Community Safety in a Rural Housing Area

Abstract

Objective - This study investigates the nature of community safety in a rural housing area. The types of home safety control mechanisms were also investigated. Methodology/Technique - Face-to-face interviews were conducted on a randomly selected sample of 87 residents in a rural area located in the Northern region of Malaysia. Findings - Results show that the feeling of safety is quite high. Females are found to be more fearful than men. The study also found that more than half of the residents used special window/door grills for home safety control. As expected, the level of feeling very unsafe living at home alone after dark was double when their home was not protected by special windows or door grills. Novelty - The results of this study are important and provide the police with information on how they can get involved to help improve community safety. Future studies should investigate the type of crimes and experiences of crime victimization using the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS). Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Community Safety; Fear of Crime; Feeling of Safety; Malaysia; Interview JEL Classification: H55, H83, O18.