"Safety Looks Like the Bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs": Exploring How Diverse Stakeholders Conceptualize Community Safety

• In Event: Community and School Safety: Meanings and Methods for Enhancing Feelings of Safety

Abstract

A broader conversation about the meaning of safety, who benefits from current conceptualizations, and who should have a role in setting safety-related priorities is needed to develop and sustain innovative methods for enhancing safety and measuring progress toward this goal. Drawing on interviews with more than 60 individuals, we use thematic analysis to explore how people define community safety, who benefits from current conceptualizations, and perceived avenues for change. People interviewed represent criminal justice system actors, system-involved individuals, and representatives from local community organizations in three US counties (Missoula, St. Louis, and Mecklenburg). We find that while most people view safety as freedom from harm, there is variability in the factors that contribute to this. Moreover, few individuals see current conceptualizations of safety that are narrowly focused on crime as benefitting the community. The people we spoke with desire individual, collective, and institutional action to generate meaningful change, but they identify barriers that must be overcome to realize this goal.

Authors

• Lee Slocum, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Claire Greene, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Sarah Kirk, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Robert David Boxerman, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Andrea Giuffre, California State University, San Bernardino

• Konstantina Spanoudakis, University of Missouri - St. Louis