Previous studies about the welfare state and fear of crime have suggested that a generous welfare state safeguard against fear of crime and that this is especially true for victims of crime. This study delves further into these ideas but assesses the role of welfare attitudes and victimisation on fear of crime. The aim is to investigate whether welfare attitudes, including support for government responsibility toward welfare services and income redistribution, are associated with fear of crime across Europe. Additionally, it aims to investigate whether there are differences in fear of crime between victims and non-victims at different levels of support for the welfare state. A multilevel ordered logistic model is used to assess this, with ESS data on the individual level and data from different official sources on the country level. The study found no or only slight evidence of a correlation between welfare attitudes and fear of crime. Support for welfare services was not associated with fear of crime. However, support for income redistribution increases fear of crime slightly. In terms of victimisation, prior victimisation increased the probability of fear of crime, which was consistent in the level of support for welfare services but differed in the level of support for income redistribution. Among victims, there was a higher probability of fear of crime at higher levels of support for income redistribution, and a lower probability of fear of crime at lower levels of support.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-231637 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Phalander, Vilma |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Sociologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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