Threatened by Violence

Abstract

Stranger violence can have a variety of different physical, psychological, social, and economic effects on the victim. In this article, we address one possible impact, namely, a heightened sense of uncertainty, risk, and fear of violent crime. Drawing on recent advances in the psychology of risk, we make three contributions. First, we differentiate in our analysis between primary experience of violence (where the individual in question has been attacked by a stranger in the local streets) and secondary experience of violence (where the individual knows somebody who has been attacked in the local streets by a stranger). Second, we assess whether risk perception (beliefs about the likelihood, impact, and controllability of future victimization) mediates the empirical links between primary and secondary experience of violence and worry about violent crime. Finally, we examine whether victimization experience seems to have a greater impact on risk perception and worry among people with a high need for cognitive closure (who are averse to uncertainty and desire order and structure in their lives). Our findings indicate a number of potentially important mediating and moderating effects regarding the impact of stranger violence on fear of violent crime. We conclude with some implications for research and policy.

Living under threat: psychosocial effects on victims of terrorism

“…This finding seems to be consistent with other research in the sense that fear of social threats and distress (i.e. when the individual is threatened with physical assault) is greater when people believe the situation is uncontrollable (Ehlers & Clark, 2000;Jackson & Gouseti, 2015;Steptoe, 2007). Herzenstein, Horsky, and Posavac (2015) suggest that perceived control over becoming a victim (whether real or illusory) may act as a positive mechanism in the sense that the person can continue living regularly within a threatening context, because he/she feels has some influence over the events in one's life.…”

Would I be helped? Cross-national CCTV footage shows that intervention is the norm in public conflicts.

“…Our data supports a rapprochement between these views: While the copresence of more people may increase the opportunities for conflictual interactions, additional numbers conjointly offer more opportunities for bystander intervention. Second, this latter point offers an alternative picture to the common public association between the "unknown other" and "stranger danger" (Hale, 1996;Jackson & Gouseti, 2016). Finally, for policing strategies, our results indicate that groups are willing to "self-police" (Reicher et al, 2007) conflicts, and as such, bystanders are an unharnessed crime preventive resource for informally regulating violence prior to the arrival of the police.…”

Would I be Helped? Cross-National CCTV Footage Shows That Intervention Is the Norm in Public Conflicts

“…Our data supports a rapprochement between these views: While the co-presence of more people may increase the opportunities for conflictual interactions, additional numbers conjointly offer more opportunities for bystander intervention. Second, this latter point offers an alternative picture to the common public association between the 'unknown other' and 'stranger danger' (Hale, 1996;Jackson & Gouseti, 2016). Finally, for policing strategies, our results indicate that groups are willing to 'self-police' (Reicher et al, 2007) conflicts, and as such, bystanders are an unharnessed crime preventive resource for informally regulating violence prior to the arrival of the police.…”