors affecting perceived risk of victimization for Columbus. Suggestions for policies targeted at these factors are provided.