Fear of Crime Victimization: A Study of University Students in India and Japan1
| Author | Kumaravelu Chockalingam,Murugesan Srinivasan |
| Published date | 01 May 2009 |
| Date | 01 May 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800901600105 |
International Review
C?fVictimology.
2009, Vol.
16,
pp.
89-117
0269-7580/09$10
© A B
Academic
Publishers
-
Printed
in
Great
Britain
FEAR
OF
CRIME
VICTIMIZATION:
A
STUDY
OF
UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS
IN
INDIA
AND
JAPAN
1
KUMARA
VELU
CHOCKALINGAMt
and
MURUGESAN
SRINIVASAN**
1
Tokiwa
University,
Japan
t
University
of
Madras,
India
ABSTRACT
Previous
research
has
established that
fear
of
crime
victimization
is
a result
of
many
factors
including
age,
gender,
race,
income,
neighbourhood
variables, prior victimization
and
so
on.
The
present research
was
conducted
to
test
the
following
hypotheses:
(I)
fear
of
crime
victimization
is
dependent
on
the
country
in
which
one
lives;
(2)
socio-demographic
characteristics affect
fear
of
crime
victimization;
(3)
economic
status
affects
fear
of
crime
victimization;
and
(
4)
prior experience of victimization affects
fear
of
crime
victimization.
Using
a
structured
questionnaire, constructed
for
the
purpose,
data
were
collected
from
a
sample
of725
students
from
the
city
ofChennai
(India)
and
715
students
from
Mito
City
in
Japan.
The
results
of
the
study
revealed
that
there
was
a
difference
in
the
level
of
fear
of
crime
victimization
between
the
respondents
from
India
and
Japan.
Fear
of
crime
victimization
was
influenced
by
some
factors
such
as
gender,
age
and
the
place
of
residence
of
respondents.
In
contrast
to
many
previous
studies
relating
to
influence
of
prior victimization,
it
is
puzzling
to
note
that
prior
experience
of
crime
victimization
did
not
influence
positively
fear
of
crime
victimization.
Keywords:
Fear~
victimization
INTRODUCTION
Fear
of
crime has become a serious concern over the past four decades for
criminologists, victimologists, policy-makers, politicians, policing
organizations, the media and the general public (Lee, 2007). Fear
of
crime is the
result
of
many causal factors such as age (Ferraro and LaGrange, 1992;
Rountree, 1998 cited in Truman, 2005; Hough, 1995; Johnson, 2005), gender
(Fisher eta/., 2000; Cardenas, 2003; Fisher and Sloan, 2003), race (Parker and
Ray, 1990; Ferraro, 1995; Robe and Burby, 1988 cited in Lee and Ulmer, 2000),
neighborhood variables (Perkins et al., 1992; Smith, 1989, cited
in
Kury and
Ferdinand, 1998), prior victimization (Arthur, 1992; Rountree and Land, 1996;
Rountree, 1998, cited in Truman, 2005; Pain, 1997) and so on. Besides, fear
of
* Professor Chockalingam
is
at Tokiwa International Victimology Institute, Tokiwa
University, 1-430-1, Miwa, Mito-Shi, Ibaraki-Ken, 310-8585 Japan (e-mail:
protkcindia@yahoo.com). Professor Srinivasan
is
at the Department
of
Criminology,
University
of
Madras, Chepauk, Chennai, India.
90
crime victimization will also be dependent on the country in which one lives.
Such differences are both due to differences in the socio-demographic
characteristics
of
the respondents and also perhaps due to differences in the
position and treatment
of
victims in the criminal justice system. Hence, a study
was carried out among the students
of
two different countries, namely India and
Japan, with the aim
of
finding out about any differences in the level
of
fear
of
crime victimization. The study also aims to examine the factors influencing fear
of
crime victimization among the students
of
India and Japan.
Fear
of
crime in this study refers to a negative emotional reaction generated
by crime or clues that one associates with crime.
It
is conceptually different
from perceived risk (perception
of
vulnerability), which is a cognitive
evaluation. Perceived risk does interact with judgements about the real and
imagined consequences
of
victimization and produces fear, but the concepts
should not be confused (Ferraro and LaGrange, 1987, cited in Mesch and
Fishman, 1998). Many scholars have studied fear-related issues intensively.
The greatest headway has recently been made in disentangling the distinct
concepts
of
fear
of
crime and perceived risk from one another. Warr (2000)
argues that the actual construct
of
fear
of
crime is primarily physiological,
whereas the perceived risk
of
victimization (which is what the standard survey
item measures) involves a cognitive assessment
of
the likelihood
of
being
victimized. Further, fear
of
crime victimization may have adverse emotional
effects upon people, producing various psychological and physiological
consequences and also inducing a feeling
of
isolation and vulnerability.
It
often
produces a significant loss in personal well-being (Hale, 1996). Fear
of
crime
victimization is also related to perceived economic, social and physical
vulnerability, both local and individual,
as
well as public attitudes towards
crime (Taylor and Hale, 1986; Jackson, 2004, cited in Kershaw and Tseloni,
2005). Given these reasons for studying fear-related issues, many scholars have
advanced the study
of
fear
of
crime. The basic motive for examining issues
related to fear
of
crime stems from several sources. For example, some have
argued that widespread fear
of
crime
is
more
of
a problem than is actual criminal
victimization because 'fear
of
crime in the United States is far more prevalent
than actual victimization' (Warr, 2000 quoted by Lee and Earnest, 2003). While
awareness and concern about crime can be positive and lead to behaviour that
reduces the risk
of
victimization, for some more vulnerable members
of
society,
such as women and the elderly, fear
of
crime can result in serious curtailment
of
everyday activities, lost opportunity and a reduction in the quality
of
life
(Johnson, 2005).
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Regarding the factors contributing
to
fear
of
crime victimization, Hale ( 1996)
traced the research literature on the fear
of
crime back to the 1960s and found
that fear
of
crime victimization depends on two factors: an individual's
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