This article, which was published in the Journal of Sociology (Vol 41, No 1, March 2005), reports on a study made of the
relative importance of different
attributes when predicting fear of crime. A survey of residents in Brisbane, Australia, provided data for the survey.
The definition and measurement of ‘fear of crime’ has been the subject of debate by different authors. It has variously been considered in terms of feeling of fear directed to crime objects, cognitive judgements and behavioural issues.
There are numerous theories relating to fear of crime, which are mentioned, including vulnerability hypothesis, incivilities thesis and social disorganisation theory. Methods of obtaining empirical evidence were also discussed.
The hypotheses behind the study were that ‘those factors most proximate to fear of crime have the greatest predictive power’; that
neighbourhood disorder would be a less important predictor, and that neighbourhood structure would be the least important.
The survey sample was asked how much they agreed with the statement ‘I feel safe walking around this neighbourhood after dark. A five point scale was used to obtain answers, ranging from a score of 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree. The data obtained were then subjected to correlation and regression analysis.
The sample was 140 residents of the Brisbane City Council area who were aged 18 years or more. This sample was extracted from a larger sample from southeast Queensland who had participated in a 2003 study of the quality of life.
Findings from the study were that the hypotheses were generally supported. Of the individual attribute variables considered, sex was a greater predictor of fear of crime than age. Individual attributes also explained more variation that did neighbourhood variables.
Results of the study also supported the vulnerability hypothesis and incivilities theses, finding them both to be ‘important conceptual frameworks for predicting fear of crime.’