The effects of organizational factors on citizen participation in community crime prevention programs in Japan

Abstract

Structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling were used to examine the effects of citizen participation in crime prevention programs and fear of crime among residents in Japan. The democratic and efficient management of the programs by citizen leaders, and their adequate support by the police, were found to increase the commitment of residents to crime prevention activities. Further, a sense of personal control over the neighborhood was found to mediate much more of the amount of the impact of these organizational factors on the commitment of residents to crime prevention activities than was the perceived social cohesion of the neighborhood. By contrast, perceived social cohesion was found to significantly decrease the fear of crime among residents, although it did not mediate a substantial amount of the alleviating effects of support by police on the fear of crime. The cross-cultural and policy implications are discussed.