Testing a Risk Sensitivity Model of Deterrent Fear

• In Event: Sanction Perceptions, Deterrent Emotions, and Criminal Decision-Making

Abstract

Recent research has built on insights from the ‘fear of crime’ literature to suggest that emotional states should be incorporated into standard deterrence frameworks (Pickett, Roche & Pogarsky 2018). In the fear of crime literature, the dominant and most empirically supported model is Jackson’s (2011) extension of Warr’s (1987) “sensitivity to risk” model, which posits that fear of crime is a multiplicative function of perceived likelihood of victimization, severity of victimization, and efficacy (or control) (Jackson 2015; Jackson and Gouseti 2016). Using a sample of American students (n = 959) from a large southwestern university, the current study investigates the applicability of this ‘risk sensitivity model’ to deterrence. Results and applications for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Sean Patrick Roche, Texas State University

• Theodore Wilson, University at Albany, SUNY

• Justin Tyler Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY