Objectives

This study aims to examine the association between security cameras in public spaces in Japan with residents’ perceived neighborhood social cohesion and trust.

Methods

The present study used a postal questionnaire mailed to randomly sampled residents aged 20 and 74 years, residing in Ichikawa City, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Data from 618 respondents in 39 neighborhoods were used. We used the instrumental variable method in our analyses to strengthen our causal inference. Using probit models, we examined the association between instrumented security camera awareness and perceived neighborhood social cohesion and trust.

Results

Security camera awareness was negatively related to perceived neighborhood cohesion and positively associated with trust in others.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated the potential causal relationship between security cameras and perceptions of communal society; i.e., a positive effect on trust in others and a negative effect on perceived social cohesion. These findings suggest the importance of considering positive and negative social aspects when implementing security camera policies.

中文翻译：

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安全摄像头为社会提供了什么？日本公共场所摄像头对感知邻里凝聚力和信任的影响

目标

本研究旨在探讨日本公共场所的安全摄像头与居民感知的社区社会凝聚力和信任之间的关系。

方法

本研究使用邮寄问卷邮寄给居住在日本千叶县市川市的 20 岁和 74 岁的随机抽样居民。使用了来自 39 个社区的 618 名受访者的数据。我们在分析中使用了工具变量法来加强我们的因果推理。使用概率模型，我们检查了仪器安全摄像头意识与感知的社区社会凝聚力和信任之间的关联。

结果

安全摄像头意识与感知的社区凝聚力呈负相关，与对他人的信任呈正相关。

结论

这项研究证明了安全摄像头与社区社会观念之间的潜在因果关系；即，对他人的信任产生积极影响，对感知到的社会凝聚力产生消极影响。这些发现表明在实施安全摄像头政策时考虑积极和消极社会方面的重要性。