Putting Fear of Crime on the Map: Investigating Perceptions of Crime Using Geographic Information Systems (Springer Series on Evidence-Based Crime Policy)

Since first emerging as an issue of concern in the late 1960s, fear of crime has become one of the most researched topics in contemporary criminology and receives considerable attention in a range of other disciplines including social ecology, social psychology and geography. Researchers looking the subject have consistently uncovered alarming characteristics, primarily relating to the behavioural responses that people adopt in relation to their fear of crime. This book reports on research conducted over the past eight years, in which efforts have been made to pioneer the combination of techniques from behavioural geography with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to map the fear of crime. The first part of the book outlines the history of research into fear of crime, with an emphasis on the many approaches that have been used to investigate the problem and the need for a spatially-explicit approach. The second part provides a technical break down of the GIS-based techniques used to map fear of crime and summarises key findings from two separate study sites. The authors describe collective avoidance behaviour in relation to disorder decline models such as the Broken Windows Thesis, the potential to integrate fear mapping with police-community partnerships and emerging avenues for further research. Issues discussed include fear of crime in relation to housing prices and disorder, the use of fear mapping as a means with which to monitor the impact of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and fear mapping in transit environments. Dedication 5 A Real Estate Agent Leaves 5 A Cobbler Who Wouldn't Eat Outside 6 A Night on the Town Goes Wrong 6 A Husband Threatens to Take the Law into His Own Hands 7 Series Foreword 10 Notes 11 Acknowledgements 12 Contents 14 1 Introduction 17 The Emergence of Fear of Crime As an Area of Research 17 The Paradoxical Nature of the Fear of Crime 18 Current Trends in Fear of Crime Research 19 References 20 2 Why Is Fear of Crime a Serious Social Problem? 24 Individual Reactions 24 Hypothesized Links Between the Fear of Crime, Disorder and Crime 26 Disorder and Decline Hypothesis 28 Economic Impact of Behavioural Responses to Fear of Crime 31 Chapter Review: Potential Problems Not to Be Ignored and a Need for Spatially Explicit Research 34 References 34 3 What Causes Fear of Crime? 39 Criminal Opportunity and Risk of Victimization Theories 39 Demographic Theories Explaining Fear of Crime 40 Victimization Hypothesis 40 Indirect Victimization Hypothesis 41 The Media and Fear of Crime 42 Interpersonal Communication and Fear of Crime 43 Vulnerabilities Hypothesis 43 Review: An Abundance of Contested Demographic Studies 45 Social Theories Explaining Fear of Crime 45 Risk Society Hypothesis 45 Social Disorganization Hypothesis 46 Subcultural Diversity Hypothesis 49 Social Integration/Neighbourhood Cohesion Hypotheses 50 Community Concern Hypothesis 50 Social Change Hypothesis 51 Review: Social Studies Emphasize the Inherent Complexity of 'Fear' of 'Crime' 51 Environmental Theories Explaining Fear of Crime 52 The Disorder/Incivilities Hypothesis 52 Threatening and Safe Environments Theories 54 Signal Crimes Perspective 55 Review: Intuitive Environmental Studies into Cues Triggering Fear of Crime 58 Chapter Review: An Opening for Pertinent Environmental Studies 58 References 59 4 Managing Fear of Crime 65 Policing Fear of Crime 65 Case Study: The New York Police Department's (NYPD) Policing Model 69 Environmental Design and Fear of Crime 70 Chapter Review: Police, Community and Government Cooperation 75 References 75 5 Investigating Fear of Crime 80 Defining Fear of Crime 80 Fear Is an Emotion, Not Cognition 81 Fear in Relation to Other Emotional Reactions and Stimuli that Trigger Fear 82 Crime Involves a Violation of Criminal Law 83 Types of Fear of Crime: Personal and Altruistic Points of View 84 Review: Key Issues to Consider When Defining Fear of Crime 85 Measuring Fear of Crime 85 Problems with Cognitive Approaches to Measuring Fear of Crime 85 Global Measures 86 Value- or Concern-Based Measures 88 Improvements Through Affective Approaches to Measuring Fear of Crime 88 Emotion-Based Measures 88 Behavioural Approaches to Measuring Fear of Crime 89 Protection-Based Measures 89 Avoidance-Based Measures 91 Review: A Preference for Avoidance-Based Measures in Fear-of-Crime Studies 92 Analysing Fear-of-Crime Data 92 Advantages of Spatial Analyses of Fear of Crime 94 Spatial Cognition and Cognitive Mapping 95 The Beginning of Fear Mapping 97 Activity Diaries and Daily Routines 98 Geographic Information Systems and Fear of Crime 99 Chapter Review: A New Direction with Avoidance Mapping 101 References 101 6 The Wollongong Study 108 The Goals of the Wollongong Study 108 Research Setting 109 Logic Behind Study Site Selection 111 The Central Business District of Wollongong 112 Crime and Fear of Crime in Wollongong 114 Crime Trends in the Illawarra Region, 2001 114 Crime Hotspots at the LGA Level in NSW, 2002 115 Methods 116 Fear-of-Crime Survey and Analysis 116 Disorder Assessment 120 Spatial Analysis of Crime Data 123 Combinatory Spatial Analysis: Framework for a Spatiotemporal Comparison of Collective Avoidance Concentrations, Social and Physical Disorder and Crime 125 Results 128 Sample Characteristics 128 The Spatiotemporal Distribution of Collective Avoidance Concentrations 132 The Spatiotemporal Distribution of Physical and Social Disorder and Crime 135 The Degree of Overlap Between Collective Avoidance Concentrations, Physical and Social Disorder and Crime 142 Discussion of Spatial Outputs 146 Potential Constraints on Social Interaction Resulting from Collective Avoidance Behaviour 146 Activity Diary Analysis 152 Discussion of Activity Diary Analysis: The Discrepancy Between Emotion-Based Fear in Relation to Daily Routines and Global Measures of Fear 156 Integrating the Key Spatiotemporal Findings with Police and Community Initiatives in Wollongong: The Degree of Institutional Involvement 158 Assessments of Techniques and Approaches Developed in Wollongong Study 162 General Summary of the Wollongong Study 164 References 164 7 The Kings Cross Study 168 Background to the Kings Cross Study 168 Goals of the Kings Cross Study 169 Research Setting 169 Geographic Location 169 Historical Background 172 Demographic Characteristics 175 Crime 175 Fear of Crime 177 Methods 181 Interviewing Approach 181 Survey Design and Questions 181 Spatial Data Visualization 185 Results and Discussion 186 Sample Characteristics 186 People Are Afraid of Crime in Kings Cross 190 The Dissonance Between Traditional Global Measures and Crime-Specific Avoidance-Based Questions 191 People Avoid Specific Areas of Kings Cross Due to Fear of Crime 194 Mapping Reveals Three Fear-of-Crime Hotspots 194 Safe Areas and Cognitive Barriers 200 Exploring the Underlying Reasons for Fear of Crime 201 The Presence of Crime 202 Environmental Cues Triggering Fear of Crime 205 Mapping Avoidance Adopted by Selected Groups 220 Integrating the Fear Mapping Results with Policy and Community Crime and Fear-of-Crime Prevention 234 Addressing Crime 234 Targeting Pertinent Signs of Disorder and Incivility 236 Top-Ranked Cues 237 Middle-Ranked Environmental Cues 240 Lower Ranked Environmental Cues 243 Sensitively Addressing the Environmental Cues 248 Targeted Intervention 248 A Snapshot from the Future 249 Assessments of Techniques and Approaches Developed in the Kings Cross Study 253 The Survey and Interviewing Procedure 253 Cognitive Mapping 254 General Summary of the Kings Cross Study 255 References 256 8 Future Avenues for Fear Mapping: Potential Applications and Improvements 263 Has Collective Avoidance Behaviour Changed in Wollongong and Kings Cross? 263 Investigating Behavioural Responses in Relation to Different Types of Crime 266 Further Avenues for Investigating Links Between Fear, Crime and Disorder 268 Broken Windows Theory in the Transit Context 273 Fear Mapping and Advances in Spatial Technology 274 References 275 Index 280 The impact of crime on society is well-known and well-documented. But fear of crime also takes a major toll, affecting individual mobility, neighborhood cohesion, and local economies, and is an increasingly important topic in criminology and other disciplines. In recent years, Geographic Information Systems technology has brought needed spatial dimensions to research into fear of crime. Putting Fear of Crime on the Map reviews these efforts, chronicling the evolution of both research and technology. Fear of crime is defined as a complex system of avoidance behaviors that paradoxically helps create conditions favorable to crime, and the authors summarize approaches used in understanding the problem. In later chapters, data from two landmark studies examine new ways of conceptualizing and addressing fear of crime offered by GIS technology, and the authors present innovative GIS-based methods for reducing fear of crime, as well as in monitoring the effectiveness of law enforcement and community initiatives. Key features of the book: · Historical and current trends in fear of crime research. · Analysis of fear of crime is a serious analytical and social problem. · Social/environmental theories explaining fear of crime. · Technical breakdown of Geographic Information Systems techniques used to map fear of crime. · Findings from eight years of studies of fear of crime using GIS technology. · Potential applications for fear mapping, and emerging areas for fear of crime research. Putting Fear of Crime on the Map is a unique source of information for graduate and postgraduate researchers in criminology, and policy makers Front Matter....Pages i-xvii Introduction....Pages 1-7 Why Is Fear of Crime a Serious Social Problem?....Pages 9-23 What Causes Fear of Crime?....Pages 25-50 Managing Fear of Crime....Pages 51-65 Investigating Fear of Crime....Pages 67-94 The Wollongong Study....Pages 95-154 The Kings Cross Study....Pages 155-249 Future Avenues for Fear MappingFear mapping : Potential Applications and Improvements....Pages 251-267 Back Matter....Pages 269-283