Fear of Crime in South Korea

Abstract

This study provides analyses of data on crime-associated trepidation obtained from surveys administered to college students in South Korea. The survey contained questions about, and the analyses distinguished between, offense-specific fears (fear of burglary and fear of home invasion), perceived risk of victimization (day and night), and crime avoidance behaviors (avoidance of nocturnal activity and avoidance of particular areas). Regression analyses of the data show that victimization was not consistently associated with crime-associated trepidation, while gender significantly impacted all measures of concern about crime. Women were more likely than men to report being fearful, perceiving risk, and crime avoidance behaviors. Building upon prior scholarship (for example, Madriz 1997; Stanko 1989) and considering the social context in which the data were gathered, it is herein suggested that the gendered variation in crime-associated anxiety may reflect patriarchal power relations. The methodological and policy implications of the study are also discussed. KeywordsCrime; fear; gender; perceived threat; victimization; South Korea. Please cite this article as:

Testing the Systemic Model of Social Disorganization Theory in South Korean Neighborhoods: A Latent Class Growth Analysis Approach to Specifying Pathways to Homicide

“…Although, comparatively speaking, South Korea is a safe nation; crime and fear of victimization have become critical issues for citizens and the government during recent times (Brown, 2016a). For example, since 2003, the number of employed private security personnel has grown to outnumber the number of sworn law enforcement offcers (KNPA, 2013).…”

Geographies of night work

“…Third, nocturnal geographical research has focused on issues of crime and safety. Researchers have repeatedly found that fear of crime is higher in cities at night, and higher in spaces which are darker (Brands et al, 2015; Brown, 2016), despite no evidence of direct causal links between lighting levels and crime (Farrington and Welsh, 2002). Research into reductions in street-lighting associated with the move to LED lighting has found no correlation with night-time crime levels (Steinbach et al, 2015).…”

The Effects of Multilayered Disorder Characteristics on Fear of Crime in Korea

“…For instance, females constitute a group typically vulnerable to crime, and tend to have a greater fear of crime than males [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. In this regard, Brown [ 42 ] analyzed fear of crime in Seoul, the capital of Korea, as well as in neighboring metropolitan areas. Brown categorized fear of crime into six types—including fear of home invasion or burglary, perceived risk of victimization during the day or night, and avoidance of nocturnal activity or particular areas due to fear of crime—and determined the factors influencing these types.…”