RESIDENTS AND BURGLARS ASSESSMENT OF BURGLARY RISK FROM DEFENSIBLE SPACE CUES

This study investigates the relation between defensible space features and residents' perceptions of burglary risk. A modified Brunswik lens model is used to compare the results with those in Macdonald and Giff ord's (1989) study of burglars' perceptions. Photographs of single-fam ily dwellings were assessed on 55 individual defensible space cues and six cue categories. Fifty community residents reliably rated the phot ographs on perceived vulnerability to burglary. Residents rated houses with greater road and occupant's surveillability as less vulnerable t o burglary and houses with more actual barriers as more vulnerable. Sy mbolic barriers, traces of occupancy, and house value were not correla ted with residents' vulnerability ratings. Overall, residents' and bur glars' perceptions of vulnerability were correlated by 0.68. Implicati ons for defensible space theory are discussed.