Perceived Risk versus Fear of Crime: Empirical Evidence of Conceptually Distinct Reactions in Survey Data

Rountree, Pamela Wilcox; Land, Kenneth C.

doi:10.2307/2580354

Cited by 316 publications

(329 citation statements)

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“…Socio-demographic variables. Consistent with Amerio and Roccato (2005), Hipp (2010), Miceli et al (2004) and Rountree and Land (1996), female gender, a lower education level, and older age predicted fear of crime at the county level. Thus, consistent with Pantazis (2000), these socio-demographic may be considered as proxies for social and physical vulnerability when it comes to crime.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Predicting Perceived Risk of Crime: a Multilevel Study

Russo

Roccato

Vieno

2010

American Journal of Community Psychology

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With a sample of Italians selected from 71 Italian counties (N = 1,868), we performed two multilevel analyses aimed at predicting the perceived risk of crime at local (i.e., in the participants' county of residence) and at societal (i.e., in the context of Italian society) levels. A significant proportion of the variation in local risk perception was at the county level. The following individual variables predicted higher levels of this variable: indirect victimization, the perception of social and physical disorder, being a woman, being poorly educated, and being an older person. Among the ecological predictors, the crime rate and unemployment rate predicted higher levels of local crime risk perception, while the immigrant rate did not. Perceived risk of crime at the societal level did not show significant variation at the county level. Education, being a man, trusting people, and adhesion to post-materialistic values predicted lower levels of societal crime risk perception, while number of sons/daughters and exposure to television news increased it. The limitations and possible development of this study are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Predicting Perceived Risk of Crime: a Multilevel Study

Russo

Roccato

Vieno

2010

American Journal of Community Psychology

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“…At the same time, there may not always be a clear subjective separation between the two for individuals. Studies that have directly compared perceived risk and the emotional dimensions of fear have been inconsistent in their findings, but have generally found that they are never perfectly, and rarely very strongly, correlated; [80][81][82][83][84][85] these findings are reviewed by Chadee et al 85 The strength of the association between perceived risk and emotional responses has been found to vary substantially depending on demographic variables such as gender and on the specific crime types investigated. 81,83,86 Perceived risk and emotion have not always been clearly separated in the research.…”

Section: Perceived Risk and Emotional Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…149,[189][190][191][192][193][194] The association of perceived disorder with affective measures of fear has been found to be weaker than its association with perceived risk, 84,190 although other findings indicate that the link between the physical environment and fear of crime persists even when perceived risk is controlled for. 149 Perceived disorder has also been found to correlate more strongly with fear of property crime than with fear of personal crime; this has been hypothesised to relate to the more 'patterned and predictable' nature of the former.…”

Section: Built Environment Social Environment and Fear Of Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

Crime, fear of crime and mental health: synthesis of theory and systematic reviews of interventions and qualitative evidence

Lorenc

Petticrew

Whitehead

et al. 2014

Public Health Research

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BackgroundCrime and fear of crime may impact negatively on health and well-being. Interventions to reduce crime and fear of crime, particularly interventions in the physical environment, may be a promising way to improve population-level well-being.Project components(1) Mapping review of theories and pathways; (2) systematic review of effectiveness; (3) systematic review of UK qualitative data; and (4) focus groups and interviews with stakeholders.Methods(1) The mapping review was a pragmatic non-systematic review focusing on theoretical literature and observational quantitative studies and development of a theoretical model of pathways. (2 and 3) The systematic reviews followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidance. In total, 18 databases including EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Science Citation Index were searched from inception to 2010. Studies presenting data on the built environment and the fear of crime were included. Quality assessment was conducted. Data synthesis was conducted narratively for the intervention review, with harvest plots to synthesise data on inequalities, and by thematic analysis for the review of qualitative evidence. (4) Semistructured interviews with nine stakeholders working in community safety and two focus groups with members of the public were conducted to inform the methods of the project and the dissemination of findings. Data were analysed thematically.Results(1) There are complex and often indirect links between crime, fear of crime, environment, and health and well-being at both individual and population levels. Fear of crime is associated with poorer health outcomes. There is considerable debate about the measurement of fear of crime. Both fear of crime and crime are associated with a range of environmental factors. (2) A total of 12,093 references were screened on abstract for the two systematic reviews. Of these, 47 effectiveness studies (22 controlled and 25 uncontrolled) were included in the systematic review of effectiveness, with 36 conducted in the UK, 10 in the USA and one in the Netherlands. There is some evidence that home security improvements and non-crime-related environmental improvements may improve some fear of crime outcomes. There is little evidence that the following reduce fear of crime: street lighting improvements, closed-circuit television, multicomponent environmental crime prevention programmes or regeneration programmes. The evidence on housing improvement is mixed. Very few data on the health and well-being outcomes of crime reduction interventions were located and the study quality overall is poor. (3) A total of 39 studies were included in the systematic review of qualitative data. Several factors in the physical environment are perceived to impact on fear of crime. However, factors in the local social environment appear to be more important as drivers of fear of crime. There is considerable evidence for limitations on physical activity as a result of fear of crime, but less for mental health impacts. (4) Stakeholders see fear of crime as harder to address than crime and as linked to health and well-being. Environmental interventions, such as Secured by Design, are widely used and positively regarded.LimitationsThe review is relatively restricted in its scope and a number of relevant interventions and themes are excluded. The underlying evidence base is of limited quality, particularly for the effectiveness review, and is heterogeneous.ConclusionsBroader social interventions appear more promising than crime-focused environmental interventions as a means of improving fear of crime, health and well-being. The qualitative evidence suggests that fear of crime may impact on physical activity. More broadly, crime and fear of crime appear to be linked to health and well-being mainly as aspects of socioeconomic disadvantage. This review indicates the following gaps in the literature: evaluation research on the health impacts of crime reduction interventions; more robust research on interventions to reduce fear of crime; systematic reviews of non-environmental interventions to reduce fear of crime and systematic reviews of qualitative evidence on other crime-related topics.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme.

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“…For example, criminologists have found a positive (LaGrange and Ferraro, 1989), negative (Rountree and Land, 1996), or nonexistent (Hraba et al, 1998;Mesch, 2000) relationship between perceived risk of criminal victimization and age. Additional studies on public risk perceptions of natural disasters, automobile accidents, cancer and other risks also show that the relationship between age and risk perception is mixed.…”

Section: Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Risk Perceptions of Handgun Use in the United States

Tyler

Sadiq

2017

Journal of Social Sciences

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This study explores public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns and the influence of demographics on individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns. Data were collected from a nationally representative online survey of 2,008 individuals in the United States. The results indicate that the public views other people's use of handguns as highly risky (3.6 on a scale of 1 to 5). This result is not particularly interesting by itself, but when analyzing individuals' risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns along various demographics, interesting insights emerge. Specifically, the results indicate that women and minority groups, as well as older and more educated individuals have a significantly higher risk perception of other people's use of handguns. A better understanding of public risk perceptions of other people's use of handguns can provide critical insights needed to design appropriate gun safety policies.

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Perceived Risk versus Fear of Crime: Empirical Evidence of Conceptually Distinct Reactions in Survey Data

Cited by 316 publications

References 0 publications

Predicting Perceived Risk of Crime: a Multilevel Study

Predicting Perceived Risk of Crime: a Multilevel Study

Crime, fear of crime and mental health: synthesis of theory and systematic reviews of interventions and qualitative evidence

Public Risk Perceptions of Handgun Use in the United States

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