Social psychology and the fear of crime: Re-examining a speculative model

Research and theorizing about the fear of crime has, in the main, been dominated by researchers who have relied upon sociological or socio-demographic variables to account for variations in fear levels. Whilst this body of work has contributed greatly to our understanding of the fear of crime, we are still far from a full understanding of this important and most corrosive aspect of contemporary society. This article re-examines what is currently just about the only social psychological model of the fear of crime. By incorporating social psychological and socio-demographic variables, the authors are able to account for approximately one third of the variance of the fear of crime.