NCJ Number
217163
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 154-162
Date Published
January 2007
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Utilizing British crime data, this study examined the fear of crime and sought to determine the relationship between fear and age.
Abstract
Principal findings indicated that fear of crime (FoC) was reducible to two elements: fear of personal harm (FoPH) and fear of personal loss (FoPL); that trajectories of fear with age described an inverted u-shape and were different for these two crime types; and that fear varied according to self-rated health and signals of disorders. The maximum fear for FoPH and FoPL was identified at 45 years of age and 23 years of age respectively. Generic correlates with both FoPH and FoPL included perceived health, neighborhood litter, and previous victimization. The findings suggested overall, that the burden of fear was greater for property crime than for personal harm. The relationship between age and FoC has long been the subject of controversy. Until recently, elderly people had been regarded as most fearful and young people as relatively fearless. However, some researchers, consistent with official crime statistics that indicated that elderly people were least likely to be victimized, report the opposite: that young people were more fearful than elderly people. Using factor analysis and regression models, this study examined fear of crime and the relationship between fear and age. Tables, figure, and references