Author:
LaGRANGE RANDY L.,FERRARO KENNETH F.,SUPANCIC MICHAEL
Abstract
Scholars are paying close attention to incivilities and how they affect citizens' fear of crime. A common research finding is that neighborhood incivilities (e.g., abandoned storefronts, unkept lots, litter, noise, bench sleepers, public drunks) are often as powerful in generating feelings of fear as crime itself. The implication is that by removing the riffraff from the streets and graffiti from the walls, feelings of fear will be reduced. Moreover, community “clean-sweeps” will meet with public approval as they improve the overall quality of life in cities and neighborhoods. This article carefully examines the influence of a number of social and physical incivilities on two different reactions to crime—perceptions of risk and feelings of fear. The authors use a national data set of 1,101 randomly selected U.S. adults who have been interviewed by telephone. The data reveal significant relationships between social and physical incivility and perceptions of risk; incivility is also related to fear but less strongly so. To the extent that incivility is predictive of fear, its causal effect is mediated almost entirely through perceptions of risk to crime. This finding has received little attention to date.
Cited by
557 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献