Megan Dudley

Megan Dudley, 516 words

The article "Ethnicity, information Sources and fear of crime" revolves around the idea that there are connections as to why certain races or genders have higher or lower fear of crime. This survey was quite diverse covering many race and ethnicities as it was done in Orange County. They used random digit dialing to reduce bias. They  specifically did interviews in Spanish to focus on the latino population being represented.   It was discovered that the white population and the hispanic population have very different opinions of fear of crime. The factors accounted for  included where they live, do they live in an urban or non urban area, inner-city or not inner-city because that makes a difference in attitudes. Urban areas tend to have higher crime rates therefore fear of crime is likely to be higher. Another factor was personal experience, in other words,  whether or not  they have been a victim themselves. Education was accounted for as well as age, whether the interviewees were relatively older or younger tended to make a difference.The final factor included was gender. Overall the researchers were trying to look at how individuals felt about crime, essentially whether they had a fear of it or not. 

Basically, they found whites and hispanics have differing approaches to fear of crime. Hispanics overall have higher fear of crime and this is most likely due to their media exposure. Hispanics are more likely to watch the news on televisions, which is much more graphic and emotional. Whites generally get their news from newspapers and therefore they are not seeing what is happening in society rather they are reading about it. Another reason included neighborhoods in which the interviewees live,  as well as personal victimization. Latinos are more likely to live in an inner-city neighborhood. The crime rates in inner-city areas are higher than those in suburban  areas. Gender also played an important factor,  it showed females have higher fear of crime, but actually get victimized less. Also, the younger you are the higher fear you tend to have. The uneducated were also represented with higher fear rates. It is crucial to note here that information sources can be shaped by ethnicities and can shape attitudes of fear of crime.

In the article "The Enduring Racial Divide in Death Penalty Support" the authors are discussing the controversial topic of the death penalty and whether or not individuals are in support of this capital punishment. They looked at factors such as socioeconomic status, religion, political views,urban versus rural, fear of crime, attitudes about racial inequality, and experiences with criminal justice system or personal victimization. This study looks at a general social survey about whether or not you support the death penalty. 

The difference between the white and black populations is generally stable. There is a persistent racial divide in the support for the death penalty and it is constant throughout the study. Whites and blacks remain relatively equal in the support or non support of the issue. The study proved that race is the most crucial factor when looking at this racial divide, because it is consistent throughout even when all other factors are controlled.