NCJ Number
112562
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Based on a 1986 telephone survey of Kentucky residents, this study concludes that self-help crime precaution measures do little to reduce the level of fear of being victimized.
Abstract
Telephone surveys were conducted with a random sample of adults from 376 households interviewed at two points in time 6 months apart. Respondents touched by crime within 6 months before the first interview were considered crime victims. Most residents felt safe in their own neighborhoods during the day, but only 31 percent felt very safe in the neighborhood at night. The survey showed that crime victims had a significantly higher level of fear than nonvictims. About the same number of crime victims and nonvictims initiated self-help precautionary measures in collaboration with formal crime prevention programs such as Neighborhood Watch and Operation Identification (ID). While the same proportion in both groups took informal precautions such as asking a neighbor to watch their house, more victims than nonvictims reported using deadbolt locks and Operation ID. The survey revealed that, compared to nonvictims and other victims, crime victims using self-help prevention measures were no less fearful up to 1 year after being victimized. Tables.