This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by SASSON, T. Articles by NELSON, M. K. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

DANGER, COMMUNITY, AND THE MEANING OF CRIME WATCH

An Analysis of the Discourses of African American and White Participants

MARGARET K. NELSON

This article compares the meaning of neighborhood crime watch for White and African American participants. Both Whites and African Americans from crime watch groups to improve security and enhance neighborhood solidarity. They seek to accomplish these goals by becoming the "eyes and ears of the police." African Americans, however, also form crime watch groups to restore the roles of "othermothers" and "old heads." This race-based difference in the meaning of crime watch stems from differences in perceptions of danger and memories of what community was like in the past.

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 25, No. 2, 171-200 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/089124196025002001


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Lane Fear of Gang Crime: A Qualitative Examination of the Four Perspectives Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, November 1, 2002; 39(4): 437 - 471. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. HERBERT Policing the Contemporary City:: Fixing Broken Windows or Shoring Up Neo-Liberalism? Theoretical Criminology, November 1, 2001; 5(4): 445 - 466. [Abstract] [PDF]