How Does Crime-Specific Victimization Impact Fear of Crime in Urban China? The Role of Neighborhood Characteristics

Author(s):  
Fengrui Jing ◽  
Lin Liu ◽  
Suhong Zhou ◽  
Jiaxin Feng

Past research has failed to find consistent relationships between criminal victimization and fear of crime. Except for neighborhood disorder and crime rate, few studies have examined whether other neighborhood conditions matter the victimization—fear relationship. Using survey data in Guangzhou neighborhoods, the present analysis employs multinomial logistic regression models to examine whether neighborhood characteristics moderate the relationship between violent victimization and fear of violence, and between burglary victimization and fear of burglary, separately. Some aspects of the neighborhood environment do differentially influence victims’ and non-victims’ fear levels. Besides verifying the interaction effect of neighborhood disorder and victimization, the present study finds that neighborhood policing alleviates the harmful effect of violent victimization on fear, while collective efficacy fosters the harmful effect of burglary victimization on fear. This paper underscores the significance of the social context of urban China in explaining the interplay of neighborhood characteristics and victimization on fear of crime.

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482097925
Author(s):  
Florian Herbolsheimer ◽  
Atiya Mahmood ◽  
Nadine Ungar ◽  
Yvonne L. Michael ◽  
Frank Oswald ◽  
...  

Past research documents a discordance between perceived and objectively assessed neighborhood environmental features on walking behavior. Therefore, we examined differences in the perception of the same neighborhood built environment. Participants were grouped if they lived 400 m or closer to each other. The perception of the pedestrian infrastructure, neighborhood aesthetics, safety from crime, and safety from traffic was derived from a telephone survey from two North American metropolitan areas; 173 individuals were clustered into 42 groups. Older adults who walked for transport in their neighborhood experienced the same neighborhood as more walkable (β = .19; p = .011) with better pedestrian infrastructure (β = .16; p = .037). Older adults with physical limitations experienced the same neighborhood as less safe from crime (β = −.17; p = .030) and traffic (β = −.20; p = .009). The study supports the notion that individual behavior and physical restrictions alter the environment’s perception and explains part of the discordance between objective and subjective assessment of the neighborhood environment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Enrique Sanhueza ◽  
Jorge Delva ◽  
Cristina Bares ◽  
Andrew Grogan-Kaylor

Sanhueza, G. E., Delva, J., Bares, C. B. & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2013). Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 2(1), 89-97.   doi: 10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71)Aims: This study examined whether adolescents from Santiago, Chile who had never drunk alcohol differed from those who had drunk alcohol but who had never experienced an alcohol-related problem, as well as from those who had drunk and who had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem on a number of variables from four domains - individual, peers, parenting, and environmental.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: Community based sample.Participants: 909 adolescents from Santiago, Chile.Measurements: Data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression to compare adolescents who had never drunk alcohol (non-drinkers) with i) those that had drunk but who had experienced no alcohol-related problems (non-problematic drinkers) and ii) those who had drunk alcohol and had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem (problematic drinkers). The analyses included individual, peer, parenting, and environmental factors while controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status.Findings: Compared to non-drinkers, both non-problematic and problematic drinkers were older, reported having more friends who drank alcohol, greater exposure to alcohol ads, lower levels of parental monitoring, and more risk-taking behaviors. In addition, problematic drinkers placed less importance on religious faith to make daily life decisions and had higher perceptions of neighborhood crime than non-drinkers.Conclusions: Prevention programs aimed at decreasing problematic drinking could benefit from drawing upon adolescents’ spiritual sources of strength, reinforcing parental tools to monitor their adolescents, and improving environmental and neighborhood conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-172
Author(s):  
Jyri Paasonen ◽  
Mikko Aaltonen

Security personnel are among the occupation groups with the highest risk of workplace violence, but the latest Finnish estimates on the prevalence of violence are based on data collected 15 years ago, after which the sector and its regulation have evolved considerably. The aim of this article is to present results from a recent survey of security personnel conducted in early 2018. In addition to presenting new estimates on the 12-month prevalence of violent victimization and fear of crime, and the factors associated with them, we examine experiences of criminal justice processes. The results show high rates of victimization among security personnel, with a particularly high risk among doormen and guards working in hospitals and health care centers. More than half of the respondents have appeared in court as witnesses. We discuss these results in the light of recent legal reforms and research evidence based on administrative data.


2019 ◽  
pp. 215336871986596
Author(s):  
Keren Cohen-Louck

This research focuses on fear of crime and acculturation strategies in two immigrant groups in Israel: Ethiopians and those from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Relative contributions of various individual and social factors that predict fear of crime were examined. Five hundred and fourteen immigrants were interviewed, half from each group. All participants completed questionnaires on their fear of crime levels, perceived neighborhood disorder, social integration, coping styles, acculturation strategies, and prior criminal victimization. Both Ethiopian ( M = 4.44) and FSU ( M = 4.20) immigrants preferred integration to other acculturation strategies ( p < .05). However, for Ethiopian immigrants, their high integration scores coexist with separation from Israeli society. There were no significant differences between the two groups of immigrants as for fear of crime. Several explanations for these findings are discussed. These results challenge notions of a single acculturation strategy. Ethiopian immigrants show a pattern of “cultural ambivalence” where both integration and separation are used, while FSU immigrants demonstrate patterns of “cultural modularity,” where integration and assimilation strategies coexist.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1888-1907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mally Shechory-Bitton ◽  
Keren Cohen-Louck

The purpose of the study was to suggest a model for predicting fear of terrorism using theoretical explanations that predict fear of crime. The study focused on two different levels of analysis: community and individual. The sample consisted of 507 Israeli adults. Predictions of fear of terrorism and fear of crime were conducted with two path analysis models, calculated using AMOS software. Fear of terrorism was predicted directly by gender, age, prior victimization, religiosity, and neighborhood disorder. The findings allow the researchers to offer a predictive model for fear of terrorism based on a combination of theories that explain fear of crime as well as a theory concerning the link between fear of death and religion. A combination of environmental theories (e.g., the Broken Windows theory), theories related to personal variables (e.g., the Vulnerability theory), and the Terror Management theory can produce an adequate theoretical framework for explaining fear of terrorism.


2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L. Huston ◽  
Kelly R. Evenson ◽  
Philip Bors ◽  
Ziya Gizlice

Purpose. To examine associations between perceived neighborhood characteristics, access to places for activity, and leisure-time physical activity. Design. Cross-sectional telephone survey. Setting. Cabarrus, Henderson, Pitt, Robeson, Surry, and Wake counties in North Carolina. Subjects. Population-based sample of 1796 adults at least 18 years of age residing in the six counties. Measures. The 133-item questionnaire assessed self-reported leisure-time physical activity and perceptions of neighborhood characteristics (sidewalks, trails, heavy traffic, streetlights, unattended dogs, and safety from crime) and general access to places for physical activity. Results. Trails, streetlights, and access to places were positively associated with engaging in any leisure activity: unadjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]); 1.62 (1.09–2.41), 1.57 (1.14–2.17), and 2.94 (1.91–4.52), respectively. Trails and access to places were positively associated with engaging in the recommended amount of leisure activity: 1.49 (1.00–2.22), and 2.28 (1.30–4.00), respectively). In multivariable logistic regression modeling including environmental factors and demographics, access to places was associated with any activity (2.23 [1.44–3.44]) and recommended activity (2.15 [1.23–3.77]), and trails were associated with recommended activity (1.51 [1.00–2.28]). Conclusion. Certain neighborhood characteristics, particularly trails, and access to places for physical activity may be associated with leisure activity levels. In this study, perceived neighborhood environmental factors and access to places for physical activity were strongly associated with race, education, and income.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Huang ◽  
Yuru Huang ◽  
Sahil Khanna ◽  
Pallavi Dwivedi ◽  
Natalie Slopen ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Social media platforms such as Twitter can serve as a potential data source for public health research to characterize the social neighborhood environment. Few studies have linked Twitter-derived characteristics to individual-level health outcomes. OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the association between Twitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics, including happiness, food, and physical activity mentions, with individual cardiometabolic outcomes using a nationally representative sample. METHODS We collected a random 1% of the geotagged tweets from April 2015 to March 2016 using Twitter’s Streaming Application Interface (API). Twitter-derived zip code characteristics on happiness, food, and physical activity were merged to individual outcomes from restricted-use National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with residential zip codes. Separate regression analyses were performed for each of the neighborhood characteristics using NHANES 2011-2016 and 2007-2016. RESULTS Individuals living in the zip codes with the two highest tertiles of happy tweets reported BMI of 0.65 (95% CI –1.10 to –0.20) and 0.85 kg/m<sup>2</sup> (95% CI –1.48 to –0.21) lower than those living in zip codes with the lowest frequency of happy tweets. Happy tweets were also associated with a 6%-8% lower prevalence of hypertension. A higher prevalence of healthy food tweets was linked with an 11% (95% CI 2% to 21%) lower prevalence of obesity. Those living in areas with the highest and medium tertiles of physical activity tweets were associated with a lower prevalence of hypertension by 10% (95% CI 4% to 15%) and 8% (95% CI 2% to 14%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Twitter-derived social neighborhood characteristics were associated with individual-level obesity and hypertension in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Twitter data could be used for capturing neighborhood sociocultural influences on chronic conditions and may be used as a platform for chronic outcomes prevention.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Ying-Hui Chiang ◽  
◽  
Yuan Ku ◽  
Feng Liu ◽  
Chin-Oh Chang ◽  
...  

Due to housing stock heterogeneity, most academic discussions on price dispersion in the housing market have traditionally focused on the search behavior of consumers and neglected the housing and neighborhood characteristics that are related to price dispersion. This study applies a rich empirical data set from Taipei to explore the neighborhood characteristics that are associated with a higher degree of dispersion in housing price and associated likelihood of such. We track the housing transactions at the residential community level, and group the communities based on the coefficient of variation of the transaction prices in each community after controlling for community and housing characteristics. We apply a multinomial logistic regression to examine which neighborhood characteristics are more likely to be associated with higher price dispersion. We find that communities with higher price levels and built by government agencies are less likely to have high price dispersion, while those that are older, priced lower or have a minimum floor area of 50 pings are more likely to have higher price dispersion.


Author(s):  
Nicole Rader

Fear of crime has been a serious social problem studied for almost 40 years. Early researchers focused on operationalization and conceptualization of fear of crime, specifically focusing on what fear of crime was (and was not) and how to best tap into the fear of crime construct. This research also found that while crime rates had been declining, fear of crime rates had stayed relatively stable. Nearly 40% of Americans indicated they were afraid of crime, even though crime was declining during the same time period. This finding led researchers to study the paradox of fear of crime. In other words, why does fear of crime not match up with actual chances of victimization? Several explanations were put forth including a focus on vulnerability (e.g., individuals felt vulnerable to crime even if they were not vulnerable) and a focus on differences in groups (e.g., women were more afraid of crime than men, even though they were less likely to be victims). Thus, many studies began to consider the predictors of fear of crime. Researchers since this time have spent most time studying these fear of crime predictors including individual level predictors (i.e., sex, race, age, social class), contextual predictors (neighborhood disorder, incivilities, and social cohesion), along with the consequences of fear of crime (psychological and behavioral). Such results have provided guidance on what individuals fear, why they fear, and what impact it has on the daily lives of Americans. Future research will continue to focus on groups little is known about, such as Hispanics, and also on the impact of behavior on fear of crime. This future research will likely also benefit from new techniques in survey research that analyzes longitudinal data to determine causality between fear of crime and other predictors such as risk and behavior.


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