Fear of Victimization: A Look at the Proximate Causes

Warr, Mark; Stafford, Mark C.

doi:10.2307/2578277

Cited by 201 publications

(139 citation statements)

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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%

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

101

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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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Section: Perceived Risk and Emotional Responsesmentioning

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

101

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“…Further, past studies generally focus on fear of crime rather than risk. Where perceived risk refers specifically to the expected chance of victimization, fear conflates both perceived risk of becoming a victim and the perceived consequences of victimization (Warr and Stafford 1983; Rountree and Land 1996). Because perceived risk avoids the subjective evaluation of consequences, this measure can be meaningfully compared with rates of crime victimization.…”

Section: The Basis Of Risk Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Risk

Quillian¹,

Pager

2010

Soc Psychol Q

146

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This paper considers the process by which individuals estimate the risk of adverse events, with particular attention to the social context in which risk estimates are formed. We compare subjective probability estimates of crime victimization to actual victimization experiences among respondents from the 1994 to 2002 waves of the Survey of Economic Expectations (Dominitz and Manski 2002). Using zip code identifiers, we then match these survey data to local area characteristics from the census. The results show that: (1) the risk of criminal victimization is significantly overestimated relative to actual rates of victimization or other negative events; (2) neighborhood racial composition is strongly associated with perceived risk of victimization, whereas actual victimization risk is driven by nonracial neighborhood characteristics; and (3) white respondents appear more strongly affected by racial composition than nonwhites in forming their estimates of risk. We argue these results support a model of stereotype amplification in the formation of risk estimates. Implications for persistent racial inequality are considered.

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“…Finally, although our research employed a measure of fear of crime that was based on the work of Ferraro and LaGrange (1987), the aforementioned discussion about the debate over the conceptualization and measurement of fear of crime is applicable to the present study. For example, we did not capture the full array of criminal offenses in our measure that have been employed in some studies (e.g., Ferraro 1996; LaGrange and Ferraro 1989; Warr and Strafford 1983). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

racial/ethnic variation in the relationship between physical limitation and fear of crime: an examination of mediating and moderating factors

2009

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This study has four objectives. First, we confirm the previously observed association between physical limitations and fear of crime. Second, we assess the role of age in this relationship. Third, we identify factors that mediate this relationship. Fourth, we assess whether this relationship is observed across racial/ethnic groups. Adjusting for perceptions of personal control and disability-related stigma reduces the magnitude of this relationship to non-significance for black and white respondents, but not for Hispanics. Also, we find that age is inversely related to fear of crime for blacks and whites.

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Fear of Victimization: A Look at the Proximate Causes

Cited by 201 publications

References 0 publications

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

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

Estimating Risk

racial/ethnic variation in the relationship between physical limitation and fear of crime: an examination of mediating and moderating factors

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