Fear of Victimization and Avoidance of Routine Activities: Evidence from Guatemala

• In Event: International and Comparative Perspectives on Punishment, Social Control, and Crime

Abstract

This project investigates how fear of victimization influences the avoidance of routine activities in Guatemala, where public safety concerns remain pervasive. While routine activities structure everyday life and shape work, school, transportation, leisure, and social engagement, fear of crime can restrict participation in these essential behaviors and functions as a form of indirect victimization. Drawing on the Encuesta Nacional de Percepción de Seguridad Pública y Victimización from 2018, a nationally representative survey of 17,784 households, this study examines whether fear shapes withdrawal from specific spaces, activities, and behaviors, and whether these effects differ across sex and ethnicity. Guided by routine activities theory, which links exposure, guardianship, and vulnerability to victimization risk, the analysis situates fear within everyday social contexts and emphasizes its behavioral consequences. Avoidance behaviors are measured across nineteen routine activities, with fear, prior victimization, neighborhood disorder, sex, and Indigenous identity serving as key predictors. Interaction models will evaluate whether fear has a stronger impact on vulnerable groups while accounting for age, urban residence, household size, and education. This study advances understanding of the social and behavioral effects of fear and demonstrates how fear of victimization influences everyday activities, participation, and overall quality of life.

Author

• Keyla Navarrete, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater