Super-Cocooning Against Property Crime: Do Visual Primes Affect Support and Does Race Matter

Hunter M. Boehme () and Brandon Tregle
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Hunter M. Boehme: Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Brandon Tregle: Excellence in Policing and Public Safety Program (EPPS), Joseph F. Rice School of Law, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: American citizens are significantly more likely to experience property crime victimization than violent crime victimization. During a staffing crisis, police prioritize limited resources in combating serious crime; however, property crimes remain impactful to the community. Therefore, agencies need to consider innovative ways to control property crime, such as “super-cocooning” strategies that alert residents to recent offenses. These strategies intend to empower the community to implement guardianship and crime prevention measures. For these strategies to be effective, they require public buy-in and support. The present study implements a preregistered information provision survey experiment (N = 2412), similar to the strategy of super-cocooning, to assess whether the public is more likely to support such strategies to combat property crime. Although the sample held overall high support of this strategy, exposure to a super-cocooning door hanger prime produced no significant changes in perceived effectiveness. However, there was observed racial heterogeneity in the treatments: non-White respondents assigned to the treatment relative to White respondents experienced significantly increased support of super-cocooning strategies. Implications for light-footprint crime control strategies, particularly during a staffing crisis, are discussed.

Keywords: super-cocooning; crime prevention; police effectiveness; public opinion; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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