Urban safety: A re-reading of the sense of unsafety through individual and ecological dimensions
| Author | Andrea Pozza,Fabio Ferretti,Anna Coluccia |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370818770766 |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818770766
European Journal of Criminology
2019, Vol. 16(2) 188 –209
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370818770766
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Urban safety: A re-reading
of the sense of unsafety
through individual and
ecological dimensions
Fabio Ferretti , Andrea Pozza
and Anna Coluccia
University of Siena, Italy
Abstract
The issue of urban safety is a research topic that has attracted the attention of scholars for several
years, particularly in relation to the effects of individual and environmental variables that influence
the fear of crime. Some recent studies have redefined the study of fear of crime, widening it to a
more general dimension represented by the perception of safety. However, no specific tool has
been proposed to measure this construct. In this paper, a new assessment scale of the perception of
unsafety has been used to examine the impact of individual factors (gender, age, etc.) and ecological
factors (ethnic composition of the neighbourhood, residential stability, etc.) on the dimensions of
the scale (general sense of unsafety, perception of physical and social disorder, collective efficacy
perception and preoccupation with crime). Results showed a strong convergence with the existing
evidence with regard to the ambiguous role of some individual variables, such as gender and age,
and for the influence of the characteristics of the neighbourhood.
Keywords
Ecological factors, fear of crime, individual factors, urban safety
Introduction
The concept of urban safety can be defined not only as a range of interventions aimed to
prevent and repress crime, but also as a range of values to be saved, without which the
quality of life in the community is poor (Pajno, 2010). Safety is considered to be one of
the most important dimensions contributing to determine individual well-being and,
Corresponding author:
Fabio Ferretti, Department of Medical Sciences, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, Santa Maria
alle Scotte University Hospital, Viale Bracci, Siena 53100, Italy.
Email: ferrefa@unisi.it
770766EUC0010.1177/1477370818770766European Journal of CriminologyFerretti et al.
research-article2018
Article
Ferretti et al. 189
more generally, quality of life (Kawachi et al., 1999; OECD, 2011). A number of studies
have evidenced that the perception of unsafety has a significant impact on individual
well-being in terms of limitations on daily activities and life style (Amerio and Roccato,
2007; Foster et al., 2014; Gabriel and Greve, 2003; Hanson et al., 2010; Liska et al.,
1988; Mason et al., 2013; McCrea et al., 2005).
Perceived unsafety produces individual effects but also involves the entire collectiv-
ity, weakening faith in others, interpersonal relationships and the capacity for social con-
trol (Hale, 1996; Maruthaveeran and Konijnendijk van den Bosch, 2014). Perceived
unsafety can lead the individual to overestimate the risk of being a victim of crime
(Rountree and Land, 1996; Warr, 1987; Wyant, 2008), but it is only partially correlated
with crime (Koskela, 2009; Miceli et al., 2004). In brief, perceived unsafety seems to be
a psychological construct independent from being victim of a crime, which is based on
social factors directly or indirectly related to crime (Lindström et al., 2006).
However, unsafety, not fear of crime, is the most studied construct in the criminological
literature on urban environments. According to a definition by Amerio and Roccato (2007),
unsafety is described as a fluid but persistent status, which includes perceptions, evalua-
tions and feelings on the relationship with the material, social and symbolic environment.
This statement provides a wide definition of this concept, which seems to overcome the
scholars’ debate about using the term ‘fear of crime’ to analyse the problem of urban safety.
Although a shared definition of the fear of crime construct is lacking in the literature,
recent research has highlighted that ‘it should not be the sole focus of studies, but instead
should be one of a three-pronged approach to studying the larger concept of “threat of
victimization” (which includes fear of crime, perceived risk and constrained behaviors)’
(Rader, 2017: 3). This point of view emphasizes the multidimensionality of fear of crime,
but also its difference from perceived unsafety, which focuses on environmental and
social disorders, on the social construction of unsafe environments, in addition to fear of
crime. In brief, fear of crime can be considered as a component of the wider multidimen-
sional construct of unsafety.
Okunola and Amole (2011), for example, defined unsafety by using not only fear of
crime but also other factors, such as perception of personal vulnerability and collective
efficacy. However, a multidimensional definition of the sense of unsafety construct as an
individual and collective concept is still missing in the literature. More recently, interest
in social disorganization theory has been renewed and urban safety has been studied
analysing mechanisms related to informal social control, the influence of socio-structural
characteristics of the context and social disorder (Brunton-Smith and Sturgis, 2011;
Carro et al., 2010; Valera and Guàrdia, 2014).
Thus, the traditional analysis of sense of safety, based on processes of victimization,
fear of crime and disorder, is evolving towards a theoretical model that introduces aspects
related to social cohesion, collective efficacy and so-called ‘territorial functioning’
(Taylor, 1988).
The analysis of sense of unsafety is not independent from the consideration of a range
of variables able to condition the perception of urban safety, such as sociodemographic
characteristics, characteristics related to the place of residence and direct and indirect
victimization processes. The role of these variables has been investigated by a number of
studies, and it appears useful to provide a brief review of the evidence.
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