Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

This study aimed to examine the relationships between crime exposure and posttraumatic stress symptomatology, and crime exposure and fear of crime. More specifically it set out to establish a possible causal link between crime exposure and posttraumatic stress symptomatology and fear of crime. In addition, it then aimed to identify and explore the possible moderating effect of coping style, (problem-focused, emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping) on the afore-mentioned relationships. The study was conducted on a Johannesburg based, tertiary student population (n = 123) and employed self-report questionnaires to solicit responses which were then subject to statistical analyses. Findings for the relationship between crime exposure and posttraumatic stress symptomatology indicated that increased exposure to crime was predictive of higher posttraumatic stress symptomatology. However a comparison of the relationship between non-crime related traumas and posttraumatic stress symptomatology suggested that crime exposure was not the only predictor of posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Similarly, findings for the relationship between crime exposure and fear of crime indicated that increased exposure to crime was predictive of increased fear of crime levels. Again, however, a comparison of the relationship between non-crime related traumas and fear of crime suggested that crime exposure was not the only predictor of fear of crime. In reference to the possible moderating effects of coping styles on the relationships between crime exposure and posttraumatic stress symptomatology, and crime exposure and fear of crime, no significant moderating effects were found for problem-focused, emotion-focused or dysfunctional coping. Dysfunctional coping was significantly associated with higher levels of traumatic stress symptomatology and fear of crime, but independent of exposure patterns. Visible patterns of relationship with regard to both problem focused and emotion focused coping appeared to be more complex than would be expected based on existing findings in the literature.

Assessing the perceptions that students have of the university police officers charged with ensuring student safety is important to maintaining the overall safety of the campus. The current study sought to assess the relationship between student perceptions of university police and the fear of crime felt by students while on campus. Data collection was conducted through a survey methodology using a convenient sample of students in which a self-report survey was sent to the university email addresses of all students enrolled in a southeastern university (n=260). Through the employment of a scale developed to assess the perceptions of university police legitimacy and a similar scale to assess fear of crime, the results of the study demonstrate a relationship exists between the variables. The relationship strengthens when demographics are controlled for. This study was designed to add to the limited amount of research examining perceptions of university law enforcements.

The city as a focal point of both domestic and international security policy is characteristic of the 21st century security landscape in Europe. Amidst the 'War on Terror' and the pan-European battle against organised crime, the city is the location where global processes are actually taking place. Urban security is the local policy response both to such global threats as terrorism and local ones, such as violent crime. Public transport systems in particular came under threat after the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, Madrid in 2004, and London in 2005. This doctoral thesis studies security policy in three public transport systems – Berlin, Stockholm, and Warsaw – from a comparative perspective focusing on the conditions that made new and very specific understandings of security possible. The study argues that urban transport security has undergone radical changes during the last ten years. While transport authorities and the police used to conceive security as related solely to crime rates, today the focus of security practices consists of passengers' perceptions. The study shows how this shift is paralleled by a new discourse of 'security as emotion', and how it came into being. It concentrates specifically on the central role that surveillance and private policing assumes as the security policy shifts objectives to the inner life of the passengers. Today, complex governance networks of both public and private actors manage security in the three cities. The analysis shows how passengers are constructed in the urban security policy as children, consumers, and citizens. These different 'roles' constitute the passenger in the eye of urban security governance characterised by technocracy, 'friendly security', and individual responsibility. The introduction of new governance models for public administration, the legacy of European communist regimes, and rising fear of crime are central conditions for this new, sensitised urban transport security.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study, a sociological perspective, has aimed to investigate the possible existence of a relation between the social phenomena fear of crime and moral panic. The study was realized through a research in Superinteressante magazine. Its purpose is to understand how this magazine emphasizes in its reports/articles the issues/themes which contain the concepts of fear of crime , risk and moral panic as central issues. The first concept, fear of crime , is based in Borges (2011) and Glassner ([1999] 2003), being portrayed as a social construction. The second concept, risk, is based in Giddens ([1990] 1991), where it is conceived as more individual, and in Beck ([1986] 2010) where it is global. The third and last concept, moral panic , is guided by the ideal classification of Goode & Ben-Yehuda ([1994b] 2009). The research has the hypothesis that the fear of crime here treated as a social phenomenon and derived from a social construction influences negatively in the conception of risk of potential criminal victimization. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between fear of crime and moral panic, with risk being present in this discussion, either directly or indirectly. / No presente trabalho, de cunho sociológico, proponho-me a investigar, a possível existência da relação entre os fenômenos sociais Medo do Crime e pânico moral. O trabalho foi realizado através de pesquisa na revista Superinteressante. O intuito é compreender como a revista Superinteressante dá ênfase, em suas reportagens/artigos, a assuntos/temáticas que tenham os conceitos de Medo do crime , risco e de pânico moral, como temas centrais. O primeiro conceito, Medo do Crime , baseado em Borges (2011) e Glassner ([1999] 2003), tratam o Medo do Crime como uma construção social. O segundo conceito, risco, será baseado em Giddens ([1990] 1991), um risco percebido como mais individual, e Beck ([1986] 2010) tratando o risco como global. O terceiro conceito, pânico moral, será norteado, pela tipificação ideal de Goode & Ben-Yehuda ([1994b] 2009). A pesquisa tem como hipótese que o Medo do Crime , aqui compreendido com um fenômeno social, derivado de uma construção social, influencia negativamente na concepção acerca do risco de potencial vitimização criminal, havendo, portanto, relação direta entre Medo do Crime e pânico moral, estando o risco presente na discussão, direta ou indiretamente.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the fear of crime affects the capabilities, perceptions and experiences of black female youth, living in the Cape Flats, Cape Town. Qualitative semi structured interviews were conducted with 18 black female participants between the ages of 18 to 30. This study used Garofalo's model of fear of crime and Amartya Sen's capability approach as theoretical frameworks. With the help of these two frameworks, the researcher sought to gauge what influence the fear of crime can have on people's lives and how crime affects young black females living in communities with high crime rates. It also showed how their life choices and opportunities are influenced by living in unsafe communities. The major challenges and problems highlighted by the participants include: Constant trauma of their daily life (leaving their houses, random shootings, unsafe public transport), mental health issues (losing friends and relatives), lack of proper police service (lack of police presence, incompetence of police, corruption), fear for family or friends, lack of trust and support systems (broken families, loss of trust, no role models, lack of social capital), lack of infrastructure (such as safe hospitals or educational challenges), the effects of gangsterism (gangs and drug wars, effects of drugs, families' or friend's involvement in gangsterism) and the lack of opportunities such as unemployment. This study showed how the peoples' capabilities have been affected by the above-mentioned issues and how the fear of crime affected their daily lives. This study also made recommendations for policy makers and social institutions on what can be done to reduce crime rates and make communities with high crime rates safer

Die Komplexität des Sicherheitsempfindens bringt es mit sich, dass nicht wenige Theorien vorhanden sind, mit denen versucht wird, das Zustandekommen von Kriminalitätsfurcht bzw. Sicherheitsempfinden zu erklären. Die Theorie der generellen Ängste, der sozialen Desorganisation, der sozialen Problemperspektive bezeichnen einige Pfade dieser Entwicklung. Die erste und scheinbar selbstevidente Theorie war jene der Viktimisierung. Es schien auf der Hand zu liegen, dass Viktimsierungserfahrungen die Kriminalitätsfurcht steigern.

In this thesis I focus on the preventive strategy called Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). The aim of this strategy is to act preventively against crime and to reduce fear of crime by means of modification of the physical setting in public spaces. CPTED is theoretically based mainly on findings of crime geography, environmental criminology and architecture. After presenting this concept at the theoretical level I focus on six concrete locations in Prague. On the basis of my field research I investigate if the principles of CPTED are applied in these locations. I also refer to differences between locations, where the preventive principles were applied and locations without use of the CPTED standards. Through the use of questionnaires I try to verify if people really feel safer in places where the principles of CPTED were used. Then I observe the types of activites and the structure of people in those six examined locations. Semistructured interviews with the employees of the Prague municipal police were realised to complete the characteristics of these places. In the last part of the thesis I consider the possibilities of design adjustments in the unsuitable locations according to the CPTED principles.

Fear of Crime remains a relevant theme in criminological research. Its associations include damage to psychological well-being, decreases in collective cohesion and trust, and populism. Located in the field of victimology, previous research found that significant predictors for Fear of Crime are: Previous Victimization, Previous Victimization with a Hate-Motive, Severity of Previous Victimization, Perceived Risk and Risk Control. This study will aim to investigate if the dynamics of Fear of Crime established by previous research are applicable in a LGBT population. Subsequently the sub-groups sexual minorities, bisexuals, and trans-people are compared, filling a literature gap. The sample consists of 353 self-identified LGBT people at Malmö University who filled out a self-report survey inquiring about previous victimization, fear of crime, perceived motives of previous victimization, perceived risk of victimization, and tactics to reduce risk of victimization. The predictors were entered into a block-wise multiple regression model as well as a path-analysis. Both Perceived Risk and Risk Control were entered after the other predictors. The results showed that Severity of Previous Victimization was significantly (p < .001) and positively (β = .267) predicting Fear of Crime. Additionally, Severity of Previous Victimization significantly (p < .01) and positively (β = .206) predicted Perceived Risk which in turn predicted (p < .001, β = .208) Fear of Crime. Risk Control did not have a statistically significant effect size (p > .05). In the sub-group comparison, Perceived Risk did not have a significant effect size (p > .05) among the trans-people. The study concludes that Severity of Previous Victimization both has a direct and indirect effect on Fear of Crime, in the LGBT population, but not among the trans-people sub-group, suggesting that future research as well as policy makers need to take such differences into account. Similar conclusions are drawn regarding Risk Control.