Perceived Risk and Fear of Crime: Role of Social and Physical Incivilities

TLDR

Incivilities such as abandoned storefronts, litter, and public drunkenness are increasingly recognized as powerful drivers of fear of crime, sometimes rivaling actual crime, and community clean‑sweep initiatives are widely supported for improving urban quality of life. This study investigates how social and physical incivilities influence citizens’ perceptions of crime risk and their feelings of fear. The authors analyze a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,101 U.S. adults.

Abstract

Scholars are paying close attention to incivilities and how they affect citizens' fear of crime. A common research finding is that neighborhood incivilities (e.g., abandoned storefronts, unkept lots, litter, noise, bench sleepers, public drunks) are often as powerful in generating feelings of fear as crime itself. The implication is that by removing the riffraff from the streets and graffiti from the walls, feelings of fear will be reduced. Moreover, community “clean-sweeps” will meet with public approval as they improve the overall quality of life in cities and neighborhoods. This article carefully examines the influence of a number of social and physical incivilities on two different reactions to crime—perceptions of risk and feelings of fear. The authors use a national data set of 1,101 randomly selected U.S. adults who have been interviewed by telephone. The data reveal significant relationships between social and physical incivility and perceptions of risk; incivility is also related to fear but less strongly so. To the extent that incivility is predictive of fear, its causal effect is mediated almost entirely through perceptions of risk to crime. This finding has received little attention to date.