NCJ Number
136965
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1992) Pages: 215-224
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Fear of crime has been both a concern and a focus of considerable research over the past 2 decades, and this study attempts to add to the extant research by examining the relation among concrete fear, formless fear, and several sociodemographic variables using a national Canadian sample of 9,870 respondents aged 15 years and over.
Abstract
Concrete fear was measured with a question on how respondents rated the chances of certain events happening to them in the future: deliberate damage to household or personal belongings, theft of household or personal belongings, and assault or threat of assault. Formless fear was measured with a question on how respondents felt about walking alone in the neighborhood during the day or after dark. Independent variables included sex, locale, age, income, dwelling, own/rent status, education, and marital status. In general, respondents most likely to believe they would be victimized by theft or property damage were female, young urban dwellers with more income and education. Respondents anticipating assault were likely to be female, young urban dwellers and single. Those most likely to admit being fearful of the neighborhood, particularly at night, were female, older residents of urban areas who had less income and education. Additional research is recommended to identify other causal factors of fear of crime and its negative effect in the urban milieu. 31 references and 1 table (Author abstract modified)