Territorial Behavior and Fear of Crime in the Elderly (A Methodological Review) (From Link Between Crime and the Built Environment, Volume 2, P C483-C488, 1980, by Tetsuro Motoyama et al - See NCJ-79544)

• NCJ Number: 79587
• Author(s): T Motoyama; H Rubenstein; P Hartjens
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 6 pages
• Corporate Author: American Institutes for Research
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche from NCJRS as NCJ-79544.

Annotation

This review assesses A. Patterson's investigation of the effect of one type of territorial behavior--the use of visible territorial markings--on two measures of fear of crime in elderly homeowners: fear of personal assault and fear of property loss.

Abstract

A sample of 157 homeowners over 65 years old were interviewed to determine fear of property loss, fear of assault, and the perception of territoriality. These were analyzed separately in three 2x2x2 analyses of variance designs in conjunction with sex, territorial markers, and living arrangements. The study concluded that (1) males had significantly less fear of being robbed than females, and homeowners who were high in territoriality were significantly less fearful than were homeowners who were low in territoriality; (2) those who lived alone and were low in territoriality were more fearful than those who lived alone and were high in territoriality; (3) males and those in the high territorial marker group perceived themselves as being more territorial about thier homes than did females and those in the low territorial markers group; and (4) the main effect of territorial markers on the perceived territoriality data supports the idea that visible territorial markers are a behavioral aspect of a homeowner's territorial attitudes. Overall, the results for the fear-of-crime data appear to indicate that territorial behavior significantly affected the homeowners' level of fear. The study acknowledges, however, other possible explanations for the data; for example, it is possible that those elderly homeowners who felt enough mastery of their environment to create visible territorial displays would also be those elderly who were not that fearful of being victimized (i.e., those who have remained physically and socially active).