MACRO-MICRO INTEGRATION IN THE STUDY OF VICTIMIZATION - A HIERARCHICAL LOGISTIC MODEL ANALYSIS ACROSS SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOODS

Recent contextual analyses of victimization survey data are extended b y application of hierarchical logistic model techniques. Using a multi stage sample of 5,090 Seattle residents, we estimate models for indivi duals' risks of violent crime and burglary victimization as a function of both individual crime opportunity factors (routine activity and pe rsonal lifestyle) and contextual indicators of neighborhood social dis organization (neighborhood incivilities on conditions of disorder, eth nic heterogeneity, and neighborhood density in terms of both residents and strangers). Strong contextual direct effects of density, disorder , and heterogeneity are observed for violent and/or burglary risks. Fu rther, the hierarchical method used here provides a richer type of con textual analysis, indicating that neighborhood factors also ''conditio n'' the impact of crime opportunity factors for risk of both violent a nd burglary victimization. Implications for theoretical integration, v ictimization prevention strategies, and crime control policies are dis cussed.