Differential Perceptions of Fear of Crime among College Students: The Race Factor

• In Event: School- and Campus-Based Fear of Victimization

Abstract

Despite the rising crime rates on U.S. university campuses, few empirical studies – both quantitative and qualitative – have examined the rate of fearfulness among college students, and explored how students’ fear of victimization are developed. More problematic is the lack of race-fear of crime research on campus. The present analysis supplements previous efforts by exploring racial effects on college students’ feelings of fearfulness, as well as determines the influence of individual characteristics on white and nonwhite students’ fear of crime. Using a cross-sectional data from a large public university in the northwest of U.S, results show that nonwhite students have the greatest level of fear of crime on campus than their white counterparts. This observation was made a both the bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis. Moreover, gender and perceived police effectiveness also influenced students’ levels of fear of crime. The effects were true for both white and nonwhite students. Practical implications for the findings are discussed.

Authors

• Nana Serwaa Adjekum-Boateng, University of Minnesota Crookston

• Francis Danso Boateng, University of Minnesota Crookston