ABSTRACT
Criminological theory and research point to the community context as an important factor influencing individuals' offending and risk of victimisation (e.g. Kornhauser 1978; Sampson and Groves 1989; Bottoms and Wiles 1997; Wikström 1998). The basic idea is that community structural characteristics (e.g. population mix) affect the conditions for social life and control (e.g. through levels of social cohesion and residents' social and economic resources) and that this, in turn, has some bearing on people's behaviour, including offending.
