Fear Of Crime And Victimization Essay

The idea that you may be in potential harm and you were about it is the state of fear of crime. Or you may also feel vulnerable to feeling victimization. Now fear of crime and victimization is similar they should not be used interchangeably because of how they are defined. Such as fear of crime is the idea that there is perceived risk based on your current knowledge and social settings. Fear of crime produces victimization which is where the strong emotions become a part of you creating then an identity. Fear of crime has been considered a major social issue (Alper & Chappell, 2012). Even more so today, it would seem that fear of crime and victimization is prevalent in at least the United States. There has been a lot of hate crimes, sexual assault cases on various campuses, a controversial election, and many mass shootings. It would be hard for one not to ever feel at risk of potential

Fear of victimization is an emotional feeling and perceived risk is a cognitive behavior, which is the result of potential victimization (Alper & Chappell, 2012). This sort of victimization can be in media form or person to person contact. In environmental settings it can be related to age, gender, and socioeconomic statues. All of which plays important roles in the idea of victimization. News can make one to feel more likely of victimization and fear (Kohm et al., 2012). For instance, one may be of a female with middle to high class status and be middle age living in a developed part of a city and still feel victimized by the potential that crime could happen to her based on what the news portrays. Receiving messages about crime over the media results in one becoming an indirect victim (Kohm et al., 2012). Being an indirect victim is like the example just shown about a woman who is in a relatively safe place but still feels vulnerable to