Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / L. Susan Williams / Studies on fear of crime demonstrate that fear of rape controls women’s lives by altering emotions and behavior, though how women construct rape discourse through social networks has not been examined. Further, studies tend to dismiss stranger rape because of its rarity compared to acquaintance rape, but this study argues that research must begin where women are. This study looks to women’s voices to articulate how they talk about fear of rape; specifically, it examines responses to a serial rapist at work in a college town. Framed by feminist methodology, this study establishes the influence of fear on women’s lives and the role of women’s social networks in disseminating information, constructing strategies, and changing behavior as it relates to a local serial rapist. The study utilizes a multi-method approach to quantify levels of fear in the community and to document qualitatively women’s responses to knowledge about the serial rapist. Two surveys, content analysis of local newspapers, and interviews support this research. In particular, group interviews conducted in two environments – campus face-to-face groups and online virtual groups – provide opportunities for young women to voice concerns and report behavioral changes related to the serial rapes. The research demonstrates that women are concerned about insufficient information from formal sources and want more accurate reporting. Women depend heavily on informal networks for information, but it is often incomplete and/or inaccurate and may actually intensify fear. As documented in earlier research, women focus on stranger rape to the neglect of the more common acquaintance rape and tend to strategize in individual terms rather than recognize structural issues. A major finding of this research is that young women actually perceive a change in their own identity as they try to manage fear of rape. However, women’s social networks and, in particular, the increasingly popular online networks, provide a forum from which to try out strategies, build collective discourse, and, in turn, develop greater group consciousness among young women. From the experiences of women in this study, several policy implications are offered for managing fear, including education about the more likely threat of acquaintance rape.

Deported migrants in Jamaica face a plethora of integration and rehabilitation issues that have been exacerbated by the society’s negative perception of the population. Though previous research has highlighted the counterproductive implications of the negative attitudes (Headley, 2006), it is still evident in the Jamaican society. The current study examines the relationship between the migrant’s fear of crime and their well-being post-deportation. Therein, eight semi-structured interviews facilitated by the National Organisation of Deported Migrants were used to collect data over two weeks. A thematic analysis indicated that visibility impacted the extent to which deported migrants had a perceived risk of victimisation. The population's reduced mobility and lack of integration as a result of increased visibility and distrust of the wider society influenced their exhibition of isolating behaviours which were identified as incubators for physical and mental health effects, potential substance use disorders (SUD) and recidivism. Additionally, migrants residing in communities with reported criminal activities were identified to be at an increased risk of the adverse effects highlighted. The presence of several protective factors, including less time away from Jamaica and familial support mitigated these factors. The author highlights that social education, in addition to effective long-term reintegration and rehabilitation programs that focus on health are necessary implementations to reduce the risks associated with fear of crime and improve reintegration.

Past research has confirmed that structural attributes of nations, as well as individual characteristics of people contribute to levels of fear of crime, across both nations and individuals. Specifically, in regard to the effects structural characteristics have on fear, gender equality has been shown to affect rates of rape, which in turn, affect women's fear of crime. Regarding individual-level determinants, age, income, education, whether one dwells in an urban or rural area, and prior victimization have been shown to have effects on fear. This dissertation set out to answer several research questions related to prior findings: 1) How does gender equality affect women's fear of crime across nations?; 2) Does gender equality have a direct effect on women's fear, or is this effect mediated by national rape rates?; 3) How do structural characteristics other than gender equality affect women's fear of crime?; and last, 4) How do individual characteristics affect women's fear of crime? Using data from various sources, including the International Criminal Victimization Survey, the World Values Survey, the United Nations, and the World Bank (total N=20 nations and 17,384 individuals), I assessed the aforementioned research questions using multilevel modeling. Overall, findings indicate that individual-level characteristics did a better job than structural context in predicting women's fear of crime across various nations. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed in the final chapter.

The primary aim of this thesis is to assess whether and to what extent serious crime and specifically violent and organised crime, poses a national security threat to South Africa since 1994. To achieve this, the study focuses on serious crime in South Africa before 1994; serious crime trends and characteristics between 1994 and 2009; crime prevention and national security polices developed after 1994; public perceptions of safety and security after 1994; and the consequences of serious crime. In this regard three assumptions were formulated for assessment namely: − South Africa exhibits many of the national security issues of the developing world, as manifested in predominately internal threats to security. − Serious crime is one of the main threats to South Africa’s national security, and continues to have an extremely negative impact on all spheres of life, especially on the country’s social, economic, security and political environments. − There has been increasing concern over the occurrence of crime, particularly serious crime, in South Africa since 1994, despite certain statistical decreases. All three of the assumptions could be verified in the study. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Political Sciences / DPhil / Unrestricted

Traditionally in Sweden the crime preventative and fear of crime reducing work has fallen on the police. However, in 2019 the Swedish government appointed an inquiry where an investigator is to submit a proposal regarding how the municipalities in Sweden can have a legislated responsibility for crime preventative work. The proposal is to cover formulations of what the responsibility would be as well as what actors should carry this responsibility. The present study examined a municipal crime preventative and fear of crime reducing initiative that has grown more popular in Sweden: community wardens. The aim of the present study was to investigate what the arguments for the implementations were as well as how these arguments turned out practically. The present study uses a qualitative thematic analysis to study the implementation of community wardens in two Swedish municipalities – Vellinge and Trelleborg. The results show that even though the arguments for and mission of the community wardens in both municipalities are very similar there are differences in implementation giving the community wardens different approaches. In Vellinge there is a focus on building relationships and working proactively providing an enhanced informal social control. Whereas in Trelleborg there is greater focus on monitoring municipal properties enhancing the formal control in the municipality. Furthermore, there seem to be risks of intruding or overlapping with other actors when implementing community wardens.

Zwar hat die deliktspezifische Abfrage der Kriminalitätsfurcht eine ausführliche theoretische Begründung erfahren, jedoch mangelt es an einer empirischen Überprüfung, die sich zusätzlich auch auf den Vergleich mit dem modifizierten Standardindikator konzentriert. In der folgenden Arbeit soll ein solcher Vergleich der beiden Operationalisierungen anhand eines Datensatzes erfolgen.:1. Einleitung 2. Theoretische Ansätze 3. Methode 4. Datenanalyse 5. Zusammenfassung, Methodenkritik und Ausblick

In 2005, Florida enacted the Justifiable Use of Deadly Force legislation, known as Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws, in response to the Workman case. The aftermath of that case led to the expansion of the laws that removed the duty to retreat principle and allowed citizens to employ deadly force when imbued with fear. The SYG laws as written appeared to imply state-sanctioned violence, with an increase in homicides, coupled with racial disparities. This study employed a quantitative inquiry with a causal-comparative design to explore whether a relationship existed between racial socialization and fear of crime in SYG states compared to non-SYG states, using the lens of critical race theory, contact theory and policy learning theory. The study included 112 participants recruited through social media, they were ages 18 years and older, from Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia who had no connections to an SYG case. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and indicated statistical significance between the state of residency and an individual's decision to fight back when presented with a scenario similar to the Trayvon Martin case. The results also yielded a statistical significance between gender, ethnicity, and an individual'€™s decision to fight back in the SYG scenario. The findings of this study confirm that the state of residency may impact the decision to employ deadly force or fight back. However, other results are not consistent with previous research. This study provides legislatures with a means for reforming the SYG rhetoric, as well as decrease the public'€™s misconceptions about the SYG laws.

Tryggheten i Malmö var ett av kommunfullmäktiges målområde 2016. Enligt målsättning ska Malmö vara en trygg och tillgänglig stad för alla men vid revisionens granskning av målområdet framkom att det trygghetsskapande arbetet bättre måste följas upp (Malmö stad 2016a). Vidare är å andra sidan trygghet ett brett begrepp vars definition inte är självklar och inom kriminologin är specifikt barns perspektiv av trygghet föga utforskat. För att fördjupa bilden om trygghet i Malmö syftar därmed denna studie att undersöka kommunfullmäktiges målområde 6 utifrån hur trygghetsupplevelsen ser ut för barn i Malmö. Studien är ett uppdrag utfärdat av stadsområde Norr, Malmö stad. Barnens trygghet tolkas dels utifrån resultatet i Folkhälsoenkäten Barn och Unga i Skåne 2016 samt också genom fokusgruppsintervjuer med ett urval av elever för att se hur de tolkar begreppet trygghet. Resultatet enligt den statistiska analysen visade att faktorer som utsatthet för mobbning och brott har en negativ påverkan på barns trygghet. Detta samband stärks dock ytterligare beroende på om barnet är en flicka och var barnet bor i Malmö. När det kommer till intervjuerna med barnen visade resultatet att barnen definierar otrygghet främst utifrån rädslan att bli utsatta för brott alternativt rädsla för obehagliga händelser. Tryggheten tolkas därmed utifrån en affektiv känsla eller emotionell trygghet. I diskussionen framhävs även att barnen generellt känner sig trygga i Malmö men där staden inte upplevs som en enhetlig trygg stad. Ambitionen att Malmö ska vara en trygg och säker stad för alla invånare varierar därmed när det kommer till barnens perspektiv i denna studie. / Security in Malmö was one of the city's target areas in 2016. Malmö aims to be a safe and accessible city for all residents, but in the audit's review of the target area it emerged that the work regarding safety has to be better evaluated (Malmö stad 2016a). On the other hand, security is a broad and not self-evident concept, particular, the child's perspective of security has been little explored in criminology. In order to deepen the knowledge of security in Malmö, this study aims to investigating the city council target area regarding children’s safety. The study is a commission issued by the urban area North, Malmö stad.The study is based partly on the results in “Folkhälsoenkät Barn och Unga i Skåne 2016” and through focus group- interviews with a selection of students to see how they interpret the concept of security. The result of the statistical analysis showed that factors such as vulnerability to bullying and crime have a negative impact on children safety. However, this correlation is further enhanced depending on whether the child is a girl and where the child lives in Malmö. In terms of interviews with the children, the results showed that the children define uncertainty primarily based on fear of crime or fear of unpleasant events. Security is thus interpreted by an emotional sense of security. The discussion also emphasizes that the children generally feel safe in Malmö, but the city is not perceived as a unified safe city. The ambition that Malmö should be a safe and secure city for all residents varies according to the children's perspective in this study.

Throughout the 1980s, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC), a grassroots group of “prison neighbors,” organized for tighter security at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas (SCID), a medium security prison in northeast Pennsylvania. Motivated primarily by their fear of prisoner escapes, the CAC used the local media to raise awareness about security concerns and cooperated with the SCID administration to acquire state funding for projects at the prison that they believed would improve security. Their work coincided with the widespread proliferation of “tough on crime” rhetoric and policies, and the inauguration of the most intensive buildup of prisons ever witnessed in the United States. This phenomenon, now known as mass incarceration, has disproportionately impacted urban communities of color, due principally to the highly racialized nature of the War on Drugs, while the majority of prisons have been located in white rural communities. By imagining themselves as a population under threat, conceptualizing prisoners as potentially dangerous regardless of the nature of the crimes of which they had been convicted, and positioning the prison administration as a potential ally that needed constant supervision, the CAC contributed in complex ways to the solidification of a racially- and economically-skewed, intensely punitive criminal justice system. The CAC’s organizing helps expose an aspect of mass incarceration that has remained relatively unexplored thus far: the role rural communities that surround prisons played in the historical processes that moved the practice of punishment from the relative periphery of U.S. society to its present position as a central apparatus for political, economic, and social organization.

Otrygghet är ett komplext fenomen med stor utbredning i samhället. Den mest otrygga gruppen utgörs av unga kvinnor, vilka samtidigt är minst utsatta för brott i det offentliga rummet. Det paradoxala förhållandet benämns som the fear of crime paradox och genomsyrar studien. Syftet med studien är att belysa den upplevda (o)tryggheten hos unga kvinnor i Björns Trädgård i Stockholm, en park som länge präglats av otrygghet och ett negativt rykte. Genom sex kvalitativa intervjuer skapar studien en inblick i huruvida platsers utformning utifrån teorin Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) påverkar (o)tryggheten hos unga kvinnor. Resultatet visar att otryggheten påverkas av den negativa uppfattningen om Björns Trädgård, vilken kvinnornas föräldrar bidrar till att reproducera. Bristande synlighet i form av försämrad belysning, att inte se eller bli sedd samt avsaknaden av andra människor framträder som otryggt. Samtidigt föreslås förbättringar av de nämnda aspekterna som åtgärder med potential att öka tryggheten i parken. Slutsatsen betonar vidare att otryggheten är förenlig med hur kvinnor socialiseras in i att känna sig otrygga ensamma ute på kvällen, vilket resulterar i en ständigt närvarande riskmedvetenhet som i sin tur bidrar till att kvinnor tenderar att undvika otrygga platser.