Fear of Crime

Introduction

Fear of Crime in members of our society today has been widely researched. For the purpose of this essay, fear of crime is used in the context of an individual’s perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime. In this essay it is argued that the elderly and the youngest members of our society are the most fearful of crime and that, of these age groups the elderly have the lowest risk of becoming victims of crime. Firstly, research shows that fear of crime is widespread and that certain age groups are more fearful of becoming victims than others.

Secondly, that the Media’s Portrayal of crimes contributes to society’s perceptions of safety and crime itself, increasing fear of crime in these age groups. Thirdly, that the Elderly fears of crime and perceived risk of victimization is also contributed to by social and physiological factors, such as vulnerability that leads to altered lifestyle changes. Data confirms that levels of victimization rates are low for the elderly but high for the young, which is in contrast to those in the elderly age group having heightened levels of fear.

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In conclusion, fear of crime is becoming a serious societal issue as our population ages being that the elderly are becoming the most fearful of crime whilst the youngest age group with the highest fear are most likely to become victims of crime. Discussion Firstly, we see that in modern society today that a growing fear of crime is widely recognized. It is acknowledged that the elderly aged 65 and over, and the youngest members aged 16 - 24 of our society have the highest fear of crime in comparison to other age groups(Johnson, 2005).

Australia has an aging population (James, 1992 p. 1), for those 85 and over numbers have doubled and there are increased numbers of those aged 65 and over. The last twenty years pning from 1990 to 2010 has seen the number of elderly people in our society increase by 170%; in comparison to around 30% for total population growth for Australia, where those aged 15 are seen to be decreasing (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010).

This correlated to the findings from the 2004 International Crime Victimisation Survey (Johnson, 2005) showing that the age groups 15 - 24 and 65 and over were the most likely to answer the series of questions asked around feelings of safety when walking alone at night, utilizing or waiting for public transportation at night and whether they believed they would be victims of burglary in the next year as unsafe or very unsafe. Secondly, it is argued that the Media’s representations of criminal acts and events through sensationalized stories depicting crimes that are violent and those with a sexual nature; these have contributed to and influenced levels of fear and perceptions of risk for the age groups 15 - 24, and 65 years and over.

The first edition of Violence Today (Chappell, 1989) links society’s perceptions of violent crime to media stories and publicity that is focussed on crimes of a violent nature that attributes to growing fears of crime posturing “Australia is succumbing to a torrent of the crime beyond the control of the traditional system of traditional law” (Chappell, 1989). The focus on violent and sexually explicit crimes by the media has left our society with the misconception that these sorts of crimes are an everyday occurrence.

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (Roberts & Indermaur, Australian Institute of Criminology 2007) recorded that over half of those aged 65 and over believed that crime had increased over a period of two years before the survey was completed, this is attributed to an individual’s media consumption – whether it be newspapers, internet or television – of factual or fictional medians (Kort-Butler & Sittner Hartshorn, 2011).

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes also collected data on the medians that individuals get their crime and criminal justice beliefs and views from, and observed: “that the media remains the most important source in informing Australians’ views of crime”(Roberts & Indermaur, Australian Institute of Criminology 2007 p. 9). The importance given to certain crimes in the daily newspapers and other media sources shows us proof to the fact that crime is a topic that has the public’s interest and is a focus of their worries (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001).

It goes on to discuss the fact that crime as reported on by the media increases the public’s levels of fears and that there is little or no correlation to actual levels of violent crime in our society today. Thirdly, crime victimization data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008-2009, p. 17) reflects that those 65 and above are the least likely to be victims of crime with a victimization rate much lower than all other age groups in the category of personal assault. This cannot be said or the younger age groups of 16 -24 who’s fear of crime can be linked to high numbers of victimization in the same category. Carcach, Graycar & Muscat (2001) attribute social and communal activities that elderly people partake in this anomaly between the elderly fear of crime and victimization rates. The change in activities of the elderly over time may contribute to the lower victimization rates reported were on the other hand the young tend to have many more communal social activities that serve to increase their chances of victimization.

The data collected from the Crime Victimisation Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008-2009) although it showed very little difference between the fear levels for the youngest age group and that of the older age group of 65 and over the differences in social activities and community relationships and the fact that the elderly are far less likely to be out alone without a companion, or traveling on public transport or waiting for the same can be accounted for, by the personal vulnerability.

A key concept used to explain high levels of the perceived risk of victimization is that of vulnerability. Powell & Wahidin (2007, p. 94) assert “the fear of crime operates on a myriad of emotional and practical levels from feeling vulnerable and isolated to affecting personal well – being”. The vulnerability has been attributed to contributing to fear of crime within the elderly age group (Carcach et al, 2001). It has been argued that ‘personal vulnerability’ (Franklin, Franklin & Fearn, 2008 p. 06), the inability for an individual to protect themselves due to lack of physical strength (James, 1992) and the feelings of “powerlessness to resist attack’ (Callanan & Teasdale, 2009 p. 362) and their worry of being able to heal from an act of victimization (Johnson, 2005 p. 33) explains the disparity between higher levels of fear and that of actual victimization. Cossman & Rader (2011, p. 143) add further to this that most elderly people are now living alone, either having lost a life partner through death, or hospitalization due to frailty or illness also attributes to higher levels of fear of crime.

A workshop held between several services and organizations in South Australia on Crime and the Elderly identified that elderly people thought themselves to be the most victimized by crime, that during the day break-ins caused them fear, however break-ins with the potential for personal assault caused the most fear after dark, these fears impacted on all aspects of their lives, which in turn has restricted and isolated them from their communities and the lifestyles they have been previously accustomed to living. Doherty, 1991, p. 1)(Johnson, 2005, p. 29) The elderly by far have the highest levels of fear that are based on misconceptions that they perceive about crime in our society today. The young 15– 24 years of age perceive their risk of victimization to be high and statistics show that in 2005 this age group had the highest victimization rate for crimes against the person ( Australian Institute of Criminology, 2006). Conclusion

Fear of crime in our society has far-reaching implications, Australia has an aging population that exhibits one of the highest levels of fear of crime that can be attributed to feelings of vulnerability, yet statistics have shown the elderly to be the least likely to be victims of crime. Their perceived fear of victimization has lead to changes in their lifestyles in order to protect themselves, based on misconceived notions that they are the most victimized in society.

The young aged 16-24 years of age also have a high level of perceived risk from crime but this is in proportion to the victimization rates recorded for this age group. Perceptions of fear and perceived risk of crime are contributed to by the media’s portrayal of crimes that have a violent or sexual nature which further serves to contribute to a growing fear of crime. The fact that society tends to get its views and beliefs of crime and criminal justice from the media means that misconceptions about the perceived risk of victimization tend to be over the top and misinformed.

References

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