NCJ Number
130341
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 217-239
Date Published
1991
Length
23 pages
Annotation
The relationship between property and personal victimization experience and fear of crime is examined through multi-item measures of fear and crime seriousness.
Abstract
Data was collected between August and November 1984 from questionnaires mailed to a 3,109 randomly selected sample of adults from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles Registration lists. Data analysis revealed that fear of crime at the individual level is tied to property victimization. Victims of violent crime seem to express higher levels of fear only when they have also experienced property victimization. These results support the social vulnerability hypothesis which claims that social background characteristics noted for age, gender, and education levels affect expressed fear of crime. Another important issue concerns the manner in which the type of criminal victimization experience is related to the level of expressed fear. This study stresses the importance of incorporating measures of victimization at the individual level for violent crime and at the household level for property crime. Knowledge of the offender and situation and the difference between objective conditions and subjective interpretation of these conditions should also be considered in future research into the antecedents of fear of crime. 1 note and 29 references (Author abstract modified)