Fear of Crime

Fear of crime is an indirect form of victimization and a serious social problem that is related to, but distinct from, crime itself. It is an emotional response that may be a reaction to personal victimization, witnessing a crime, or being exposed to images of crime and victimization (e.g., through television). Fear of crime is a multidimensional concept that until fairly recently did not receive a great deal of attention from the research community. Recent theoretical advances into the causes of fear of crime suggest that fear can ...