Alina Moua

Crime is an action against humanity. Crime is ubiquitous and happens all over the world. Those who fear crime tries to avoid at risk situations that can lead to physical harm or being victimized. Humans can sense danger when individuals violate expected rules and norms.

In the article Ethnicity, information sources and fear of crime, the author researches more in depth of what makes people develop fear. They conducted a survey about gang crime in Orange County. The dependent variables that were considered are graffiti, rape, drive bys, home invasion robbery, and gang related activities. The independent variable included neighborhood and primary source of information about crime. Where people get their sources about crimes and how they proceed it is an important aspect.

The authors Lane and Meeker found that depending on your ethnicity and where you get your news from, it shapes your fear of crime. For instance, Whites and Latinos have a different approach to fear. From studies, White people get their news source from the newspaper. On the other hand, Latinos get their news from television. Television has the power to portray graphic images and live footage of real world situations. For this matter, minorities such as Latinos have a higher rate of fear than Whites; due to the difference in their media sources. What the authors also found was that education played a factor in people's level of fear. Uneducated people have higher fear versus those who are educated. The educated people tend to have a higher income, therefore it can buy them protection. Fear is a natural response. The riskier the situation you're in, the higher your risk.

How people develop fear can also be due to their perception. In the article, Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime, the authors conducted a random sample of 3,000 Florida residents. The dependent variable on racial composition and perceived threat of crime was divided into three categories. They wanted to understand why people feel more afraid of certain neighborhoods.

From their findings, there's no objective measurements of crime. It's not a crime rate that causes an individual's fear of crime, but their own perception. Fear of crime is higher as people perceive a threat of new incoming ethnic minorities regardless of the real crime in the neighborhood. The movement of new people in a community leads to a sense of fear of crime. When there are new neighbors, people get a sense of competition and threat that develops a sense of fear. How a person sees a situation explains why they develop such fear. In this specific article, people's fear of crime is about the sense of their community.

Crime is a deviant behavior that violates social norms. Developing fear of crime depending on the individual's background, resource, and outlook. As humans, there are strong set of rules, roles, and assumptions that shape how people fear crime.