Public Attitudes to Crime: Findings of the Zurich Victim Survey (From Victims and Criminal Justice, P 681-730, 1991, Gunther Kaiser, Helmut Kury, and Hans-Jorg Albrecht, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 159287
• Author(s): C Schwarzenegger
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 50 pages
• Sale Source: Max-Planck-Institute Fur Auslandisches und Internationales Strafrecht
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Germany (Unified)

Annotation

This article describes the methodology and findings of the 1987 Zurich Victim Survey, which gathered information about public attitudes toward crime and fear of crime in Zurich, Switzerland and received 1,420 completed questionnaires for a response rate of 47.3 percent.

Abstract

Results revealed that 45 percent of the population in the Canton of Zurich experiences fear of violent crimes when walking alone in the neighborhood. They feel much less anxious about violent crime than at night. Approximately one-third feel fearful "sometimes", "most of the time", or "always" about being burglarized. Analysis of the affective and cognitive attitudinal components supported the basic assumptions of the learning model used in the study. Direct and indirect victimization experiences were important in determining the cognitive evaluation of crime. The most important factor influencing fear of crime was the respondent's sex. The impact of age on fear of crime varied according to the item under study and did not have clear correlations as some of the literature implies. Implications for further research and the model used in the study are discussed. Figures, tables, and 99 references