Patterns of Aggravated Assault in Public Housing

Abstract

Little empirical research has been conducted on violence against women in public housing settings. This two-city study looks at rates of aggravated assault against public housing residents, both on and off public housing property, in an effort to probe possible links between this setting and the risk of falling victim to personal violence. In both cities it was found that Black female residents of public housing were at much higher risk of aggravated assault compared with Black and White women living elsewhere in the same jurisdiction. However, the geographic pattern for aggravated assaults for Black female public housing residents differed markedly in the two cities studied. Using situational crime prevention as the point of departure, the authors ascribe the differences in victimization patterns to the different architectural design and geographic dispersion of the respective cities' public housing developments. One city's developments offer less privacy and accessibility, thus discouraging would-be assailants.