Impact of Crime Tolerance in Low-Income Housing on Neighbor Cohesion and Collective Efficacy

This article focuses on determining the impact that resident crime tolerance in public housing has on other factors that predict perceptions of residents' ability to work together to address crime and call the police. Survey participants (n = 387) were recruited through door-to-door knocking in 2 redeveloping public housing neighborhoods. Study measures were validated with factor analysis before developing a structural equation model. Perceptions of neighborhood problems, neighbor cohesion, and organizational collective efficacy predict collective efficacy: working together against crime and/or calling the police. Two crime tolerance variables covary, but do not have a direct impact on their perception of their ability to address crime or call the police.