NCJ Number
120176
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1988) Pages: 183-189
Date Published
1988
Length
7 pages
Annotation
To reduce fear of crime among the public in general is currently considered to be an independent goal of police activities.
Abstract
Intervention strategies aimed at fear reduction derive from either a "crime-centered" approach or a "quality of life" approach. Crime-centered models emphasize crime-related neighborhood problems as constituting a major determinant of fear of crime. In the quality of life approach the hypothesis is that non-crime problems in a neighborhood are the main determinants. In this article the validity of both points of view is tested. It turned out that neither a pure quality of life model nor a purely crime-centered model could provide an adequate explanation for the data observed. Both models prove to be invalid. These empirical results demand an integrated model predicated on a "crime-centered plus" kind of approach to fear of crime. Toward the end implications of this model are discussed relative to police performance. 2 tables, 1 figure, 13 references. (Publisher abstract)