Fear of Crime

The Impact of Fear of Crime

The most important factor when examining the impact of fear of crime, is determining whether or not the fear is proportionate to the actual incidence of crime.

Positive Effects

When the fear of crime is proportionate to reality, people are aware of the risks associated with various personal violence offences. This level of fear or concern can encourage good personal safety habits and increased home and property security, thereby minimising the risks of becoming a victim.

Negative Effects

When the fear of crime becomes disproportionate to the reality, the positive effects may swiftly be replaced with a string of devastating effects on a person's lifestyle and quality of life. These effects can include:

Restriction of Lifestyle – fear of crime often causes people to avoid situations and curtail movements, sometimes to the extent that they become reluctant to leave their own home.

Poor Quality of Life – not only as a result of restricting their movements, but many people either avoid previously enjoyed activities in an attempt to ensure personal safety, or undertake the activities without enjoyment due to an overwhelming fear.
c) Increased Stress and Paranoia - caused by belief in imminent danger to personal safety.

Decreased Confidence – fear of crime often decreases a person’s confidence in their surroundings. This lack of confidence is portrayed in their body language which conveys the appearance of an easy victim to offenders, who target vulnerability. Not only does the lack of confidence thereby increase the risk of becoming a victim of personal violence, it also reduces a person’s ability to effectively deal with an attack, as they often lack faith in their ability to stop the attack or escape.

Disempowerment – by constantly feeling at risk of personal violence, a disempowering ‘victim mentality’ is often adopted. This may further decrease a person’s confidence and appearance of vulnerability, increasing their risk of becoming a victim.

Reduced Natural Surveillance – restricted movement in public places increases crime opportunities due to lack of public surveillance. Higher rates of crime lead to (g).

Increasing Financial Costs - not only can this cost be evidenced by the community generally, but also on an individual basis by those people whose fear of crime leads them to turning their home into a fortress.

Extent of Fear of Crime

Whilst the most consistent finding in literature on the fear of crime is that women are more fearful than men, it remains that the effects of fear of crime are wide reaching and cross both gender and age boundaries (Criminology Research Council, 1998, Fear of Crime Campaign.)In 1998, the Criminology Research Council completed a comprehensive fear of crime survey. Some of the major findings include:

• All respondents of the survey (young and old, male and female) saw young people in particular as a source of threat in public places;
  Young women feared sexual assault and young men saw
  themselves as potential targets for assaults and robberies by
  gangs;
• Most people have a general fear about ‘unpredictable strangers’ especially in public places a night;
• Age is an important indicator of perceived risk and worry about crime. Middle-aged respondents perceive themselves at most risk of property crime and worry most about it. While young people see themselves as at greater risk of crimes against the person and have a higher level of worry; and
• Older people may feel more vulnerable but they tend not to place themselves in risky situations.

In 1997, the Roy Morgan Research Centre found that 79% of women surveyed felt unsafe in public places at night, whilst the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey found that 52% of women felt unsafe waiting for public transport alone after dark.

In the recent ‘Women in Brisbane Report’ (1999) compiled by the Brisbane City Council, the most important issue consistently raised by Brisbane women was the concern about personal safety in public places.

Contributing Factors to Fear of Crime

There are a number of factors which may significantly increase the fear of crime in the community, including:

Media Sensationalism - "Bad News Sells".
Incidents of crime often make a good story. Subsequently, the media is quick to report on negative incidents that occur whilst ignoring positive ones (success stories). Thus a perception is often generated that there is a higher risk of encountering crime than what there really is. This is perhaps best highlighted in incidents involving older people, which seem to attract a dramatically disproportionate amount of media coverage to reality of occurrences, thereby significantly increasing the fear of crime of this group.

Continuum of Minor Harassment
Frequent exposure to incidents of minor harassment, e.g. wolf whistles, inappropriate comments, obscene phone calls and unwanted sexual touching, can have a significant effect of people’s perceptions of risk and their levels of fear (Criminology Research Council, 1998, Fear of Crime Campaign).

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Women’s Safety Australia (1996) survey found that in the 12 months previous to the survey: 15% of women had experienced inappropriate comments about body/sex, 15% had received an obscene phone call and 5% had experienced unwanted sexual touching.

Perceptions of Vulnerability
A number of factors may contribute to personal perceptions of vulnerability such as age, gender, perceived physical strength, fear of sexual assault, previous victimisation, etc.

Perceived Loss of Control – through frequent experiences of incivilities.
In his 1995 book Fear of Crime: Interpreting Victimisation, Ferraro established from a literature review that incivility encompassed both physical and social environments.

Physical incivility refers to disorderly surroundings such as litter, abandoned buildings/cars, graffiti, broken/barricaded windows, etc. Whereas social incivility includes disruptive behaviour such as rowdy youths, homeless people, beggars, drunks and inconsiderate neighbours.

These incivilities may, either separately or combined, indirectly heighten fear of crime through giving the impression of a loss of control of the environment and a lack of caring.

Anticipation of Serious Consequences

For both women and men, the seriousness of rape is often perceived as equal in consequence to murder. Subsequently their anticipation of the serious consequences of this type of crime is extremely high.

Similarly some people, especially those who are older, suffering ill-health, physically incapacitated or financially limited, may have high levels of fear generated through their perceived lack of ability to physically and financially recover from a crime incident perpetrated against them.

Strategies to Address a Disproportionate Fear of Crime

A disproportionate fear of crime can severely detract from a person’s health and well-being. It is therefore essential to identify a number of strategies that may reduce this fear, including:

Community Education
It is important to address the underlying reasons behind people’s fear of crime and educate them of the common trends, actual risks and effective personal safety strategies to minimise their chances of becoming a victim. This way the first steps will be taken to ensuring all people enjoy a healthy and positive lifestyle unfettered by unnecessary constraints.
This education could take place through presentations delivered to any community group or forum, including Neighbourhood Watch, Lions, Rotary, sporting groups, etc.

Media Coverage
Media coverage of success stories coupled with the realistic portrayal of personal violence risks will significantly contribute to the reduction of fear. People can support this strategy by advising the media (particularly local papers) of success stories they are aware of, or by making complaints in relation to the unrealistic portrayal of personal violence resulting from particular stories.

Assertive Behaviour
Encouraging community members, friends and family to be assertive and confident will assist in reducing their fear of crime, as well as their risk of becoming a victim of personal violence.

Reinforcement of Personal Strengths
People who experience fear are generally not confident in maintaining their personal safety. By encouraging people to be committed to their personal safety, and reinforcing their personal strengths, such as negotiation skills, physical strength and/or self defence skills, you can assist to increase their confidence and commitment to their safety, and reduce their fear of crime.

Home and Property Security Education
Providing community members with crime prevention information on topics such as home and property security, may alleviate their fear of crime by being aware of, and taking action to address their fear whilst in the home or of having property stolen.