Crime and health: a preliminary study into the effects of crime on the mental health of UK university students

Abstract

In this paper we report on the findings from a preliminary study in the UK into the effects of crime on health. The aim of the study was to investigate what victims of crime report to be the effects of both actual crime and the fear of crime on their physical and psychological health (as well as social well-being) and what actions they take (if any) to deal with these effects. A survey method was adopted using a modified version of the 'Health, Quality of Life and Crime Questionnaire' with 866 undergraduate student respondents from three UK universities. University students were selected as the sample population because, as a group, they form a specific 'victim community'. Conclusions extrapolated from the respondents' replies were first, there are serious negative health effects (particularly on psychological health) of a considerable minority of those students who are victims of crime. Second, the vast majority of the victims did not initiate any health intervention. Third, a large minority of the victims did not report the crime to the police. Fourth, a majority of both victims and non-victims suffered psychological negative effects from the fear of crime. Fifth, there is a huge gender imbalance among those affected by crime with female students much more fearful of crime than men. Moreover, female students were much more likely to use specific strategies to lower the risk of crime. These conclusions suggest that there may be important policy implications for universities, the police, victim support organizations and mental health services, regarding the effects of crime on students. This study is intended as a preliminary stage for subsequent in-depth and larger projects.

Income inequality and fear of crime across the European region

“…Although happiness and life satisfaction tap into separate components theoretically, they seem to have similar correlates with fear of crime and in fact have been found to be highly correlated empirically in data from the European Social Survey (for example, Swift et al, 2014). Previous studies have consistently shown that fear of crime is negatively associated with the components of subjective well-being (Hanslmaier, 2013; Michalos and Zumbo, 2000; Moore, 2006; Morrall et al, 2010). …”

Increased Employment for Segregated Roma May Improve Their Health: Outcomes of a Public–Private Partnership Project

“…Informants expected better well-being and health to result from increased employability; in particular, a more stable income, improvement of precarious housing, crime reduction, improvement of hygienic standards, improvement of access to prevention, and improvement of mental resilience. All of these factors have previously been shown to have a positive impact on well-being and health [32,33,34,35,36].…”

Unhealthy fear: Influence of general health on fear of crime

“…Persons who are fearful of victimization report greater distress, particularly depression and anxiety (Norris & Kaniasty, 1994), and are less likely to participate in healthy behaviors, such as walking, and more likely to participate in unhealthy stress-related ones, such as smoking (Pearson & Breetzke, 2014;Ross, 1993). Such effects are not limited to those who have been victimized, but are also observed in nonvictims (Morrall, Marshall, Pattison, & MacDonald, 2010).…”