The Victim's Experience and Fear of Crime

Kury, Helmut; Ferdinand, Theodore N.

doi:10.1177/026975809800500201

Cited by 33 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(43 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…There is some suggestion of a link between direct victimisation experience and worry about crime (e.g. Garofalo, 1979;Skogan, 1981;Stafford and Galle, 1984;Covington and Taylor, 1991;McCoy et al, 1996;Kury and Ferdinand, 1998;Rountree, 1998). Yet direct experience of crime seems but a small part of any powerful explanation of the fear of crime.…”

Section: Victimisation and Neighbourhood Perception In Fear Of Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Fear and Public Insecurities About Crime

Jackson

Gray

2009

British Journal of Criminology

202

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Word count: 9,987 (including title, abstract, keywords, references and footnotes) Revise and resubmit: British Journal of Criminology 2 Functional Fear and Public Insecurities about Crime AbstractFear of crime is widely seen as an unqualified social ill, yet might some level of emotional response comprise a natural defence against crime? This paper differentiates between a dysfunctional worry that erodes quality of life and a functional worry that motivates vigilance and routine precaution. A London-based survey shows that one-quarter of those individuals who said they were worried about crime also viewed their worry as something akin to a problem-solving activity: they took precautions; these precautions that made them feel safer; and neither the precautions nor the worries reduced the quality of their lives. Fear of crime can be helpful as well as harmful: some people are both able and willing to convert their concerns into constructive action. [120 words] Key words: Fear of crime; emotion; resilience; neighbourhood disorder 3 'In line with the political interests responsible for the emergence of fear of crime as a major research issue in the 1970s and early 1980s, fear has been treated, almost invariably, in criminological research as an extremely negative aspect of people's lives, as something that adversely affects and greatly diminishes the quality of life. Hardly any attention was given to the positive aspects and positive consequences of fear. There has hardly been any talk about fear as a healthy emotion, as a necessary mechanism of survival, of self-preservation, of avoiding risk and minimizing danger… And yet, if it is true that fear and caution go hand in hand, if prudence is the response to fear, and if it is true that fear leads to lower victimization, then fear might be a positive mobilizing force that could be harnessed to achieve utilitarian goals.' (Fattah, 1993: 66) This analysis was telling some fifteen years ago, and it remains so to this day. Surveys in countries across the world regularly find widespread public anxieties over the threat of crime (Ferraro, 1995;Van Kesteren et al., 2000). Fear of crime might only shadow the actual incidence of crime, but it certainly seems to damage psychological well-being, decrease collective trust and cohesion, and tempt politicians towards populist rhetoric and punitive policy (Skogan, 1986;Hale, 1996;Warr, 2000; Dolan and Peasgood, 2007;Stafford et al., 2007;Jackson and Stafford, 2009). Such is the extent of the problem that governments in a number of different countries seek to reduce fear of crime -presumably wherever it is to be found.Yet might some level of worry about crime be a 'good thing' (Fattah, 1993;Hale, 1996;Warr, 2000; Ditton and Innes, 2005)? For Solomon (2006: 29):'Without fear, we would allow ourselves to be vulnerable to all sorts of dangers, and we would recklessly face lethal situations without hesitation and without a thought of the possible disastrous consequences. ' For Sacco (2005: 138): 'The opposite of fearfulness may...

show abstract

Section: Victimisation and Neighbourhood Perception In Fear Of Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Fear and Public Insecurities About Crime

Jackson

Gray

2009

British Journal of Criminology

202

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…And whereas some, mostly Anglo-Saxon, scholars accentuate the local structuring of the feelings of security -mostly in the form of concerns about the erosion of the common social and moral order of the community (Girling et al, 2000;Jackson, 2004;Taylor et al, 1996;Oberwittler, 2008;Farrall et al, 2009) -some continental European scholars have emphasized broader themes, connecting crime-related feelings of insecurity and broader socioeconomic fears of the future, fears of falling, and ontological insecurity widely conceived (Hirtenlehner, 2006(Hirtenlehner, , 2008Sessar, 1998Sessar, , 2008. For example the steep increase of fear of crime levels in Eastern Germany after the end of communism, at a time of rapid social and economic transformation, may be best explained by this perspective (Boers and Kurz, 2001;Kury and Ferdinand, 1998;Reuband, 1999; for a review of the German, Swiss and Austrian literature on public insecurities about crime, see Gerber and Jackson, 2009).…”

Section: The Social and Cultural Significance Of The Fear Of Crimementioning

confidence: 99%

Social Insecurities and Fear of Crime: A Cross-National Study on the Impact of Welfare State Policies on Crime-related Anxieties

Hummelsheim¹,

Hirtenlehner²,

Jackson³

et al. 2010

European Sociological Review

114

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article assesses the association between national welfare state regimes and public insecurities about crime across Europe. The point of departure is the idea that fear of crime expresses not just insecurities about safety but also broader societal anxieties. A multi-level analysis of respondents in 23 countries sampled in the 2004-05 European Social Survey finds a strong relationship between insecurities about crime and national levels of social expenditure and decommodification of social welfare policy. Some social protection measures seem more effective in preventing fear of crime than others, especially public non-monetary support for children and families which strengthen the individual's capacity to cope with problems on their own. We conclude with the notion that state-level social protections buffer the development of widespread fear of crime by mitigating various social and economic fears.

show abstract

“…As with the public, though, perceptions of one's area as peaceful/noisy and well cared for/run down were particularly closely related to perceptions of crime and disorder. Finally, echoing findings from public surveys (Fletcher and Allen, 2003;Kury and Ferdinand, 1998), there was a close and consistent relationship between victimisation and perceptions, with those who experienced most crime seeing crime problems, especially similar sorts of crime or disorder issues, as particularly salient.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Crime and Disorder: Perceptions of Business People in Cornwall, England

Mawby

2004

International Review of Victimology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While there has, recently, been a spate of research on the victimisation of businesses, rather less research has focused on the perceptions of the business community, and -in contrast to studies of the general public -little emphasis has been placed on explaining variations in concern over crime and disorder. This article uses data from the 2001 Cornwall Business Crime Survey to explore the extent to which business people in a rural county of England perceive crime and disorder to be a problem locally and are concerned at its impact on their businesses.The findings suggest that crime and disorder were not considered the most serious problems facing local businesses, but nevertheless evoked some concern, particularly among a significant minority of respondents. The article then focuses on explaining variations in perceptions and concludes that these can be understood in terms of the nature of the businesses, their location, and the extent to which businesses had experienced crime. These findings largely parallel Hough's (1995) earlier work explaining anxiety among the general public.

show abstract

The Victim's Experience and Fear of Crime

Abstract: With the rapid development of sophisticated victim surveys, the fear of crime has emerged as a fundamental concept in theoretical and practical discourse.

Cited by 33 publications

References 52 publications

Functional Fear and Public Insecurities About Crime

Functional Fear and Public Insecurities About Crime

Social Insecurities and Fear of Crime: A Cross-National Study on the Impact of Welfare State Policies on Crime-related Anxieties

Crime and Disorder: Perceptions of Business People in Cornwall, England

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About