Property crime victims' decision to notify the police: social, cognitive, and affective determinants.
Previous research suggests that 3 general processes underlie the decision of property crime victims to notify the police: One that is cognitively driven by reward/cost considerations, one that is affectively driven, and another that is socially driven. This study is the first to employ a community sample of crime victims to compare the 3 processes within a single study. Computer-assisted interviews were conducted with 422 property crime victims (n = 129 burglary, n = 293 theft) located via a random digit dialing procedure. Logistic regression analyses showed that each process independently accounted for a significant amount of the variance in victim reporting, and that there were no interactions among the three processes in predicting reporting. Of the 3 processes, social influence was the best predictor of reporting. Analysis of the affect-driven process showed that reporting was primarily a function of the level of fear rather than anger or the level of generalized arousal upon discovering the crime.
Greenberg
Martin S
MS
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA. greenber+@pitt.edu
Beach
Scott R
SR
D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016495:Police / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013800:Theft / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States