Social Correlates of Perceptions of Neighborhood Crime Problems and Fear of Victimization

• NCJ Number: 82430
• Author(s): Y J Kim
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 86 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0057
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Northwestern University
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This is internal working paper M-2A from the Reactions to Crime Project.

Annotation

Correlates of factor scales are constructed from the factors identified as dimensions of fear of crime in an earlier study.

Abstract

The earlier study identified the dimensions of fear of crime through a factor analysis of 20 items initially designed to measure this concept (Baumer, 1976). The final solution resulted in the identification of three basic dimensions. The first involved items which measured the extent to which various nuisances or crimes were seen to be a neighborhood problem, tentatively termed 'perceptions of the criminal environment' or 'fear of area.' The second was identified by items which measured fear of personal attack. The final factor tapped fear of loss of property of fear of burglary. This paper discusses the nature and construction of factor scales in the opening section, followed by the two-part major section of the paper. The first part treats the three fear scales as dependent variables while the second part treats them as independent variables. Since the second section examines only bivariate relationships, the final section presents several preliminary attempts at a multivariate analysis of the data. Generally, the findings are presented with no discussion or explanation of findings. Tabular and graphic data are provided. (Author summary modified)