Safety Perceptions in Rural Areas

Abstract

In this chapter, we adopt the overarching concept of “safety” to bring together the meaning of fear (of crime) and overall anxiety, as documented in the international literature and as expressed by those living in areas on the rural-urban continuum. Surveys and interviews of crime victims are often the basis for this type of research. Although victimization is influenced by gender and other individual characteristics, research has shown that it is the intersection of individual characteristics and other situational circunstances that determines an individual’s vulnerability to crime and fear of crime.