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“How safe do you feel in your own neighbourhood?” A closer look at the fear of crime of individuals living in neighbourhoods in Roosendaal.

Vlaskamp, Carmen (2011) “How safe do you feel in your own neighbourhood?” A closer look at the fear of crime of individuals living in neighbourhoods in Roosendaal.

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Abstract:In recent years, fear of crime is increasingly seen and defined as a social problem. More and more people see and recognize it as a problem within and for society. Fear of crime is incompatible with their values, such as safety and liveability, and people worry about the negative consequences of fear of crime for themselves and for society. Yet, fear of crime is not a ‘new’ problem that occurs in today’s society. From the ’70 and ’80 of the previous century, the media reported about this phenomena and the government developed public policies aimed at increasing the sense of security of people. Their main focus was on reducing the crime rates in society, because they saw crime as the explanatory variable of fear of crime. The higher the crime rates, the more insecure people feel themselves. This line of reasoning is now somewhat tempered. Crime is no longer seen as the only explanatory variable that affects the fear of crime of people. Also other variables are seen as a possible cause for the increasing levels of fear of crime in society. In this study – in the form of a case study – is the fear of crime tested of individuals living in the municipality of Roosendaal. There is looked at the role of three possible explanatory variables: personal characteristics, disorder, and crime. The main question in this study is: How can we explain the fear of crime of individuals living in neighbourhoods in Roosendaal with personal characteristics, context characteristics (referring to disorder), and crime? This question is answered based on a literature review and a multilevel linear regression analysis. The variable personal characteristics consist of four personal characteristics: age, gender, income, and nationality. According to the literature, these characteristics affect the sense of security of people. Some persons feel themselves more fearful compared to others in the same situation and/or neighbourhood. This is particularly true for the vulnerability groups in society: the elderly, women, the poorer, and people with a non-Western nationality. These groups have higher levels of fear of crime compared to youngsters, men, wealthier, and people with a Dutch nationality. However, this picture is not entirely consistent to the results of the analyses. The analysis shows that personal characteristics play a minor role in the explanation of fear of crime among individuals living in neighbourhoods in Roosendaal than that the literature suggested. Nationality is the only variable that has a direct effect on fear of crime. Neighbourhoods with a high percentage of people with a non-Western nationality have higher levels of fear of crime among their residents compared to the more indigenous neighbourhoods. The variables age and partly income (seen as high income) have a total effect on fear of crime. These variables affect the level of fear of crime in an indirect way; through immediate steps. The variables gender and income (seen as low income) do not affect the sense of security of individuals. The variable disorder is in this study divided into two forms of disorder: physical disorder and social disorder. According to the literature, both kinds of disorder are negatively related to fear of crime. An increase in disorder leads to higher levels of fear of crime of people. This reasoning is confirmed by the regression model, but there are differences between the role of physical disorder and social disorder. Physical disorder has only a total effect on the fear of crime of individuals, while social disorder has both a direct and total effect on the fear of crime. Social disorder has even the strongest effect on fear of crime. An increase of one unit social disorder will lead to a decrease of .377 unit’s fear of crime. Although the variable crime is seen as an old variable explaining the fear of crime, it still plays an important role in the declaration of fear of crime. The negative relationship between crime and fear of crime is therefore much debated in the literature. According to the literature, people living in neighbourhoods with higher crime rates are more anxious and fearful compared to people living in neighbourhoods with lower crime rates. This reasoning is confirmed by the regression model. An increase of one unit crime will lead to a decrease of .008 unit fear of crime. The variable crime has therefore both a direct effect as a total effect on the level of fear of crime of individuals. Concluded, all variables play a role within the perception-building process of individuals. However, it should be noted that the variables contribute in different degrees to the explanation of fear of crime. The variables social disorder, crime, and nationality play the main role in the process. These variables have all a direct effect on the level of fear of crime of individuals. Although the other variables do not have a direct effect, yet they cannot be forgotten or be subordinated from the model
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/62705
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