More NCJRS Abstracts, March 3, 2007--Fear of Crime Research

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NCJ 217161
Paul Dolan ; Tessa Peasgood
Estimating the Economic and Social Costs of the Fear of Crime
British Journal of Criminology Volume:47 Issue:1 Dated:January 2007 Pages:121 to 132

These losses from the fear of crime, as well as all costs arising from the anticipation of possible victimization are not likely to be stable, and may fluctuate with factors other than the risk of victimization, such as political maneuvering, attention paid to crime in the media, actions of the police and actions of neighbors. They may also vary according to an individual’s physical and psychological health. Tangible costs incurred from anticipating possible crime should include costs incurred from changes in behavior to reduce risk of victimization, such as additional transport expenditures. There are no data available to enable an estimation of the intangible costs from changes in behavior from anticipating future crime. Previous research provided a methodology for estimating the intangible costs (or losses in quality of life) from violent crime. Tables, references

NCJ 217163
Simon Moore ; Jonathan Shepherd
Elements and Prevalence of Fear
British Journal of Criminology Volume:47 Issue:1 Dated:January 2007 Pages:154 to 162

Principal findings indicated that fear of crime (FoC) was reducible to two elements: fear of personal harm (FoPH) and fear of personal loss (FoPL); that trajectories of fear with age described an inverted u-shape and were different for these two crime types; and that fear varied according to self-rated health and signals of disorders. The maximum fear for FoPH and FoPL was identified at 45 years of age and 23 years of age respectively. Generic correlates with both FoPH and FoPL included perceived health, neighborhood litter, and previous victimization. The findings suggested overall, that the burden of fear was greater for property crime than for personal harm. The relationship between age and FoC has long been the subject of controversy. Until recently, elderly people had been regarded as most fearful and young people as relatively fearless. However, some researchers, consistent with official crime statistics that indicated that elderly people were least likely to be victimized, report the opposite: that young people were more fearful than elderly people. Using factor analysis and regression models, this study examined fear of crime and the relationship between fear and age. Tables, figure, and references


NCJ 217061
J. Prinsloo
Impact of Victimization on Fear of Crime
Acta Criminologica Volume:19 Issue:2 Dated:2006 Pages:1 to 17

Generally, all victimization, whether from personal or household crime, contributed substantially toward the victims' subsequent fear of crime; however, the highest levels of fear of crime were expressed by recent victims of burglary and sexual offenses. Sexual offenses as a general category of victimization impacted negatively on the lives of 68 percent of the respondents, who felt unsafe in their residential areas. With the exception of robbery, personal theft, and sexual offenses, more offenses were committed in the victims' homes than in the immediate vicinity of their homes. The study confirmed victims' feelings of vulnerability in their own homes. The assumption that personal-contact victimization would result in higher levels of fear of crime was not confirmed. Being female and living in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods were related to increased fears of vulnerability and victimization. A structured International Crime Victim Survey questionnaire was used for data collection. It was administered to 1,500 individuals in the greater Johannesburg area, which is South Africa's largest city and a high-crime area. The questionnaires were completed between September 13 and November 30, 2004. Respondent characteristics were representative of the population in the area where the survey was conducted. Fifty-three percent of the respondent sample was female, and approximately 66 percent were under 39 years old. Fear of crime was measured by questions related to how safe respondents felt walking alone in their neighborhoods after dark and how safe they felt at home after dark. 6 tables and a 10-item bibliography