NCJ Number
104179
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 77 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1986) Pages: 151-189
Date Published
1986
Length
39 pages
Annotation
A test of three causal models of fear of crime used data from six Atlanta neighborhoods and confirmed earlier studies showing actual crime rates to be only loosely related to fear of crime.
Abstract
The indirect victimization model focuses on the vulnerability of individuals and the impacts of their local social ties. The perceived disorder model argues that fear results both from crime and from seeing signs of physical and social decay. The community concern model builds on the disorder perspective by arguing that the decay causes people to become concerned about the continued viability of their neighborhood and the quality of their neighbors. The three pairs of neighborhoods in the study were matched on racial composition and economic status. Door-to-door interviews conducted in 1980 produced responses from 523 adults selected via a stratified, single-stage sample of households. Data also came from 1978 crime records and official information on housing characteristics and other aspects of land use. All the models predicted significant portions of outcome variance, but the results did not support all the hypotheses of any model. Social class and demographic characteristics were the strongest predictors of fear responses. Residents' perceptions of their local conditions also affected their fear. Further research should focus on the relationships between fear and issues like neighborhood change. Figures, tables, and 63 footnotes.