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The Effect of Neighborhood Recorded Crime on Fear: Does Neighborhood Social Context Matter?

  • Original Article
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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

A number of individual and neighborhood-level factors may influence the relationship between recorded crime in one’s neighborhood and fear of crime. Understanding these factors may assist in reducing fear, which has been associated with poorer physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the effect of recorded crime rates on fear differs based on the neighborhood social context (social fragmentation) using hierarchical regression modelling, with separate analyses by crime type. Recorded crimes (2008–2010) and national (New Zealand) survey data were used. Higher crime in a neighborhood was associated with higher fear of crime, with only small effect size differences in feelings of fear by recorded type of crime. However, when stratified, the associations between violent and drug/alcohol crimes and fear of crime were larger for those living in highly fragmented neighborhoods compared with less fragmented neighborhoods. Efforts to alleviate fear of crime should focus on the broader neighborhood social context in which these feelings are espoused.

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Acknowledgments

Access to the data used in this study was provided by Statistics New Zealand under conditions designed to give effect to the security and confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act of 1975. The results presented in this study are the work of the authors, not Statistics New Zealand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Michigan State University, 673 Auditorium Road, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Amber L. Pearson

  2. Department of Geography, University of South Africa, Florida Campus, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1701, South Africa

    Gregory Breetzke

  3. Department of Public Health, University of Otago, 23A Mein Street, Wellington, 6242, New Zealand

    Amber L. Pearson & Vivienne Ivory

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  1. Amber L. Pearson
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  2. Gregory Breetzke
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  3. Vivienne Ivory
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Correspondence to Amber L. Pearson.

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Pearson, A.L., Breetzke, G. & Ivory, V. The Effect of Neighborhood Recorded Crime on Fear: Does Neighborhood Social Context Matter?. Am J Community Psychol 56, 170–179 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9741-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9741-z

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