Abstract
Research on fear of crime has been primarily quantitative, focused mostly on "fear," "crime," and "disorder." Little work has investigated alternative reactions, including "safety," when crime/disorder are prevalent. With the purpose of exploring reactions to crime and underlying processes, this study applies a grounded theory approach to in-depth interviews and field observations with a group of 69 disadvantaged urban residents, randomly selected from a sample of Chicago welfare recipients. Results suggest that fear, absent in neighborhoods with incivilities and in many violent areas, is not the prevalent response to local crime/disorder; "cues" other than crime/disorder trigger fears; fear may not be of crime/disorder; and neighborhood problems elicit precautions, which neither influence fear nor "paralyze" respondents. The processes underlying these reactions are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 779-812 |
Number of pages | 34 |
Journal | Criminology |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2003 |
Keywords
- Crime, Disorder and Incivilities
- Fear of crime
- Inner-city residents
- Urban neighborhoods
- Welfare recipients
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Law