Violence in the vicinity: the mental health impacts of nearby crime

Abstract Crime leads to a range of adverse outcomes for those who live nearby, and a common hypothesis is that this relationship is mediated by mental health. However, little is known about how the mental health of local residents is affected when an incident of violent crime occurs in their vicinity. To address this question, we pair granular crime data with uniquely detailed panel data on individual stress levels, both from one of England's largest police force areas during the years 2010–2017. We find that local violent crime leads to an immediate and significant increase in residents' stress levels. We observe that this effect is strongest when the respondent is at home, and lasts approximately one week. Effects are predominantly driven by female respondents and those who live in urban areas. We conclude that policies considering the total cost of crime—and conversely, crime prevention—should consider the adverse local mental health impacts of violent crime.