Fearfulness in the Community: Empirical Assessments of Influential Factors

• Published in: Journal of interpersonal violence 2019-02, Vol.34 (3), p.562-584
• Main Author: Boateng, Francis D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Citizens; Crime; Crime - psychology; Crime prevention; Criminal statistics; Cross-Sectional Studies; Fear; Fear & phobias; Fear - psychology; Fear of crime; Female; Ghana; Humans; Male; Neighborhoods; Police; Predictions; Public safety; Residence Characteristics
• ISSN: 0886-2605; 1552-6518
• DOI: 10.1177/0886260516642295

Fear of crime has been well studied; however, there has yet not been widespread consideration of the potential impact of both individual- and neighborhood-level factors on residents’ level of fear of crime. From a logistic-regression analytical standpoint, the present study empirically explores the contribution of several factors in explaining residents’ propensity for being fearful of crime. Precisely, the study tests the applicability and generalizability of three theoretical perspectives of fear of crime in the Ghanaian context and examines the effects of residents’ attitudes toward the police on their levels of fear of crime. Using large-scale cross-sectional data collected on more than 1,000 residents from 25 neighborhoods in Ghana, the results demonstrate significant predictive effects of both individual- and neighborhood-level factors on citizens’ rate of fearfulness. Findings from this study have both theoretical and practical implications, and provide important insights for the police to reduce levels of fear of crime in the community.