Fear of Crime: What Can Children Tell Us?
| Author | Jo Goodey |
| Date | 01 September 1994 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026975809400300302 |
| Published date | 01 September 1994 |
International Review ofVictimology,
1994,
Vol.
3,
pp.
195-210
0269-7580/94$10
©
1994
A B Academic Publishers-Printed
in
Great Britain
FEAR
OF
CRIME:
WHAT
CAN
CHILDREN
TELL
US?
JOGOODEY
Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University
of
Hull HU6 7RX, U.K.
ABSTRACT
This
paper attempts
to
re-address a number of
issues
raised
in
debates
on
fear
of crime,
and
in
particular women's
fear
of
crime,
with
the
argument
for
research of a
much
neglected section of
the
population, children.
It
is
argued that gendered socialisation practices
are
crucial during
the
adolescent
years
with
the
emergence of
the
individual
as
'sexual being',
so
leading
to
differential
fear
of crime between
the
sexes. Developmental fear processes
are
postulated
and
related
to
existing
theories
on
global gender constructs
and
the
notion of
fear.
Evidence
is
elicited
from
adult
victimisation surveys,
and
from
current research
on
adolescents. Future research directions
and
policy implications
are
examined.
THE ABSENCE OF CHILDREN
During the last decade, victimisation surveys such
as
the British Crime Survey
(Home Office, 1982, 1984, 1988), the Islington Crime Survey (Jones et al., 1986)
and gender specific studies
of
women's victimisation (Scheppele and Bart, 1983)
have begun to reveal a truer picture
of
the extent
of
crime and fear of crime
in
Britain. These surveys may be applauded or criticised for their various methodo-
logies and resultant findings but
in
terms of their coverage a large section
of
society has been overlooked.
Children under sixteen years
of
age are often disqualified from participation
in much
of
social science research. Just
as
Sarah James (1990) argued that there
is
a place for children in geography it can be argued that there
is
a space for
children in criminology and particularly in the field
of
victimology. Too often
children's role within criminological studies
is
seen as 'offender' while in the
eyes
of
the media the child
is
regarded as victim, for example,
of
a sex attack or
incest. These two lines
of
investigation into the world of the child
as
victim or
offender are necessary and interesting in themselves but can appear as separate
from the bulk of criminology which deals primarily with those aged sixteen and
older. Criminal activity becomes heightened in the teenage years, but the deviant
element amongst the under
16s
should be put into context across a broader
time-scale, as the researcher may ask -how many children remain criminals
upon attaining adulthood? Perhaps it would be better to start with the experience
of
the
majority-
not
as
offender, not as victim, but as a public who are aware
of
crime, and it
is
fear of crime which affects many
of
the public's lives on a day
to day basis (as revealed through victimisation surveys).
196
Examination
of
children's fear and worries may allow the researcher better to
understand and reconceptualise the adult experience
of
fear which reveals itself
in a gender specific context. The gendered socialisation processes
of
childhood
need to be placed within a broad theoretical narrative in order to comprehend
them alongside the revelations
of
adulthood.
It
is instructive at this point to discuss
the concept
of
fear with particular attention being paid at a later stage to language
and the definition
of
violence. Fear and violence need to be viewed within the
framework of a patriarchal phenomenon.
UNDERSTANDING FEAR: CONTEXTUALISING WOMEN'S EXPERIENCE
Fear
is
often equated with notions
of
anxiety and worry which can translate itself
from fear
of
animals when young (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1975; Davidson and
Goodey, 1991) to fear
of
property crime when we have the adult means
of
purchase. As Skogan and Maxfield ( 1981;
p.
49) state:
'It
is clear that people have
a variety
of
fears depending upon the crimes, circumstances, persons, occurren-
ces, and potential consequences involved'. There
is
no simple definition
of
fear,
whilst interpretations of the fear phenomenon that do exist often fail adequately
to question the significant findings pertaining to gender. In this paper fear
is
examined in the context
of
gender perspectives in relation to fear
of
violence.
Kagan ( 1979) argued that the early onset
of
fear amongst infant girls in relation
to strange events and people was unlikely to have any long-term significance
regarding the adult display
of
sex differentiated fear. However, girls' and
women's experiences
of
crime and fear do differ from those of males and their
documentation, within the context
of
a 'continuum'
of
male violence (Kelly,
1987) against women, can only aid the researcher's understanding
of
fear and in
particular gendered fear.
Skogan and Maxfield (1981) outline an 'operating model' to highlight the
factors which influence people's reactions in response to crime; they refer to
Stinchcombe eta!.' s (1978) interpretation
of
women's lesser defensive capacity
as
reflecting their socialisation into passivity and dependency. Maxfield ( 1984;
p.
1)
provides a useful account
of
fear: 'Knowing who is afraid is less useful than
understanding the reasons for their fear'. Skogan and Maxfield ( 1981) and
Maxfield (1984) outline influences upon the fear equation such
as
the 'fight or
flight' physiological, automatic response to an immediate situation as opposed to
the analysis
of
anticipated threats and potential fears (that
is:
'fight' -unpredicted
attack by stranger versus 'flight' -retreat from rowdy night-spot). The crucial
elements
of
both pieces lie with the subtle relationship
of
risk perception and
consequence analysis. Both state that predatory crimes such
as
mugging and
sexual assault produce the most fear in individuals, indicating that people con-
sider the dire consequences (particularly psychological)
of
becoming a victim
of
these crimes whilst the risk
of
attack (or probability)
is
of
less importance.
Contributory factors to fear analysis (such
as
past victimisation, place, time, age
and sex) are all considered, but the analysis
of
fear according to sex is not
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