2269556
Fear of crime and the environment: systematic review of UK qualitative evidence
BackgroundThe fear of crime may have negative consequences for health and wellbeing. It is influenced by factors in the physical and social environment. This study aimed to review and synthesize qualitative evidence from the UK on fear of crime and the environment.MethodsEighteen databases were searched, including crime, health and social science databases. Qualitative studies conducted in the UK which presented data on fear of crime and the environment were included. Quality was assessed using Hawker et al.’s framework. Data were synthesized thematically.ResultsA total of 40 studies were included in the review. Several factors in the physical environment are perceived to impact on fear of crime, including visibility and signs of neglect. However, factors in the local social environment appear to be more important as drivers of fear of crime, including social networks and familiarity. Broader social factors appear to be of limited relevance. There is considerable evidence for limitations on physical activity as a result of fear of crime, but less for mental health impacts.ConclusionsFear of crime represents a complex set of responses to the environment. It may play a role in mediating environmental impacts on health and wellbeing.
72431282
The impacts of crime on health and health services: A literature review
Crime poses substantial risks to the health of victims and, consequently, generates additional demand for health services. This literature review examines the current state of knowledge and understanding of the impacts of crime on physical and psychological health; responses to the needs of victims by health workers and other professionals; and resulting costs to health services. The review concludes by identifying issues for research, policy and practice.
205083887
Crime, fear of crime, environment, and mental health and wellbeing: mapping review of theories and causal pathways.
This paper presents the findings from a review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the links between crime and fear of crime, the social and built environment, and health and wellbeing. A pragmatic approach was employed, with iterative stages of searching and synthesis. This produced a holistic causal framework of pathways to guide future research. The framework emphasises that crime and fear of crime may have substantial impacts on wellbeing, but the pathways are often highly indirect, mediated by environmental factors, difficult to disentangle and not always in the expected direction. The built environment, for example, may affect health via its impacts on health behaviours; via its effects on crime and fear of crime; or via the social environment. The framework also helps to identify unexpected factors which may affect intervention success, such as the risk of adverse effects from crime prevention interventions as a result of raising awareness of crime.
46300117
Association between fear of crime and mental health and physical functioning.
OBJECTIVES
Studies have reported an inverse association between fear of crime and subjective mental and physical health. We investigated the direction of causality and the curtailment of physical and social activities as a possible mediating pathway.


METHODS
We analyzed data from 2002 to 2004 of the Whitehall II study, a longitudinal study of more than 10 000 London-based civil servants aged 35 to 55 years at baseline.


RESULTS
Fear of crime was associated with poorer mental health, reduced physical functioning on objective and subjective indicators, and lower quality of life. Participants reporting greater fear were 1.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.55, 2.41) times as likely to have depression as those reporting lower fear of crime and had lower mental health scores (0.9 points on the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 36; 95% CI=0.4, 1.3). They exercised less, saw friends less often, and participated in fewer social activities compared with the less fearful participants. Curtailed physical and social activities helped explain the link between fear of crime and health.


CONCLUSIONS
Fear of crime may be a barrier to participation in health-promoting physical and social activities. Public health practitioners should support fear-reduction initiatives.
146132184
Fear of Crime: A Review of the Literature1
The literature on fear of crime has grown rapidly in the last three decades. This paper examines the reasons for this growth and attempts to put some structure on the work to date. The inadequacies of measures of fear of crime are discussed and alternative approaches suggested. Alternative explanatory theories are compared and strategies for reducing fear reviewed.
21344202
Appraising the Evidence: Reviewing Disparate Data Systematically
The authors describe a method of systematically reviewing research from different paradigms. They draw on the methods adapted, developed, and designed during a study concerned with the delivery of care across professional boundaries. Informed by the established method of systematic review, the authors undertook the review in distinct stages. They describe the methods developed for each stage and outline the difficulties encountered, the solutions devised, and the appraisal tools developed. Although many of the problems encountered were related to the critical assessment of qualitative research, the authors argue that the method of systematic review can be adapted for use with different data and across disciplines.
145610852
WOMEN AND THE ‘FEAR OF CRIME’Challenging the Accepted Stereotype
Professional empirically generated survey data about the fear of crime persistently indicate relatively small but statistically significant differences between fear rates expressed by men and women. Such differences are contrasted with objective crime victimization risk ratios; regularly magnified by amateur surveys; and have been ossified as stereotypes by the media. Subsequently, all women are believed to be fearful of crime; and all men fearless. The research reported herein encountered, paradoxically, fearful men and fearless women. A dissection of their qualitatively garnered feelings indicates, in a very provisional way, the general conditions under which crime-related fears are reduced and enhanced.
152695658
Crime and Social Change in Middle England: Questions of Order in an English Town
Crime and Social Change in Middle England offers a new way of looking at contemporary debates on the fear of crime. Using observation, interviews and documentary analysis it traces the reactions of citizens of one very ordinary town to events, conflicts and controversies around such topical subjects of criminological investigation as youth, public order, drugs, policing and home security in their community. In doing so it moves in place from comfortable suburbs to hard pressed inner city estates, from the affluent to the impoverished, from old people watching the town where they grew up change around them to young in-comers who are part of that change. This is a book which will give all students of crime a rare and fascinating insight into how issues at the heart of contemporary law and order politics both nationally and internationally actually play out on the ground.
140379708
Social geographies of women's fear of crime
Traditional approaches to mapping fear of crime are limited to describing or explaining the impact of sexual and physical violence as a reflection of gender inequality. Using empirical evidence from recent research, a social geography of women's fear is developed. Four important areas of geographical analysis are highlighted: the imposition of constraints on the use of urban space, the distinction between public and private space in perceptions of danger, the social construction of space into 'safe' and 'dangerous' places, and the social control of women's spaces. Within this framework, it is shown how women's experiences of social class, age, disability and motherhood can determine their experience of, and reactions to fear of, violent crime.
144714573
Revisiting fear and place: women's fear of attack and the built environment
Abstract The effort to `design out fear' through altering built environments has been popular amongst academics and planners. Success is limited, as simplistic notions of the fear of crime – its experience by individuals and its constitution as a social reality – tend to be employed. This paper examines the relationship between the built environment and women's fear of crime, based on qualitative studies in two European cities. While particular environments are often identified when women talk about the threat of attack, this reflects much broader processes operating to create fear. Fear influences our experience of places, as much as places influence our experiences of fear.
143511067
‘When, Where, if, and but’: Qualifying GIS and the Effect of Streetlighting on Crime and Fear
Geographical information systems (GIS) are increasingly used in England and Wales as a tool to monitor crime and aid community-safety planning. This is despite the widely known limitations of police-recorded data on crime victimisation, and concerns about the quality and specificity of available data on fear of crime. Meanwhile, improving streetlighting is a popular strategy both for improving community safety and for reducing fear of crime. In this paper we report on research carried out in Northumberland, northeast England, which aimed to identify locations most in need of new streetlighting. First, GIS crime hotspot maps and lighting coverage maps were analysed to identify potential areas to target. Qualitative rapid appraisal techniques were then used in these areas to explore local residents' perceptions and understandings of the relationships between streetlighting, victimisation, and fear of crime. The qualitative data were used to interpret the hotspot maps further, and to inform the location and type of streetlighting interventions. The research demonstrates that people's experiences of crime and fear, and their understandings of the relationships these have to streetlighting, are complex and reflective. At most, streetlighting was held to have a marginal and even then contradictory influence on the problems of crime and fear that people face. The implications are considered. We conclude that qualifying the outputs of GIS mapping was essential in this case, and has wide potential in critical policy research to promote more inclusive knowledge and more effective decisionmaking.
154288358
Women's fear of crime: A rural perspective
Abstract This paper examines women's experience of fear of crime in rural areas. It argues that much existing research on issues of gender, fear and safety have focused on urban areas and that as a result we know relatively little about women's experience of fear in a rural context. As well as arguing that we need to redress the balance and respond to the dearth of knowledge about rural women's fear, the paper asserts the importance of a rural perspective in understanding the relationship between fear and the social and cultural construction of place. The rural in particular provides an important site for such an understanding since, as is argued here, the notion of safety is central to constructions of rurality. The paper presents data on rural women's experience of fear and crime from research carried out in New Zealand and the UK. It draws on work undertaken in four rural communities and begins to identify the extent and nature of women's fears and how these relate to their experience of rurality. The paper shows how while popular constructions of the rural as friendly, safe and largely crime free endure, there is a recognition amongst rural women of the growing problems surrounding personal safety. It also demonstrates the importance of social constructions of the rural community in identifying the relevance of the ‘stranger’ and the marginalised ‘other’ to women's feelings of fear.
154754264
Managing crime and the fear of crime at railway stations––a case study in South Wales (UK)
Abstract Rail users consistently perceive their risks from crime to be significantly higher than official statistics suggest, discouraging many from using rail transport. The aims of the paper include a discussion of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and current policy initiatives for reducing crime and the fear of crime on the railways. This exploratory study focuses on adult passengers' perceptions of crime and nuisance as they relate to the management, design and maintenance of railway stations and their immediate access routes. The study innovatively utilises interactive virtual reality (VR) scenes of `representative' stations as the environmental stimulus and concludes that such an approach provides an analytical and pragmatic framework for managers of railway stations that are unlikely to receive Secure Station accreditation.
143029701
BOYS DON'T CRY Masculinities, Fear of Crime and Fearlessness
The gendered stereotypes of fearless male/fearful female' are not supported by the reality of complex and multiple identities and the shifting meanings of fear and fearlessness which are brought to and evolve from these identities. Referring to evidence from the author's own research, childhood and adolescence are put forward as crucial stages in identity development where one can begin to unpack the processes by which gendered meanings of fear and fearlessness become fixed'. This paper argues that the image of the fearless' male, from childhood onwards, is not a helpful one. The benefits to the male sex from taking on a fearless' persona, alongside its negative social implications, are discussed with reference to hegemonic masculinity. Class and race are put forward as significant variables in the development of hegemonic masculinity's emotionally inarticulate persona and racism is highlighted as one of the ugliest expressions of exaggerated masculinity. The above is placed and developed within the theoretical context of the hegemonic masculine biography'.
143759973
‘Old age’ and Ageism in Urban Research: The Case of Fear of Crime
"A critique has recently been made of research and theory on ageing in spatial research, arguing for the development of approaches which are informed by critical theoretical perspectives. Perhaps the most significant of these is the recognition that 'old age' is culturally constructed. This paper illustrates the value of such an approach with reference to understanding of fear of crime. It is suggested that many difficulties with past research result from epistemological problems, including ageism. A number of assumptions about elderly people and crime can be contested if scrutiny is informed by humanistic, feminist and social constructionist perspectives. Drawing on in depth interviews with elderly people, some of the problems and prospects of work on old age are discussed. Age is only one dimension by which people situate themselves and are situated by others in relation to the risk of crime. Local contexts, life course experiences and other social identities are involved in the constitution of fear for each individual. While the role of ageing can be understood within a framework of power relations, its positive as well as negative impacts on reactions to crime require representation. Similar analysis could profitably be developed in other areas of urban research." Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1997.
143349600
A safe place to grow up? Parenting, perceptions of children's safety and the rural idyll
Abstract This paper explores how an imagining of the countryside as an idealised place in which to grow up is constructed, mobilised and contested by rural parents in their accounts of their children's lives. It begins by considering how parents mobilise popular understandings of the rural idyll in their accounts of the opportunities for children in the village of Wheldale. It then goes on to explore how parents simultaneously challenge this imagining of the rural in their accounts of their children's safety, contradicting popular constructions of the rural as a safe, harmonious place, and contesting assumptions about the idyllic nature of rural childhood. Finally the paper considers how in order to justify their claims about the relative safety of the village as a place to grow up, in the face of their own descriptions of the dangers it may hold, parents further mobilise another ingredient of the ‘rural idyll’ — community. The paper concludes by considering the importance of recognising that places, like people, can have multiple meanings and identities.
144327142
Through children's eyes: childhood, place and the fear of crime
Abstract This article seeks to bring young respondents more sharply into focus by considering fear of crime ‘through children’s eyes’. By incorporating children’s perspectives it is argued that more inclusive and integrative community safety initiatives may arise. Inspired by the recent flowering of research undertaken in childhood studies by social and cultural geographers, the study seeks to make a theoretical, empirical and spatial contribution to debates in the field. Based on the findings of a large-scale school survey, the responses indicate that children have an acute place-based sensitivity to a range of highly relevant community safety issues. This includes detailed reflections concerning the place of policing, boredom, youth gangs, motorcars and drugs in their neighbourhoods. It is suggested that the inclusion of children’s accounts into geographical debates not only enriches our knowledge of childhood studies, but also adds detail and texture to our understandings of fear of crime.
146481152
Lesbian Safety Talk: Problematizing Definitions and Experiences of Violence, Sexuality and Space
The `Violence, Sexuality and Space' Research Project is the first major research project in Britain to explore how `safe', `public' spaces are created and sustained in response to homophobic violence. The research presented here examines lesbian safety talk and centres on lesbian focus group participants' responses to headline findings from a large-scale survey. The article illustrates the complexities involved in defining and interpreting violence and safety. It highlights the temporal and relative context of space, together with the importance of subjective, social and ideological constructions of violence and safety. The impact of sexuality on risk assessment and safety strategies is discussed alongside the influence of gender presentation, gender deviation and interpretative frameworks.
72589184
Environmental constraints on health: listening to children's views
Children are major users of their local environments yet they are largely excluded from discussions about transport, planning and environmental health, and may be seen only as 'problems' or 'victims'. However, if children's own accounts are studied it is clear that they are active risk-assessors and problem-solvers who develop strategies to survive hostile environments. This study involved children from four schools in broadly working-class areas of Birmingham. A semi-structured question naire was completed by a total of 492 9-11-year-old and 13-14-year-old pupils, and focus-group discussions were held with one group from each class taking part in the questionnaire. This paper reports on the focus groups, during which participants identified considerable environmental constraints on their activities. Many were not allowed to play outdoors, use local parks or cycle to school — or they did not feel comfortable doing so. Girls especially were restricted in how late they were allowed out. In the children's views, traffic danger, 'stranger danger' and social and cultural factors interact to create barriers to keeping healthy and active. An understanding of children's perceptions of risk and an incorporation of their ideas for change are central to the success of any physical activity strategy.
73146023
Inequality in access to local environments: the experiences of Asian and non-Asian girls
The growing emphasis on building healthy public policy draws attention to social and environmental inequalities in health, including the impact of racism and crime. This study reports on questionnaire and focus group research with a sample of 214 Year 7 and Year 9 girls (11-14 years old), of whom just under half were of Asian origin. The findings highlighted considerable differences between the attitudes and behaviour reported by Asian-origin and non-Asian girls. The problems encountered in managing hostile urban environments were seen as significantly greater by Asian-origin girls and fears about assault and harassment resulted in restricted access and a home-focused style of life. They reported restrictions on their physical activity, and some degree of frustration about their lack of freedom, which have policy implications for health promoters.
21129564
"Nae as nice a scheme as it used to be": lay accounts of neighbourhood incivilities and well-being.
This paper is based upon qualitative research conducted in a relatively deprived neighbourhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, and it explores how contextual and compositional features of place may interact to influence well-being. I present women's accounts of their experiences of neighbourhood incivilities, and I discuss their perceptions of the influence of incivilities upon their sense of well-being. I suggest that aspects of individual biographies mediate experiences of neighbourhood incivilities. Furthermore, some individuals seem to engage in "distancing strategies", which I suggest may be interpreted as a way of resisting the potentially harmful psycho-social influence of incivilities upon well-being.
46079516
Keeping Children Safe
The aim of this article is to present qualitative data from a study of mothers on a housing estate in Leeds, UK, enabling them to voice their concerns about child safety. The estate contains many environmental hazards, from traffic, ‘drugusers’, ‘strangers’ and litter. A high profile given to the vulnerability of children in public places has resulted in parents becoming ever vigilant and subjecting children to increased surveillance, in the face of a lack of environmental measures which would support their efforts to keep children safe. There are costs to parents in time and activities foregone. Moreover, the emphasis on the key role of parents in child safety and the perception of increasing hazards to children is affecting parents' psychological well-being. The article attempts to place parents' concerns within a social context which may begin to explain parental behaviour and anxieties.
143396367
Imagining the Victim of Crime
'...the clarity in which the wide range of relevant issues are presented throughout the book makes this must-reading for new entrants to this field and for students' - "International Review of Victimology". This book situates the contemporary preoccupation with criminal victimisation within the broader socio-cultural changes of the last twenty five years. In so doing it addresses not only the policy possibilities that have been generated as a consequence of those changes but also concerns itself with the ability of victimology to help make sense of this change. Written in the post 9/11 context this book considers the efficacy of theory and policy relating to questions of victimhood to accommodate the current political and cultural climate and offers a critical understanding of both.It adopts an explicitly cross-cultural position on these questions. It will be vital reading for anyone interested in the problems and possibilities posed by criminal victimisation understood in the broadest terms.