Correlates of Residentsa Response to Crime in Nigerian Cities

The paper examines the socio economic attributes of residents (SEC); building and environmental features (BEF), residential crime magnitude, fear of crime events, fear of neighbourhood and households’ safety measures in Ibadan, Zaria and Owerri with a view to establish a relationship between them. Four indices were developed. These are ‘Residential Crime Magnitude’ (RCM), ‘Fear of Crime Events Index’ (FCEI), ‘Fear of Neighbourhood’ (FNI) and ‘Household Safety Measures Index’ (HSMI). The study observed a significant relationship between low attributes of BEF, low attributes of SEC, low attributes of RCM and low attributes of HSMI, low attributes of FNI and low attributes of FCEI. Among SEC, BEF and RCM, BEF was identified as the strongest dependent variable informing residents’ response to crime. Thus any meaningful intervention at crime control must first begin with decision on building and environmental features that discourages crime incidence and reduces fear of crime.