QUESTION: ARE THOSE MEMBERS OF OUR SOCIETY WHO ARE THE MOST FEARFUL OF CRIME ALSO THE MOST LIKELY TO BECOME THE VICTIMS OF CRIME? DISCUSS.

Question: Are those members of our society who are the most fearful of crime also the most likely to become the victims of crime? Discuss.

Victims of Crime

One could contend that worry of misdeed is an conclusion of victimization. The worry we dropped as a outcome of being victims of misdeed may make us stop undertakings in which we would commonly engage. For demonstration, persons may conclude that exact localities in the community represent too numerous dangers for job, recreation, or shopping. People numerous seem compelled to spend monies for shielding goods, monies that they could have expended to enhance other facets of their inhabits other than on security. Fear can outcome from either direct or digressive victimization. An demonstration of direct ( genuine ) victimization would be worry of misdeed that persons know-how due to having been genuine victims of crime. Baumer ( 1978 : 258 ) accepts the ”ripple effect” that vicarious victimization has on people. This occurs whwn worry of misdeed disperses as a outcome of hearing about other's lawless individual victimization. It is accepted that worry which outcomes from digressive victimization is more widespread, as this is the more probable pattern of victimization ( Elias, 1986; Riger & Gordon, 1981 ; Skogan & Maxfield, 1981 ). Moriarty ( 1988 ) accept the vicarious environment of victimization when she discovered that 12 per hundred of her study sample's worry of misdeed was clarified by their seen worry of misdeed grade of spouses, other family constituents, best associates, co-workers, organizational co-members, and neighbors. One can resolve from these outcome that attitudes of ”significant others”are significant in forming individuals'attitudes. For demonstration, if one perceives”significant others”to be fearful about misdeed, then the one-by-one might furthermore evolve these identical fears.

 

How Pervasive Is the Fear of Crime?

Fear of misdeed is an component of everyday life in American society. The stage to which it lives has been assessed by numerous studies. According to a 1975 Harris sample, 55 per hundred of the mature individuals answering to the misdeed review described that they were apprehensive when conversing in their own neighborhoods ( glimpse Research & Forecasts Inc., 1980 ). Ia a subsequent sample ( Gallup, 1981 ) investigators discovered that 45 per hundred of the experiment was aghast to stroll solely at evening while Garofalo, in a 1977 study, discovered that 45 per hundred of his experiment restricted their undertakings because of the worry of crime. In another study undertook all through the state of Michigan alike outcomes were discovered when it was very resolute that 66 per hundred of the respondents bypassed what they seen as high - misdeed localities because of their worry of crime. In a texas study, Teske and Powell ( 1978 : 19 ) analyzed worry of misdeed on the cornerstone of grave versus non - grave misdeed and discovered that more than 50 per hundred of ...