Going Spatial: Applying Egohoods to Fear of Crime Research

Abstract

A central theme in criminology is how fear of crime is influenced by the residential context. Most researchers rely on administrative neighbourhoods to define context. These administrative units do not necessarily align with how inhabitants experience their local surroundings. The present study combines administrative neighbourhoods with a more innovative way to measure context. Using geocoded survey data (N = 14.620) in combination with detailed geographic information system data, we construct egohoods with different radii (ranging from 50 to 750 m). We find that crime, ethnic diversity, economic status, disorder and facilities all have an effect on feelings of unsafety. The contextual effects differ in size and are not detected in all spatial contexts, indicating that it matters how and to which scale data are aggregated.

Feeling Unsafe Among Female Users of Crowded Public Transportation

“…Based on the results obtained from the data above, this is in accordance with research conducted by Glas et al (2019), in his journal which stated that high crime can cause high unsafe feelings felt by a person, especially in women. This insecurity usually occurs in places with high mobility, this causes conditions that are more prone to higher crime and can also cause a high fear of crime.…”

“…The relationship is said to be positive if there is a tendency to experience a joint increase between the two variables (Periantalo, 2016). This is supported by a research study conducted by Glas et al (2019) in their journal stating that a sense of insecurity (feel unsafe) usually occurs in places with high mobility, this condition can result in a condition that tends to be more vulnerable to crime and increases the risk of fear of crime. Thus, the feel unsafe variable and the fear of crime variable have a very positive relationship.…”

Crime Is Down and so Is Fear? Analyzing Resident Perceptions of Neighborhood Unsafety in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

“…It follows that our measure is at best a weak proxy for fear of crime. And although perceived unsafety is empirically related to this concept (see Glas et al, 2019), we should be careful when extrapolating from this measure to the broader concept of fear of crime. A second shortcoming is that this study only examined feelings of unsafety within one municipality.…”