Is Fear of Crime Mainly Social and Economic Insecurity in Disguise? A Multilevel Multinational Analysis

ABSTRACT Using the 2006 Eurobarometer data (representative sample of the European population, N=16306,27countries),weperformed amultilevel analysisaimed at predicting fear ofcrime.A significant pro-portion of the variation in fear of crime was at country level. Of the individual predictors included,being a woman, being poorly educated, being unemployed, and being an urban dweller showedpositive relations with fear of crime. Fear was highest among people who considered themselvesto be socially marginal, among people with negative expectations regarding themselves and theircountry’s future, and among people who considered their nation’s welfare system to be unsatisfac-tory. Among the ecological predictors we took into consideration, nations’ degree of economicinequality and low expenditure on education and on social protection showed a positive associationwith fear of crime, whereas the crime, immigration, and employment rates did not. Implications andlimitations of this research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key words: fearofcrime;economicinsecurity;socialinsecurity;socialmarginality;multilevelanalysis

[1]  A. Vieno,et al.  Predicting Perceived Risk of Crime: a Multilevel Study , 2011, American journal of community psychology.

[2]  A. Vieno,et al.  Perceived community disorder moderates the relation between victimization and fear of crime , 2011 .

[3]  H. Hirtenlehner,et al.  Social Insecurities and Fear of Crime: A Cross-National Study on the Impact of Welfare State Policies on Crime-related Anxieties , 2011 .

[4]  Patrick Sturgis,et al.  DO NEIGHBORHOODS GENERATE FEAR OF CRIME? AN EMPIRICAL TEST USING THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY* , 2011 .

[5]  H. P. Dalen,et al.  What drives retirement income worries in Europe? A multilevel analysis , 2010, European journal of ageing.

[6]  P. Wilcox,et al.  School disorder, victimization, and general v. place-specific student avoidance , 2010 .

[7]  John R. Hipp.  RESIDENT PERCEPTIONS OF CRIME AND DISORDER: HOW MUCH IS “BIAS”, AND HOW MUCH IS SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENCES?* , 2010 .

[8]  Douglas D. Perkins,et al.  Social capital, safety concerns, parenting, and early adolescents' antisocial behavior , 2010 .

[9]  Tomeu Vidal,et al.  Perceived insecurity in the public space: personal, social and environmental variables , 2010 .

[10]  M. Montero.  Why a Special Section About Community Psychology and Politics , 2009, American journal of community psychology.

[11]  P. Carrington,et al.  The Neighbourhood Context of Urban Aboriginal Crime , 2008 .

[12]  Noelle E. Fearn,et al.  A Multilevel Analysis of the Vulnerability, Disorder, and Social Integration Models of Fear of Crime , 2008 .

[13]  Caterina G. Roman,et al.  Fear of walking outdoors. A multilevel ecologic analysis of crime and disorder. , 2008, American journal of preventive medicine.

[14]  Brian R. Wyant.  Multilevel Impacts of Perceived Incivilities and Perceptions of Crime Risk on Fear of Crime , 2008 .

[15]  G. Mythen,et al.  How Scared are We , 2007 .

[16]  David C. May,et al.  AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE “THREAT OF VICTIMIZATION:” CONSIDERING FEAR OF CRIME, PERCEIVED RISK, AVOIDANCE, AND DEFENSIVE BEHAVIORS , 2007 .

[17]  Kristin M. Ferguson,et al.  Modeling Fear of Crime in Dallas Neighborhoods , 2007 .

[18]  Douglas D. Perkins,et al.  Community types and mental health: a multilevel study of local environmental stress and coping , 2007, American journal of community psychology.

[19]  Carles Muntaner,et al.  Welfare state matters: a typological multilevel analysis of wealthy countries. , 2007, Health policy.

[20]  M. Marmot,et al.  Association between fear of crime and mental health and physical functioning. , 2007, American journal of public health.

[21]  S. Raudenbush,et al.  Seeing Disorder: Neighborhood Stigma and the Social Construction of “Broken Windows” , 2004 .

[22]  Nicole E. Rader.  THE THREAT OF VICTIMIZATION: A THEORETICAL RECONCEPTUALIZATION OF FEAR OF CRIME , 2004 .

[23]  Renato Miceli,et al.  Fear of Crime in Italy , 2004 .

[24]  J. Jackson.  Experience and Expression: Social and Cultural Significance in the Fear of Crime , 2004 .

[25]  D. Dian,et al.  Use of Protection Motivation Theory to Assess Fear of Crime in Rural Areas , 2003 .

[26]  M. Lindström,et al.  Social capital and sense of insecurity in the neighbourhood: a population-based multilevel analysis in Malmö, Sweden. , 2003, Social science & medicine.

[27]  C. Pantazis,et al.  'Fear of Crime', Vulnerability and Poverty. Evidence from the British Crime Survey , 2000 .

[28]  C. Pantazis,et al.  ’Fear of Crime’, Vulnerability and Poverty , 2000 .

[29]  D. Lupton,et al.  Theorizing fear of crime: beyond the rational/irrational opposition. , 1999, The British journal of sociology.

[30]  F. Füredi.  Culture of Fear: Risk-Taking and the Morality of Low Expectation , 1997 .

[31]  David Garland,et al.  THE LIMITS OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE Strategies of Crime Control in Contemporary Society , 1996 .

[32]  W. Greenberg,et al.  Moving into the Neighborhood: Preparing Residents to Participate in a Primary Care Environment , 1996, Harvard review of psychiatry.

[33]  Ralph B. Taylor,et al.  Ecological assessments of community disorder: Their relationship to fear of crime and theoretical implications , 1996, American journal of community psychology.

[34]  C. Hale,et al.  Fear of Crime: A Review of the Literature1 , 1996 .

[35]  Wesley G. Skogan,et al.  Crime and the Racial Fears of White Americans , 1995 .

[36]  Ralph B. Taylor.  The Impact of Crime on Communities , 1995 .

[37]  K. Ferraro,et al.  Fear of Crime: Interpreting Victimization Risk , 1995 .

[38]  D. Austin,et al.  Crime and safety-related concerns in a small community , 1994 .

[39]  H Roberts,et al.  Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity , 1994 .

[40]  Ralph B. Taylor,et al.  Community Structural Change and Fear of Crime , 1993 .

[41]  K. Ferraro,et al.  Perceived Risk and Fear of Crime: Role of Social and Physical Incivilities , 1992 .

[42]  Wesley G. Skogan,et al.  Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Neighborhoods , 1992 .

[43]  S. Shumaker,et al.  Local crime as a natural hazard: Implications for understanding the relationship between disorder and fear of crime , 1990, American journal of community psychology.

[44]  Seymour Sudman,et al.  Secondary Analysis of Survey Data , 1985 .

[45]  Tim Hope,et al.  Introduction: Risk, insecurity and the politics of law and order , 2012 .

[46]  Anna Barker,et al.  Fear of Crime and Insecurity , 2011 .

[47]  Jock S. Young.  Moral Panic Its Origins in Resistance, Ressentiment and the Translation of Fantasy into Reality , 2009 .

[48]  Paul Dolan,et al.  ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COSTS OF THE FEAR OF CRIME , 2007 .

[49]  J. Gill.  Hierarchical Linear Models , 2005 .

[50]  M. Roccato,et al.  A predictive model for psychological reactions to crime in Italy: an analysis of fear of crime and concern about crime as a social problem , 2005 .

[51]  Zygmunt Bauman,et al.  In Search of Politics , 1999 .

[52]  David A. Anderson,et al.  The Aggregate Burden of Crime , 1999 .

[53]  Carrie R. Leana.  The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism , 1998 .

[54]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Health psychology: what is an unhealthy environment and how does it get under the skin? , 1997, Annual review of psychology.

[55]  J. L. Goff.  Medieval Civilization, 400-1500 , 1988 .

[56]  John Braithwaite,et al.  Inequality, crime, and public policy , 1979 .

[57]  A. Hunter.  Persistence of Local Sentiments in Mass Society , 1977 .