Gendered Fear of Crime Socialization

Abstract

This article examines constructs of a theoretical model that explains the social learning process responsible for individuals’ fear of crime levels and how this socialization process differs for men and women. Specifically, the authors apply the original principles of Akers’s social learning theory (i.e., differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation) to the gendered fear of crime socialization process. The authors argue that fear of crime socialization and gender socialization become a fused concept called “gendered fear of crime socialization” that leads individuals to establish associations, definitions, reinforcement, and imitation of gendered fear of crime.