NCJ Number
151970
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 357-381
Date Published
1994
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study compared the fear of crime among inhabitants of Belize City and Newark, New Jersey, to examine cultural correlates that affect the level of fear.
Abstract
Thirteen exogenous predictor variables were grouped into three conceptual clusters (victimization, community concern and social disorder, and subcultural diversity). The findings showed that this model was effective in constructing a transcultural explanatory model of fear of crime. Age, gender, and victimization experience variables were significant predictors of fear of crime, as were variables indicating level of public misbehavior, personal attitudes toward the police, and crime victimization variables. Finally, ethnicity played a significant role in determining level of fear of crime among respondents from both cities. Therefore, although more respondents in Newark expressed a fear of crime than those in Belize City, the process by which fear of crime is determined was similar for both samples. 1 figure, 5 tables, 17 notes, and 65 references