NCJ Number
194548
Journal
International Review of Victimology Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 159-181
Date Published
2001
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the results of research into the effect of gender on fear of crime victimization using Swedish data and hierarchical linear modeling software.
Abstract
The authors explore gender differences in fear levels of crime victimization and also the environmental characteristics that invoke differing levels of fear in women and in men. Prior research regarding fear of crime found that those groups least likely to be victimized had the highest fear of victimization and that women in general had a much higher fear of victimization than did men. The authors reviewed several theories to explain this gender gap, including the vulnerability theory. Hierarchical linear modeling software (HLM) was used to analyze the data and to model perceived fear and actual risk of victimization among a randomly selected sample of 4,993 Stockholm residents. The data consisted of responses to a mailed questionnaire distributed in the summer of 1995. Fear levels were subject to two measures, the first was the perception of security and the second was feelings of anxiousness among subject participants. The research findings showed that men’s fear and risk vulnerability was a personal issue while for women the relationships were more a function of the woman’s environment. 2 notes, 39 references, 5 tables