Although crime rates dramatically declined during the 1990s, recent statistics indicated more than one third of the U.S. population continued to be afraid of areas within one mile of their home. Statistics such as this imply spatial dependence, but the importance of space in statistical analyses of fear of crime has remained relatively underexplored. The current study contributes to research on fear of crime by assessing the importance of crime rates in nearby neighborhood areas in addition to conventional individual- and neighborhood-level predictors of fear of criminal victimization. Results indicate that individuals who lived near neighborhoods that featured higher rates of violent crime were more likely to report being afraid of violent crime, but that the influence of violent crime rates in nearby neighborhoods was lessened after other features of their home neighborhood were controlled. In particular, the results highlight the importance of neighborhood communities as a protective factor against fear of crime.

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The term “prison–industrial complex” is used to describe a network of individuals, organizations, and social institutions involved with the incarceration of millions of Americans. This term began to be used in the 1970s as a consequence of several public policies, including the “war on drugs” and the “Three Strikes and You're Out” rule. The individuals, organizations, and social institutions involved in the prison–industrial complex include law enforcement officials, courts, and correctional facilities, but also include under‐resourced schools, private corporations, and state and local governments. The prison–industrial complex is a multibillion‐dollar industry that often harms instead of helps efforts to protect individual rights and to maintain public safety and order.

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Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and prison reformer. He is mainly known for his principle of utilitarianism, which assesses actions of others based upon their consequences. Bentham believed that all matters at issue were to be determined or dictated rigorously on the basis of how consequences influenced general utility. He produced works that contributed to a variety of topical areas, including criminology, criminal justice, and political science. Each of his works was at the intersection of politics and humanity, and many still have influence in policy today. Bentham's philosophy and writings have had a large influence on criminal justice systems across the globe.