AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE “THREAT OF VICTIMIZATION:” CONSIDERING FEAR OF CRIME, PERCEIVED RISK, AVOIDANCE, AND DEFENSIVE BEHAVIORS

Abstract

Abstract Rader (Citation2004) has called for a reconceptualization in the study of fear of crime, arguing that fear is one of several dimensions of the “threat of victimization,” with fear of crime, perceptions of risk, and avoidance (i.e., limiting or changing activity) and defensive behaviors (i.e., performing a specific action to allay fear of crime) as interrelated pieces. We use data from adult residents of a midsouthern state to provide qualified support for the threat of victimization concept in a series of multivariate linear and logistic regression models. Implications for future fear of crime research are also discussed. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences meetings in Baltimore, MD in March 2006. Notes 1There are a number of differences in the two data sets that do not allow for exact comparison of the data sources. First, due to the differences in the manner in which some of the demographic data were categorized in the telephone survey, some of the Census data were interpolated into categories matching those of the sample. Secondly, data collected about marital status for the 2000 census included respondents age 15 and over while data collected about education level used respondents 25 and over; data for the sample for both variables came from respondents age 18 and over. *The symbol (x) indicates a statistically significant relationship between the two variables that intersect at that cell.