Fear Among the Feared: Arab Americans’ Fear of Crime in an Ethnic Enclave Community

Abstract

Drawing on racial threat hypothesis and in-depth interviews with first- and second-generation Arab immigrants, this study explores Arab immigrants’ perceptions of risk and fear of crime in an ethnic enclave community. We find that Arab immigrants’ fear of crime is shaped by the unique context in which they live, with this particular population perceiving members of other minority groups as the greatest threat to their culture, community, and safety. This study extends the minority threat perspective, which typically highlights the majority group’s fear of immigrants and other minorities, by examining the inverse of this relationship. Specifically, what and who do immigrants fear at a time when they are perceived as one of the most threatening populations in the U.S.?