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Fear of crime has been a major social and political issue in Western societies. Previous studies have established that older people are disturbed disproportionately by fear of crime, which can accelerate their loss of physical and social functioning. Despite the rapidly ageing population and the sharp rise of crime in urban China, there is a paucity of research on the fear of crime in older Chinese, not to mention the lack of sound psychometric instruments or any established theoretical model. This study systematically investigated the fear of crime in older Chinese living in urban China. It involves two phases. In Phase One of the study, existing measures on fear of crime, perceived risk of crime and constrained behaviors were culturally adapted through a series of consultation with expert panels and pilot testing. Results indicated that all adapted scales exhibited satisfactory internal reliability with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .81 to .94. In Phase Two of this study, an integrated theoretical model incorporating the vulnerability, environment perception, victimization and risk interpretation models was tested. The model takes into account relevant Chinese cultural values, while simultaneously addressing the impacts of fear of crime on mental health and constrained behaviors. A representative sample of 453 older adults aged 60 years or above was recruited from urban communities in Kunming, Yunnan using multistage sampling methods. Participants were individually interviewed. Results show that fear of crime was prevalent in this sample with 258 participants (57.0%) reporting fear of one or more types of depicted crimes. Path analyses show that the proposed integrated theoretical framework effectively captures the relationship between fear of crime and various hypothesized factors. The model accounted for 22.1% of the variance in perceived risk of crime, 35.8% in fear of crime, 31.2% in poor mental health and 21.4% in constrained behaviors. Perceived risk of crime played a central role in inducing fear of crime and mediated the associations between fear of crime and various hypothesized risk factors, including female gender, a younger age, higher perceived social instability, lower adherence to the Chinese cultural value of Harmony and more direct victimization by crime. In regard to impact, being fearful of crime predisposes participants to more constrained behaviors, while a high level of perceived risk impaired their mental health. This study is among the first empirical endeavors to investigate fear of crime experienced by older Chinese. It provides preliminary support for the applicability of various prominent theoretical models in the Chinese setting. Results also established a novel association between fear of crime and the Chinese cultural value of Harmony. The integrated model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the underlying genesis mechanism of fear of crime experienced by older Chinese. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The aim of this thesis is to explain the identity narratives of three different Colombian ‘girl handlers’ in Hong Kong and how these form a nexus to a wider context of human trafficking and organised crime. This investigation takes form in the analysis of their impression management utilising the concepts of front-stage, back-stage, facework, techniques of neutralisation they utilise to justify their behaviour, and their links to organised crime syndicates operating both within and outside of Hong Kong. I also look at the way in which they go about doing their business of ‘girl handling’ in practice. The research was conducted to gain a better understanding of this particular criminal subculture. The context of the aforementioned forms of analysis; and attempts to offer original insight into this criminal group. It is a relatively small operation functioning within the greater scheme of the sex trade and as such, most of the people involved in this trade were interviewed. This investigation was conducted through in-depth interviews of the Colombian ‘girl handlers’ and in-depth interviews with a priest who is familiar with this scene. In addition I have analysed both Colombian court documents which verify certain claims made by the research participants and documents released by the United Nations in relations to a particular case which will be mentioned in the third chapter of this thesis. The empirical findings of this research demonstrate that Colombian girl handlers have to manage different façades to operate in this trade and keep it secret from people they do not trust; this works both ways as they would lose credibility in both their legal and illegal jobs. Another finding is that they utilise various techniques of neutralisation to justify their behaviour and actions in the trade. The last finding illustrates that all three girl handlers have some ties to an organised crime syndicate (if they are not fully affiliated) as they would not be allowed to operate within this field without such connections. Those who do, conform to the ‘outer layers’ or ‘fringes’ of the Colombian cartels. The interviewees therefore could be defined as small cogs working in the “outer layers” of an international machine of crime syndicates far away from Hong Kong. This study therefore allows for the understanding of Colombian ‘girl handlers’ in different forms which make each unique in the way that he conducts his business. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Criminology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Criminology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Statistics / Master / Master of Social Sciences