ABSTRACT
The fact that some parts of cities suffer much more crime than others is no news to most urban dwellers. Crime is a topic which arouses strong feelings in most people yet is one of which few have direct experience. The victims of crime, like the events themselves and the offenders, are far from randomly distributed in the population. The more successful victimisation surveys, through the exercise of considerable care, have eliminated much of the bias. Differences between areas in attitudes to crime are implicit in most of the classical ecological theories of crime. The community is the respository for the norms of reaction – the rules which mediate the response of a victim to the circumstances of Durkheimian's victimisation. The credibility of complainants and police perceptions of their own role in the community may be influential factors in the recording process and both may vary between communities.
