NCJ Number
67801
Date Published
1980
Length
15 pages
Annotation
CONSIDERABLE AMOUNTS OF CAREFUL RESEARCH INDICATE THAT CROWDING IS NOT GENERALLY STRESSFUL, IT DOES NOT PRODUCE MENTAL DISTURBANCES, AND IT IS NOT A CAUSE OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
Abstract
PSYCHOLOGISTS AND SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE ASSUMED THAT CROWDING HAD NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON PEOPLE SINCE WORK BY BIOLOGISTS APPEARED TO SHOW THAT CROWDING WAS BAD FOR OTHER ANIMALS. YET REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH DISCOUNTS THIS NOTION. EVIDENCE FROM LARGE-SCALE STUDIES INDICATES NO CONSISTENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANY MEASURE OF DENSITY AND CRIME OR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY FOR HUMANS. A FEW STUDIES HAVE REPORTED SMALL ASSOCIATIONS, BUT THE MAJORITY HAVE NOT; AND THOSE THAT DID FIND APPRECIABLE CORRELATIONS ON ONE MEASURE, GENERALLY FAILED TO FIND THEM ON ANOTHER. THIS LINE OF RESEARCH SUGGESTS EITHER THAT DENSITY PER SE IS UNRELATED TO CRIME RATE, OR THAT THE RELATIONSHIP IS SO SMALL OR SO COMPLEX AS TO BE UNIMPORTANT FOR MOST PURPOSES. FURTHER RESEARCH SHOWS THAT LIVING IN A CITY OR UNDER ANY OTHER CONDITIONS OF HIGH DENSITY IS NO WORSE THAN LIVING IN RURAL AREAS OR UNDER LOW DENSITY. PEOPLE IN CITIES ARE AS HEALTHY PHYSICALLY AND SUFFER FROM NO HIGHER RATES OF MENTAL ILLNESS THAN PEOPLE LIVING IN SMALLER, LESS DENSELY POPULATED COMMUNITIES. HIGH DENSITY APPEARS TO BE NEUTRAL--IT INTENSIFIES REACTIONS, AND THESE CAN BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE. ALL OF THE RESEARCH INDICATES THAT PEOPLE DO BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY, USUALLY MORE INTENSELY, (ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY CRIMINALLY) UNDER HIGH DENSITY. THUS FURTHER RESEARCH MIGHT AIM TO IDENTIFY THAT PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL, WITH SPECIFIED CHARACTERISTICS, WHO, IN A CERTAIN STAGE OF LIFE, IS LEAST LIKELY TO BE CRIMINAL BUT MAXIMALLY PRODUCTIVE. DETERMINING THE KIND OF HOUSING, LEVEL OF DENSITY, AND KIND OF COMMUNITY THAT IS BEST FOR THIS INDIVIDUAL IN TERMS OF FACILITATING PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND GENERAL HEALTH IS ANOTHER RESEARCH OBJECTIVE. TWENTY-SIX REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (MHP)