Protective Measures and Fear of Crime: Fear Reducing or Fear Reinforcing?

• In Event: Responses to Fear of Crime

Abstract

Protective measures, which include both defensive and avoidance behaviors, are often seen as strategies to reduce both crime and fear of crime. The victimization/vulnerability model of fear of crime suggests that protective measures should reduce fear of crime, however, extant research on this topic is inconclusive. These mixed results may be an artifact of different operationalizations of the concept. Utilizing a 2016 survey of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students, this study will explore the relationship between protective measures and fear of crime. Care will be taken to separate avoidance behaviors (measures taken to avoid the threat of crime) from defensive behaviors (measures taken that involve active defense) in these models. Practical and theoretical implications of the results will be discussed.

Authors

• Sarah Britto, University of Regina

• Dahlia Dawn Stoddart, Prairie View A&M University