Rotter's social learning theory and fear of crime : Differences by race and ethnicity

Abstract

The authors used J. B. Rotter's social learning theory to test for differences, by race and ethnicity, in fear of crime. They expected the effects of three constructs composing social learning theory-locus of control, reinforcement value, and social context-to act multiplicatively on fear of crime. The analysis was based on results from a telephone survey of a randomly selected sample of 395 white and 122 nonwhite residents, aged eighteen years or older, of a Midwestern city. The main and interactive effects of locus of control, reinforcement value, and social context explained a significant proportion of the variance in the fear-of-crime measure, over and above that contributed by demographic and contextual control variables. The model was more appropriate for explaining fear of crime in white than in nonwhite respondents, however. Major differences by race and ethnicity in the main and interactive effects of the social learning theory variables were apparent. The model tested here appears to have some value in conceptualizing various contingencies thought to influence fear of crime. The analysis indicates, however, that further study is needed of factors affecting fear of crime, especially in the nonwhite population