Different Measures of Vulnerability in their Relation to Different Dimensions of Fear of Crime

Abstract

Over many years, fear of crime was seen as a function of media exposure, or as a consequence of neighbourhood characteristics and-direct or indirect-exposure to crime. Drawing on the work by Skogan and Maxfield (1981), who first introduced vulnerability as a theoretical concept in this context, as well as on research on fear in different (e.g. military) contexts, the first author presented a theoretical model focusing on vulnerability as a key concept in the genesis of fear of crime (Killias 1990(Killias , 1991. This model distinguishes between, on one hand, personal, social and situational aspects of vulnerability, such as gender or age, living in certain areas, and neighbourhood characteristics (Vrij and Winkel 1991), and, on the other hand, several dimensions of threats, i.e. the probability of crime, the seriousness of feared consequences ('how bad will it be') and the feeling of having no control (Bandura 1986;Goffman 1973) over the likelihood of (criminal) events, nor their outcome (seriousness). This model uses nine cells of different combinations between the several dimensions of vulnerability and fear of crime. Since it has been able to integrate much research data on fear of crime in the streets, it has been discussed and somewhat enlarged in theoretical (Hale 1996;Alimam 1993;Schwarzenegger 1991), as well as in empirical research. Of particular interest in this context are:-the British Crime Survey of 1994 and 1998, where physical size, health condition and confidence in self-defence abilities were found to be correlated with worries about violent crime (Hough 1995(Hough , 1996; Mirrlees-Black and Allen 1998); almost identical 437 * School of Forensic Science and Criminology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. The authors would like to thank Corinne Brignoli, student of forensic science at University of Lausanne, for help with updating this paper's documentation. They also appreciate the valuable suggestions by two anonymous reviewers who encouraged them to amplify certain methodological aspects.

The Psychology of Fear of Crime. Conceptual and Methodological Perspectives

“….erraro 1995), (b) vulnerability (e.g. Killias 1990;Killias and Clerici 2000;Warr 1984) and (c) experience of crime (Hale 1996:103ff;Winkel 1998). …”

How Safe is Your Neighborhood? Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Functional Decline in Older Adults

“…[6][7][8][9] Perception of safety and neighborhood characteristics appear to be particularly important among older adults. For instance, reported neighborhood deterioration is associated with poor self-rated health in older adults 1 and older adults are more likely to report feeling unsafe than younger adults, [10][11][12] despite being less likely to be victims of crime. 13 For older adults, perception of poor neighborhood safety can negatively affect health.…”

Fear of crime, gender differences in risk perception

“…Да би показали степен утицаја различитих облика рањивости на страх од криминала, научници су испитивали деловање бројних фактора: пола, узраста, расне припадности, образовања, брачног статуса, материјалног стања. Уопштено би се налази ових истраживања могли уопштити кроз тврдњу да особе које се осећају способним да пруже отпор физичком, друштвеном и/или економском угрожавању исказују мањи ниво страха од криминала од оних који процењују да немају капацитете за самозаштиту (Killias, Clerici, 2000).…”

“…Индивидуалне карактеристике које у највећој мери кореспондирају са рањивошћу јесу пол и старост. Међутим, истраживачи укључују и друге "мере рањивости" као што су телесни хендикеп, физичка кондиција, степен самопоуздања (Killias, Clerici, 2000).…”