Trailer Parks as Hotbeds of Crime: Fact or Fiction?

Abstract

Studies of how physical environments contribute to crime are both numerous and revered. Relative to these studies is the perception that subsidized public housing (housing reserved for low income residents) has been viewed as being disproportionately criminogenic. Researchers, however, have historically ignored other housing types frequented by low income residents, but not normally subsidized through public programs. This research examined crime frequencies and patterns in both subsidized public housing units and trailer parks, and compared both locations to income-similar residential areas. Findings indicate that trailer parks are not “hotbeds of crime” are actually lower in some types of crime than their subsidized low-income housing counterparts.
Keywords: public housing and crime, trailer parks, calls for service, low income housing, subsidized housing.