The social-psychological process of fearing crime: Developing and testing a new momentary model of victimisation worry
| Author | Christine Bond,Michael L Chataway,Timothy C Hart |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0004865819836153 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The social-psychological
process of fearing crime:
Developing and testing a
new momentary model of
victimisation worry
Michael L Chataway
School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
City, QLD, Australia
Timothy C Hart
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of
Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA
Christine Bond
Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt,
QLD, Australia
Abstract
The current study describes and tests a new momentary model of victimisation worry, based
on data collected from a smartphone app. We assess whether a momentary model provides
further insight into the situated nature of fear of crime and risk perception. Data were
collected from a sample of 72 young adults living in Southeast Queensland, Australia
who completed momentary surveys on fear of crime that were administered on their
mobile devices. Results suggest that constructs contained in our proposed momentary
model of victimisation worry fit the data appropriately and that associations between dimen-
sions of victimisation worry are all statistically significant based on their expected directions
(i.e. increased perceptions of victimisation risk in the immediate area significantly predicts
increased momentary worry about crime). We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical
and practical implications of our findings, limitations of the current study, and direction for
future research.
Corresponding author:
Michael Chataway, School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4000, Australia.
Email: michael.chataway@qut.edu.au
Australian & New Zealand Journal of
Criminology
2019, Vol. 52(4) 462–482
!The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865819836153
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Keywords
Fear of crime, perceptions of place, social-psychological theories of fear, victimisation risk
Date received: 23 July 2018; accepted: 14 February 2019
Fear of crime has been of significant interest to scholars for decades; yet, the current
state of measurements and methods used to examine perceptions of crime within an
individual’s natural environment are limited. In response, the present study investigates
the context-dependent nature of victimisation worry as it is experienced within the
proximate environment of young people. We build on existing scholarship using data
collected from smartphone apps designed to measure fear of crime (e.g. Chataway et al.,
2017; Solymosi, Bowers, & Fujiyama, 2015), while study participants engage in their
everyday routine activities. From these data, we propose a new momentary model of
victimisation worry. This model includes multiple dimensions of fear of crime,
perceptions of disorder/social cohesion perceived in the proximate environment,
and an individual’s momentary psychological state. In doing so, we advance existing
social-psychological models of victimisation worry found in the contemporary fear of
crime literature (e.g. Jackson, 2005).
Historical developments in the measurement of fear of crime
Fear of crime has attracted significant scholarly attention since the 1960s. Early research
examining fear of crime grew out of the United States, from national victimisation
surveys that aimed to capture accurate information about crime experienced within
neighbourhoods, along with residents’ attitudes and beliefs towards crime and policing
(Hale, 1996). Similar surveys followed this early work in the US, including the British
Crime Survey (now called the Crime Survey for England and Wales) and the Personal
Safety Survey in Australia.
Despite active attempts to capture subjective experiences of victimisation in these
early surveys, theoretical confusion has remained over how fear of crime should be
operationalised and best measured in neighbourhood surveys (Chataway & Hart,
2017; Farrall, Bannister, Ditton, & Gilchrist, 1997; Hale, 1996). Scholars have argued
for greater specificity in the measurement of fear of crime and related constructs such as
perceptions of risk (Farrall et al., 1997). These calls for “rethinking” the measurement of
fear of crime have been in response to an over-reliance on perceptions of safety ques-
tions in these early victimisation surveys in the US, UK and Australia. More specifically,
criticisms have focused on the use of the following question to gauge fear of crime “How
safe do you feel walking alone in this area at night?” Such questions do not capture
concrete fearful reactions to crime events and fail to account for spatial variability in
perceptions of safety and risk (Ferraro & LaGrange, 1987; Hale, 1996). Later variations
of perceptions of safety questions have attempted to provide more specificity in wording
and reference specific instances of personal and property victimisation (i.e. How safe do
you feel from becoming the victim of a robbery when walking alone in this area at night?).
Chataway et al. 463
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