Social Psychology and the Fear of Crime

Abstract

Research and theorizing about the fear of crime has, in the main, been dominated by researchers who have relied upon sociological or socio-demographic variables to account for variations in fear levels. Whilst this body of work has contributed greatly to our understanding of the fear of crime, we are still far from a full understanding of this important and most corrosive aspect of contemporary society. This article re-examines what is currently just about the only social psychological model of the fear of crime. By incorporating social psychological and socio-demographic variables, the authors are able to account for approximately one third of the variance of the fear of crime.