Fear of Crime

Measurement and Findings

Fear of crime is typically measured through telephone surveys and written questionnaires. Subjects are asked about how safe they feel at home when alone, whether they feel safe when walking in their neighborhoods or on local streets, and how afraid they are of particular crimes.

According to hundreds of studies, fear of crime often emanates from actual criminal victimization, particularly when the victimization is perceived by the victim as serious. Victims of crime often report[Page 310] higher levels of fear than non-victims. Studies show that being afraid of any physical harm predicts fear of crime, and that being afraid of certain types of crimes such as random violence, gun violence, and gang violence, predict fear of crime reasonably well.

Fear of crime also arises from exposure to accounts of crime in the media, which is not surprising given that most media crime reports focus on violent, random, and even bizarre crimes. Fear of crime also can stem from hearing about victimizations of friends and family members; this is created by what is called “vicarious victimization.” Finally, fear of crime can also be preceded by a perception of crime risk, that is, a person perceives she will actually be a victim of crime and thus becomes afraid, but the emotional state of fear does not require a rational, evaluative judgment that crime victimization will actually occur. For example, a person may become afraid of being a victim of a mugging while walking on an isolated and dark stretch of desert road, even though being alone means a person cannot become a crime victim.

Fear of crime is generally higher among women than men, and among the elderly than among the young. This holds true even though the relative risk of criminal victimization for women and older people is less than that for men and younger people. Fear of crime is also thought to be higher in people who earn low incomes, who attain low educational achievement, and in people who consider themselves to be relatively powerless.

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