Impact of Victimization on Fear of Crime

• NCJ Number: 217061
• Journal: Acta Criminologica Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: 2006 Pages: 1-17
• Author(s): J. Prinsloo
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: South Africa
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Annotation

This South African study analyzed the impact of recent criminal victimization on victims' perceptions of their vulnerability and their subsequent fear of crime.

Abstract

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