Essay On Fear Of Crime

The manner in which accounts of violent crimes are spread by means of word of mouth, radio, television and social media contributes to the fear of crime within individuals (Dirsuweit, 2002). Fear of crime affects individuals differently, as each individual’s experiences or perceptions differs from the other. Fear of crime may potentially have various physical and emotional effects on individuals (Roberts, 2010). These physical and emotional effects may cause trauma related symptoms if the fear becomes disproportionately imminent, or display continuous vigilance and/or avoidant demeanours (Engelbreght, 2009). In some instances the elevated levels of fear of crime may cause a loss of communities standing together and trusting each other, which …show more content…
A concern however is that both fear of crime and fear of victimisation have been used interchangeably in research (Williams, McShane, & Akers, 2000). To date researchers have not yet reached a conclusion as to the exact definition of fear of crime, nor fear of victimisation (Williams, McShane, & Akers, 2000). For the purpose of this study the following definition for fear of crime will be used. Fear of crime can be defined as an inclusion of unclear emotional states, perceptions of risk and viewpoints, which in essence will be different for each and every individual (Wynne, …show more content…
Furthermore it has been argued that fear of crime has justifiably engrossed the minds of individuals due to the environment of high crime statistics they live in (Engelbreght, 2009). South Africa is known for its culture of violence (Engelbreght, 2009). The roots of fear of crime are multidimensional and further research is vital in order to comprehend the intricate dynamic (Mistry,